TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- On a night loaded with emotion, Arizona's
Loren Woods lost his cool.
|  | | Jim Rosborough directed the Wildcats again Thursday while head coach Lute Olson continued his leave of absence. |
His teammates kept theirs, though, and the Wildcats
(No. 15 ESPN/USA Today, No. 16 Associated Press) beat California 78-75 in their Pacific-10 Conference opener.
Michael Wright matched his career high with 28 points and
Gilbert Arenas scored nine of his 13 points in the final six
minutes, after Woods was thrown out of the game.
The Wildcats (8-4) were without coach Lute Olson for the second
consecutive game. Olson has taken an indefinite leave of absence
following the death of his wife, Bobbi, of cancer on Monday.
Arizona players wore a black strip across their left shoulder in
honor of the woman they and many before them knew as a second
mother. She had cooked pancakes for the players and was a constant,
outgoing presence in the crowd until illness kept her away.
Arizona, which had struggled throughout the early season after
being ranked No. 1 in the preseason, nearly lost consecutive home
games for the first time since 1983-84, Olson's first season at
Arizona.
"It was a real emotional week," the Wildcats' Luke Walton
said, "but we knew we had to win this game."
The Wildcats, who face No. 2 Stanford on Saturday, took the lead
for good with a 9-1 run, with Arenas scoring seven, after Woods was
thrown out with 6:17 left.
Sean Lampley scored 21, including 4 of 6 3-pointers for the
Bears (8-4), who had won seven in a row. Ryan Forehan-Kelly added
16 points. Cal shot 57 percent from the field, including 8-for-17
from 3-point range.
Arizona shot 54 percent, and the Wildcats made 10 consecutive
free throws in the final 3:51.
Woods, Arizona's 7-foot-1 center, had to be restrained by
teammates after referee Charlie Range called a foul against him
with 6:17 left. Range called a quick technical, then another when
Woods kept trying to get to him, using profanity over and over.
Arizona associate coach Jim Rosborough said Woods, recently
selected one of the team captains, might face some sort of penalty
from the university for what the coach called "inexcusable"
behavior.
"It's intolerable. I don't think it represents us very well. I
mean it's embarrassing as heck," Rosborough said.
Rosborough wouldn't say whether he might bench Woods for the big
game against Stanford, "but I'm not going to sit here and say I'm
going to win at any costs."
Woods said he was frustrated the whole game.
"I was getting a lot of cheap fouls and things like that,"
Woods said. "It was like quicksand out there. I just kept getting
lower, like I was going to die out there. Fortunately, the refs
took care of that for me."
California turned the incident into a five-point play.
Shantay Legans made three of four free throws on the technicals,
then Solomon Hughes made two more on the foul and the Bears led
65-61.
Arenas sank a 3-pointer, Hughes missed two free throws, and
Arenas banked in a short jumper to put Arizona ahead 66-65 with
4:21 to play. Arenas' two free throws made it 68-65 with 3:51 left.
Hughes blocked Arenas' shot, but Wright grabbed and put it in to
put Arizona ahead 70-66 with 2:23 remaining. Arenas' two free
throws with 1:55 to go made it 72-66 with 1:55 left.
But Cal rallied again. Forehan-Kelly sank his last 3-pointer and
Lampley made a short jumper to cut the lead to 72-71 with 34.4
seconds remaining.
Jason Gardner and Wright each sank two free throws to make it
76-72, then Brian Wethers banked in a 3-pointer to slice it to
76-75 with 11.6 seconds to go.
"At the free-throw line there at the end is where we could have
crumbled," Rosborough said, "but we didn't."
Richard Jefferson's two free throws put Arizona up 78-75 with
6.6 seconds remaining, and Wethers' 3-pointer at the buzzer wasn't
even close.
"As disappointing as it was to lose, tonight we showed we can
play," Hughes said. "Arizona is a strong, good team. It's like
playing against an all-star team, but at the same time, they are
beatable."
Wright was 11-for-13 from the field.
"Michael Wright had a great performance tonight," Cal coach
Ben Braun said. "He is a warrior and has a great attitude. We
tried to take him out of the game, but we just couldn't. He was as
good as advertised."
There was a moment of silence before the tip-off, preceded by a
brief tribute by public address announcer Jonathan Norris.
"Bobbi and Lute were an unbeatable team," Norris said.
"During the 18 years that she called Tucson home, Bobbi's warm
personality and graceful nature made everyone feel very special."
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