No. 17 Arizona Loses Top Scorer, Game

Arizona's already-thin bench took a hit before the game even started. Then, the Wildcats were hit with another loss. <br><br>Tre Simmons had a career-high 22 points to lead Washington to an 89-84 victory

Friday, February 27th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Arizona's already-thin bench took a hit before the game even started. Then, the Wildcats were hit with another loss.

Tre Simmons had a career-high 22 points to lead Washington to an 89-84 victory over No. 17 Arizona on Thursday night to move ahead of the Wildcats into second place in the Pac-10.

Arizona played without leading scorer Salim Stoudamire, suspended by coach Lute Olson ``for failure to meet team responsibilities.''

Stoudamire, the Wildcats' best defender, was on the bench in street clothes as the Wildcats lost their second straight.

``It was immature actions on my part that were detrimental to the team,'' he said of his suspension. ``I am not going to get into specifics.''

He said he expected to play Saturday against Washington State. Olson doubted Stoudamire would be reinstated for that game.

The Huskies (14-10, 9-6) continued their late-season surge. After opening the conference schedule with five straight losses, they have won nine of 11 _ including a sweep of Arizona (17-8, 9-7).

``This is the biggest win of the year,'' Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. ``Beating Arizona on the road, and in a game that put us in second place alone, it is a pretty big game.''

In other games involving ranked teams Thursday, it was: No. 1 Stanford 73, Oregon State 47; No. 4 Gonzaga 97, San Diego 78; No. 5 Duke 97, Valparaiso 63; and No. 24 Utah State 67, Long Beach State 47.

Washington took a 10-point lead early in the second half and then held off a late rally by the Wildcats, who were down to six players from their regular rotation. The depth problem worsened when point guard Mustafa Shakur got into foul trouble.

``We are on a mission right now,'' said Brandon Roy, who had 12 points for the Huskies. ``The mission is to go to the NCAA tournament. I feel if we finish second, we should get an automatic bid.''

Channing Frye had 25 points and nine rebounds for Arizona.

``I apologize for it. The coaches apologize for it,'' Olson said of his team's effort. ``The thing that's getting old is the lack of our ability to inspire guys to play like their life depended on it. That's been a tradition of Arizona basketball _ guys play hard. You get beat sometimes, but it's not because we didn't play hard. This team has gotten beat because it doesn't play hard.''

The Huskies won at McKale Center for only the second time in 20 tries. They won at Arizona in 1996.

No. 1 Stanford 73, Oregon St. 47

The Cardinal (24-0, 15-0 Pac-10) remained one of Division I's two unbeaten teams with their school-record 24th straight victory. Chris Hernandez had 13 points, 11 in the game's first 11 minutes, and Josh Childress added 12 for Stanford, which shot 52.8 percent.

No. 2 Saint Joseph's is 25-0.

David Lucas had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Beavers (11-14, 5-10), who lost their 11th straight at Maples Pavilion.

No. 4 Gonzaga 97, San Diego 78

Blake Stepp scored 24 points, all on 3-pointers in the second half, and the Bulldogs (24-2, 13-0 West Coast Conference) extended their winning streak to 17 games, the third-longest in the country behind Stanford and Saint Joseph's, who are the only teams to beat Gonzaga this year. Stepp has 281 3s in his career, breaking Richie Frahm's school record of 280.

Brandon Gay had 21 points for the visiting Toreros (4-24, 1-12), who have lost five straight and 16 of 17.

No. 5 Duke 97, Valparaiso 63

Daniel Ewing scored 20 points and the Blue Devils (23-3) hit a season-high 15 3-pointers in their 41st consecutive home win. Duke has the nation's longest active home winning streak. Pittsburgh has won 40 straight at home and hosts Syracuse on Sunday.

Joaquim Gomes scored 18 points to lead the Crusaders (13-12).

No. 24 Utah St. 67, Long Beach St. 47

Cardell Butler scored 23 points to lead the visiting Aggies (23-2, 15-1 Big West), who have won 21 of their last 22.

Kevin Roberts and Marcel Jackson each had 10 points for the 49ers (6-18, 4-11), who lost their seventh straight game.