Williams leads Arizona
Derrick Williams was back at the free throw line - again and again and again. That's nothing new.
The big Arizona sophomore set a career high in points for the second time in three games, scoring 31 to lead the Wildcats past Arizona State, 80-69, ending a three-game home-court losing streak to their in-state rivals.
Williams, who scored 30 last week against California, went 8 for 12 from the field, made 15 of 16 free throws and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Wildcats (15-3 overall, 4-1 Pacific-10 Conference). He was fouled on half of his eight field goals and converted three of them into three-point plays.
“I’ve always done that since high school,” Williams said of his foul line appearances. “Fifteen, 16 free throws is nothing to me.”
Arizona coach Sean Miller said Williams “just has an amazing knack” for getting to the foul line.
“I wish I could take credit for that but he shot 22 free throws (actually a school record 21) against Wisconsin in his third game as a freshman,” Miller said.
In his 30-point performance against Cal, Williams broke his record by attempting 22 free throws and making 16.
The Sun Devils chose to trap Williams when he got the ball.
“It worked the first five minutes,” he said. “I wasn’t being as active as I should have, but as soon as I got active it didn’t really work anymore.”
Trent Lockett scored 17 for the Sun Devils (9-9, 1-4).
At Oregon State 80, Southern Cal 76: Jared Cunningham scored 24 points for the Beavers (8-9, 3-3), who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Nikola Vucevic had 26 points and 14 rebounds for the Trojans (10-8, 2-3). Jio Fontan added 14 points and six assists.
USC cut Oregon State’s 16-point halftime lead to five before the Beavers came up with two big plays. Joe Burton threw a behind-the-head pass to Cunningham for a layup. Seconds later, Calvin Haynes stole the ball for an easy basket on the other end, giving Oregon State a 71-62 lead with 3:07 left.
UCLA 67, at Oregon 59: Malcolm Lee scored 18 points and the Bruins made a barrage of 3-pointers late in the second half to hold off the Ducks.
Lee went 7 for 13 from the field and made three 3-pointers. Jerime Anderson also had three 3-pointers on the way to 15 points for the Bruins (11-6, 3-2), who went 9 for 24 from long distance and made five in the final 7:12.
E.J. Singler scored 15 points and Jeremy Jacob added 12 for the Ducks (8-10, 1-5), who were without leading scorer and rebounder Joevan Catron. The senior forward missed his third straight game with a strained calf muscle.
PAC-10 WOMEN
At No. 10 UCLA 87, Oregon 57: Markel Walker led five players in double figures with 14 points as the Bruins (15-1, 5-0) beat the Ducks (11-5, 2-3) to win their fifth in a row while holding the Pac-10’s second-best offense to a season low in points.
Doreena Campbell added 13 points, Darxia Morris and Atonye Nyingifa 12 each, and Jasmine Dixon 11 for the Bruins, who continued the program’s best start since the 1976-77 team opened 18-1.
At USC 53, Oregon State 45: Christina Marinacci had 14 points and Briana Gilbreath added 13 to lead the Trojans (12-4, 4-1) past the Beavers (7-10, 0-6).
This story was originally published January 16, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Williams leads Arizona."