Arizona’s Victory Worth Title Share

Of the nine Pacific 10 Conference titles his Arizona teams have either won or shared, Coach Lute Olson admitted the latest might be the most rewarding.

“They’re all sweet, but I think the odds under which this group of guys did this is just still sort of unbelievable to me,” Olson said Saturday after his ninth-ranked Wildcats beat California, 70-61, at Tucson to finish as Pac-10 co-champions and earn the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament based on their sweep of co-champion Stanford.

Injuries, transfers, medical and academic problems left the team down to no more than seven scholarship players, all but one freshmen and sophomores, throughout the Pac-10 season. Still, Arizona (26-6 overall, 15-3 in the Pac-10) is a leading candidate to be the top-seeded team in the West.

“This season has been difficult,” Olson said. “It’s been demanding and exhausting, but thank goodness we’ve got the caliber of guys we do to work with. I’m too old to have to go through this again.”

Gilbert Arenas scored 22 points to lead the Wildcats over Cal (16-14, 7-11).

No. 2 Stanford 65, Arizona State 57--Casey Jacobsen scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half as the Cardinal (26-3, 15-3) overcame a sloppy start at Tempe, Ariz., to beat the Sun Devils (18-12, 10-8) and claim a share of its second consecutive Pac-10 title.

“We had to have this one,” Jacobsen said. “We couldn’t afford another loss.”

Arizona State needed an upset for any realistic shot at an NCAA tournament bid. The Sun Devils probably will wind up in the National Invitation Tournament.

Oregon 83, Oregon State 65--Senior forward A.D. Smith scored 21 points to help the Ducks (22-7, 13-5) rout the Beavers (13-16, 5-13) at Eugene, Ore.

It was the fourth consecutive victory for the Ducks, who enjoyed their winningest regular season since 1945 and are headed for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1995.