CORVALLIS, Ore. – Arizona coach Lute Olson wasn’t too pleased with the way his team practiced leading up to Thursday’s 72-66 win at Oregon State.

That Mustafa Shakur was out with a sprained right ankle much of the week didn’t help matters.

“That hurts us because he provides a lot of spark because he goes so hard,” Olson said. “We really missed his presence on the court. We were not really happy with the practices.”

When told that seems surprising because the players should know what’s at stake for the rest of the season, Olson said, “You know and I know, but . . .”

Shakur played 31 minutes against the Beavers, scoring six points to go with a game-high seven assists.

He said his ankle still hurts and gets inflamed, but when he starts playing the pain goes away. “I’m fine,” he said.

Double-double
Freshman Jordan Hill is becoming a double-double machine. He had 12 points and 11 boards in 35 minutes against Oregon State.

It’s his second double-double in the past four games since he has taken on a bigger role with the team.

“I’m just out there playing,” Hill said. “I had a lot of offensive rebounds (four), but I couldn’t score easily. I have to shake it off and do it.”

He said he’s feeling more and more comfortable on the court. It was his third consecutive start.

“The addition of Jordan Hill to their lineup has made an astronomical difference to their team,” OSU coach Jay John said. “Unbelievable difference in their team.”

He struggled
After looking good in last week’s 84-54 win against Washington, UA freshman Chase Budinger looked mediocre against Oregon State.

He hit his first shot and then missed his next six. He finished with four points.

“It was tough because I just couldn’t find the basket,” he said. “But we got the ‘W.’ I know I have to play well. I know I will on Saturday (against Oregon).”

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PAC-10 MEN
Team Conf. Overall

UCLA 10-2 21-2

Washington State 9-3 20-4

Oregon 8-4 20-4

USC 8-4 18-7

Stanford 7-4 15-7

Arizona 7-5 16-7

Washington 5-7 15-8

California 4-7 12-11

Oregon State 1-11 9-16

Arizona State 0-12 6-17

Thursday’s games: Arizona 72, Oregon State 66; Oregon 55, Arizona State 51; Washington State 58, Stanford 45; Washington 79, California 71

Saturday’s games: Arizona at Oregon, 1:30 p.m.; UCLA at West Virginia, 11 a.m.; California at Washington State, 3 p.m.; Arizona State at Oregon State, 4 p.m.

Sunday’s game: Stanford at Washington, 5 p.m.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 9th, 2007 at 12:01 am and is filed under Sports. Tags for this post: Basketball, High School, page-c06, Sports-Basketball, Sports-Basketball-High School, Steve Rivera. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.