1/10/2009

TUCSON--Chase Budinger continued to work his way out of a shooting slump and tallied 24 points to help lead Arizona (11-5) to a weekend Pac-10 sweep with a 64-47 victory over visiting Oregon State (6-8) in a slow-paced and methodical game.

The Cats evened their league record at 2-2 and dropped the Beavers to 1-3. UA overcame 39 percent shooting by compiling a 32-25 edge on the boards and holding its turnovers to seven against 13 by the Beavers

Budiner hit half his shots (7-13), notably a pair from three-point range and mixed in some short-range stuff and inside moves to earn game honors. He was backed by an 11th double-double of the season from Jordan Hill with 15 points and 11 rebounds and some modest scoring by guards Zane Johnson (9) and Kyle Fogg (7).

The Beavers were led by Lathen Wallace with 17 and nine points each from Daniel Deane and Calvin Haynes.

The Beavers went on late 7-0 and 11-3 runs to make it interesting, but Arizona had enough of a lead to overcome the charge. After a late technical call, OSU coach Craig Robinson was tossed by referee Bobby McRoy for another technical for arguing.

It took Arizona five minutes to score in the second half, while OSU whittled away to trim a 13-point half-time margin to seven with baskets by Roeland Schaftenaar, Calvin Haynes and Lathen Wallace. Finally, Zane Johnson made a baseline drive and a bonus free throw after UA missed its first six shots.

Budinger scored a pair from the free throw line to give UA a 10-point lead, 39-29, with just more than 14 minutes to go, and then Budinger drove baseline for a jam to push the lead back above 10.

Arizona continued to shoot poorly, with a 2-for-14 mark at the half way mark in the half, but OSU wasn't much better at 4-for-12 to that point in the period.

Budinger dropped in a short jumper to push UA's lead to 12 points, 43-31, but Haynes drained a three to cut it to under double digits.

Nic Wise answered at the other end, but Omari Johnson got a put-back dunk to keep the Beavers within striking distance with seven and a half minutes left, 46-35.

An intentional foul on OSU's Haynes gave Budinger a pair of three throws, and UA the ball, and Arizona's lead was back to 14 after a second-chance possession bucket by Jordan Hill, 50-36.

OSU's Schaftenaar fouled out at the 5:29 mark to put Hill at the line, and he made both to put the game basically out of reach. But OSU got a pair of quick buckets by Wallace and Johnson to cut it to 12 just inside five minutes, 52-40. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

First-Half Action:

Arizona started out with a 5-0 lead with layups from Jamelle Horne and Kyle Fogg after a free throw by Jordan Hill -- enough of a spree to cause OSU coach Craig Robinson to call timeout. The Beavers answered with a bucket from Calvin Haynes. And then UA cooled off a bit while OSU kept pace.

The Beavs beat UA's zone at the end of the shot clock on their next possession to close to within one, 5-4, Budinger had a put-back to push UA up 7-4, and OSU's Rickey Claitt got inside the zone for a layup to make it 7-6 Arizona at the first media timeout.

Hill missed the front end of a two-shot bonus a few minutes later to give Arizona a two-point lead, 10-8, and Budinger scored on a fastbreak after an OSU turnover to make it 12-8. OSU again trimmed it, and then Fogg hit a three to make it a four-point lead, 15-11 with about 10 minutes left in the half.

OSU went scoreless for several minutes while UA hit from outside. Budinger drained a three-pointer to give UA a seven-point edge, 18-11, at the 8-minute media timeout. Moments later, Zaone Johnson connected to make it a 10-point lead, 21-11. After an OSU turnover, Budinger finished a second-chance possession with a drive to the basket to make it a 12-point lead, and after an OSU miss, Budinger canned another three to put the UA in control after a 17-3 run.

The Beavs stopped the drought with an inside move by Lathen Wallace at the 5:20 mark, but the Cats answered with a three-shot possession capped by Horne's layup.

OSU score a pair of buckets on a Wallace three-pointer and a layup from Calvin Haynes to trim the lead to 10, and after a Hill dunk, got another three from Wallace to cut the lead to nine, 30-21.

The Cats scored the last four points to give them a 34-21 halftime lead.