University of Washington
Arizona
Huskies Fall To No. 11 Arizona, 82-62
February 08, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2001
By BOB BAUM
AP Sports Writer
TUCSON, Ariz. - Even though No. 11 Arizona routed Washington as expected, it was another tough night in a difficult season for Wildcats center Loren Woods.
The unheard of happened at McKale Center during the Wildcats' 82-62 victory. An Arizona player - Woods - was booed by some in the crowd.
Coach Lute Olson chastised the crowd for a reaction he said he's never heard in the building before.
"If the crowd really wants to help us, and I assume that's why they're here, then they need to do everything they can to encourage all our guys," Olson said. "I've been here 18 years, and I was probably as embarrassed as I've been by the crowd reaction a couple of times in the first half."
The Wildcats (16-6, 8-2 Pac-10) won with defense: Washington committed a season-high 29 turnovers, and Arizona had 15 steals.
Michael Wright had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Gilbert Arenas added 17 points for the Wildcats (16-6, 8-2 Pac-10), who beat Washington in Tucson for the 16th time in the last 17 tries.
Woods, benched by Olson in last Saturday's victory at Oregon State, had 10 points to reach 1,000 for his career. Gene Edgerson had 10 points, six rebounds and four steals in 13 minutes.
Woods is as disgusted with his play as some in the crowd apparently are.
"Right now, my game is a joke," he said. "Everybody sees it. I'm not happy with anything right now - even just stepping on the floor. I'm embarrassing myself, my family and Arizona basketball."
The Huskies (9-13, 3-7) fell behind by 15 early, rallied to cut the lead to three, then were blown out with an 18-2 Arizona blitz late in the first half and early in the second.
"The first five minutes of the second half are critical," Washington coach Bob Bender said. "It was actually like two-and-a-half minutes for them to get some easy buckets and get a sizable lead. They gained more confidence, they ran and got the tempo higher than we wanted it."
Curtis Allen scored 16 and C.J. Massingale 13 for the Huskies. Thalo Green added 10, all in the first half. Will Perkins, Washington's leading scorer this season at 13.7 points per game, had a tough time against Woods' defense. Perkins was 1-for-8 from the field for two points.
Washington trailed just 29-26 after Green's 3-pointer capped a 13-1 run with 2:37 left in the half.
But Arizona scored the last eight points of the first half and the first six of the second. The Huskies, whose 1996 overtime upset was their only victory at McKale Center since 1984, never threatened again.
Olson is happy with his team's defense in recent games, but not the offense.
"We only have eight more regular season games," Olson said. "So I told them in the locker room that there are some things that have got to happen for us to be the contender that we want to be. And it gets down to offensive efficiency and cutting down on second opportunities by our opponents."
The Wildcats had four points in the last four seconds of the first half. Wright scored on a rebound, then Washington's Bryan Brown was called for traveling in the backcourt. Jason Gardner threw an inbounds lob to Woods, who scored at the buzzer.
Arizona repeatedly beat Washington's defense downcourt early in the second half. The Wildcats scored the first six of the second half to go up 43-26 on Richard Jefferson's breakaway stuff, and led 47-28 on Arenas' driving layup with 17:28 to play.
Luke Walton, who had seven points and five assists, sank the Wildcats' only 3-pointer - in 14 attempts - to make it 66-42 with 10:47 remaining.
The Wildcats scored 12 in a row to take a 26-11 lead on Wright's 10-footer with 7:41 left in the first half as Washington went 5:35 without a point and committed 12 turnovers in the first 13 minutes.
It was the 850th game for Olson as a major college coach. His record in 28 seasons, the last 18 at Arizona, is 627-223.
