1/4/2003

By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Sports Writer

CORVALLIS, Ore. - If the Arizona Wildcats had any concern about a letdown after their hard-fought victory over Oregon, their win over Oregon State showed they didn't have to worry.

Freshman guard Hassan Adams scored 14 points to lead No. 4 Arizona to a 80-65 victory over the Beavers on Saturday night.

Rick Anderson, playing in place of injured forward Luke Walton, had 13 points for the Wildcats, who opened their Pac-10 season with a sweep of the Oregon schools for the first time since 1997-98. Jason Gardner added 12 points.

"We're proud of the way we played tonight," Anderson said. "We didn't want a letdown after Oregon and we come in to every game thinking about winning. It doesn't make a difference who it is."

Arizona (9-1, 2-0) was coming off a dramatic come-from-behind 81-72 victory Thursday night over No. 9 Oregon.

"This is great. I was concerned that because of the effort it took to beat Oregon, we might have a letdown here," Arizona coach Lute Olson said.

The Beavers (7-4, 0-2), coming off a 67-47 loss at home to Arizona State in their Pac-10 opener, gave the Wildcats little trouble.

Philip Ricci led the Beavers with by tying a career high with 24 points as Oregon State extended its losing streak against Top 25 teams to 17 games.

Arizona led by as many as 21 points at several times in the second half, including a 71-50 advantage when Anderson hit a jumper with 6:05 to go.

But Oregon State's first-year head coach Jay John, who served as an assistant at Arizona under Olson for the last four years, said he was proud of his players for holding their own against the Wildcats.

"The single most important thing we have is our effort," John said. "I know the guys were giving everything that they had and that is the kind of effort that we want."

Walton sprained his right ankle Monday night in the Wildcats' 85-71 victory over Boston University in the Fiesta Bowl Classic. He suited up against the Beavers but spent the game on the bench.

John, who knows from experience, said it didn't matter that Walton wasn't in there.

"I can't imagine there's any deeper team out there - and they're missing a pretty good guy in there, too," John said.

Arizona spent the first six weeks of the season as the nation's No. 1-ranked team. The Wildcats' lone loss was at LSU on Dec. 21.

The Beavers led 11-9 in the first half, but Arizona went on a 12-0 run - capped by a 3-pointer from Anderson - to go up 21-11.

The only time the Beavers were a threat after that was when Floyd North pulled them within six at 25-19 with 5:54 left in the first half.

The Wildcats led 43-25 at halftime behind Anderson's 11 points.

Oregon State starting forward Brian Jackson had an abdominal strain in the first half and didn't play in the second.

The last time the Wildcats played the Beavers, Gardner scored a career-high 34 points in Arizona's 93-87 victory on Jan. 6, 2002.