UCLA, Oregon Survive, Arizona Goes Down

One ranked team lost on the road and two others had to work hard to avoid being upset at home. <br/><br/>When another typically tough night of Pac-10 basketball was over, No. 3 UCLA and No. 9 Oregon were

Friday, January 19th 2007, 6:29 am

By: News On 6

One ranked team lost on the road and two others had to work hard to avoid being upset at home.

When another typically tough night of Pac-10 basketball was over, No. 3 UCLA and No. 9 Oregon were still tied for first and No. 11 Arizona had lost its second consecutive game.

The Bruins shook off a slow start and a first-half deficit to beat Arizona State 60-50, and Oregon overcame its own shooting woes with some strong work from the free-throw line in a 66-59 win over Stanford.

Arizona didn't fare as well on the other side of Los Angeles, losing to Southern California 80-73 as Nick Young scored 30 for the Trojans.

In other Top 25 games, No. 14 Duke beat Wake Forest 62-40, and No. 15 Nevada defeated Fresno State 85-75.

Darren Collison scored 16 points to help the Bruins (16-1, 5-1) recover after they fell behind 17-6 and made only two of their first 10 shots.

``There's going to be times where we're going to have trouble with teams and then everybody is going to say, `The underdogs gave you a good run,''' Collison said. ``We're just happy that we won.''

Arron Afflalo added 13 points and Josh Shipp had 12 after returning from a hamstring tear in time to outduel his little brother, Jerren, who had eight points for the Sun Devils (6-12, 0-7).

``That's nothing we want to make a habit of because you'll lose to a better team, especially when you let them jump on you by 11,'' Afflalo said. ``That was definitely uncalled for. We just have to do a better job of being mentally ready for the game.''

Aaron Brooks had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Ducks, who made 30-of-37 from the foul line to overcome a season-low 29 percent shooting from the field.

``Our free-throw shooting saved us tonight,'' said Ducks coach Ernie Kent, who moved into second place on Oregon's career coaching win list with 181.

Tajuan Porter added 15 points and Bryce Taylor scored 14 for the Ducks (17-1, 5-1), who are off to their best start in 80 years. The win ended a seven-game losing streak to the Cardinal (11-5, 3-3).

Brooks, who finished 10-for-10 from the line, scored nine straight to give Oregon a 53-51 advantage with 5:04 to play and the Ducks never trailed again.

Stanford, which upset then-No. 23 Washington State 71-68 in overtime in its last game, made only one shot from the field in the final 5:56

``We had the tempo and everything to our liking,'' Stanford coach Trent Johnson said. ``We just didn't have the ball go down at crucial situations. Holding them to 66 points at home, I thought we did a good job. They're a tough, explosive and very skilled basketball team.''

For USC, Young went 13-for-19 from the field, throwing fakes, tossing up fallaways and yanking down rebounds at key moments throughout the game.

Lodrick Stewart had 18 points and Gabe Pruitt scored 16 for the Trojans (14-5, 4-2).

Mustafa Shakur and Marcus Williams led Arizona (13-4, 4-3) with 19 points apiece. Ivan Radenovic added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats, who have lost three of four and seven of 11 at USC.

``We're the underdog team and we're learning how to play together,'' Young said. ``We're just trying to get respect out there.''

The Trojans came back from a one-point, last-second loss on Saturday to then-No. 4 UCLA to beat their fourth ranked opponent of the season.

``We knew we had to get this one,'' Young said. ``We were all nervous from the UCLA game and we knew we had to bounce back. That's what good teams do is bounce back off bad losses.''

No. 14 Duke 62, Wake Forest 40

At Durham, N.C., Greg Paulus scored 17 points and Josh McRoberts had 11 points in a solid all-around performance for Duke.

The Blue Devils (15-3, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) have won two straight since consecutive league losses to Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech.

Kyle Visser scored 12 points to lead the Demon Deacons (9-8, 1-4), who matched their second-lowest scoring total since the ACC's inaugural season in 1953-54.

Wake Forest has lost 10 straight at Duke, each one by double figures, and hasn't won at Cameron Indoor Arena since Tim Duncan's senior season.

No. 15 Nevada 85, Fresno State 75

At Reno, Nev., Marcelus Kemp scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half and Nick Fazekas added 20 points and 10 rebounds in his first game in 10 days to help Nevada win its 10th in a row.

It was the 53rd career double-double and 12th of the season for Fazekas, who played with a brace on the left ankle that had kept him sidelined since injuring it against Boise State on Jan. 8.

Denis Ikovlev scored a career-high 18 points and Ramon Sessions had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Wolf Pack (17-1, 5-0 Western Athletic Conference).

Dominic McGuire had 19 points to lead Fresno State (13-5, 2-3), which has lost three in a row.