Fri Jan 4 01:54:53 2008

Comment | Email | Print

Budinger pushes No. 21 Arizona past Oregon State

---

Tucson, AZ (Sports Network) - Chase Budinger scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds, keying a second-half comeback as 21st-ranked Arizona recovered from a six-point halftime deficit to survive a scare in its Pac-10 opener with a 76-63 victory over Oregon State at the McKale Center.

Jordan Hill added 20 points and 14 rebounds and Nic Wise contributed a career- high 17 to go with six assists for the Wildcats (10-3, 1-0 Pac-10), who recovered from a 76-63 loss to second-ranked Memphis December 29 that came on the heels of a six-game winning streak.

Jawann McClellan also finished in double figures with 10 points for Arizona, which was without standout freshman point guard Jerryd Bayless, still nursing a sprained right knee.

Omari Johnson led Oregon State (6-7, 0-1) with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Seth Tarver pitched in 13 and eight boards.

The Beavers, who were coming off a discouraging 60-59 loss at home to Montana State, were without starting center C.J. Giles, and got just eight points from second-leading scorer Marcel Jones. OSU shot just 40.7 percent for the game and hit 9-of-15 free throws while being outscored 50-31 in the final 20 minutes.

Both teams struggled out of the gate, with Oregon State holding an 11-8 advantage at the 11-minute mark.

OSU stretched that lead to 22-17 with 5:30 to go in the half on a pair of Josh Tarver free throws, then held on for a 32-26 halftime cushion by holding Budinger and McClellan in check throughout the rest of the half.

Wise weaved inside for a lay-in to complete a 6-0 Arizona spurt and tie the game at 44 with 11:34 to go in the second half. Following a Beavers timeout, Daniel Dillon hit a three in transition to finally regain the lead for the Wildcats, 47-44.

Budinger knocked down a three off a handoff from Wise to extend the Arizona lead to 59-51 with under six minutes remaining. But the Beavers wouldn't go away, trimming the margin back down to five before the 'Cats used a 10-3 run, capped by Budinger's dunk, to assume a 69-57 lead inside 2 1/2 minutes and finally put the game away.

Game Notes

Oregon State still has not beaten a Top 25 team on the road since it went to Seattle on January 5, 1985 and knocked off Washington...Arizona hit 5-of-9 three-point attempts and was 19-for-22 at the foul line.