Roundup: Arizona kids now 3-for-4 vs. Top 25

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

For a team with no seniors, three juniors and six freshmen, Arizona has come together quickly.

A steady diet of ranked teams hasn't hurt.

The No. 8 Wildcats (4-1) beat No. 13 Texas 83-78 Monday night in Tucson, picking up their third win in four tries against Top 25 teams.

The victory was characteristic of what Arizona can do because of guards Mike Bibby and Jason Terry. In his fifth college game, Bibby set a school record with eight steals, and Terry, a sophomore, had four, helping the Wildcats to a 27-18 edge in turnovers.

"They cause a lot of people a lot of problems," coach Lute Olson said. "Texas has some tremendous athletes, but we didn't allow them many open-court buckets."

Michael Dickerson provided the firepower with 30 points, most of them on open jumpers created by picks set by A.J. Bramlett and Bennett Davison.

"The guards got me the ball in the right place, and the big men were setting good screens," Dickerson said after scoring 15 points in each half to come within one point of his career high on 10-of-18 shooting.

Dickerson, who was 3-of-5 on 3-pointers, said Texas' decision to play a man-to-man defense played into his hands as well.

"We just wanted to play good defense," Texas' Brandy Perryman said. "He's going to get his points, but the key was they got him open with the screens."

For Texas, Kris Clack had 15 of his 23 points in the second half. But he couldn't get the Longhorns (4-1) back in it after Dickerson made a 3-pointer and two free throws 11 seconds apart late in the game. The foul shots, taken with 3:26 remaining after Dickerson grabbed a defensive rebound and was fouled, lifted the Wildcats to a 77-68 lead, matching their biggest of the game.

Clack, who also had 10 rebounds to help Texas outrebound Arizona 46-37, and Reggie Freeman, who scored 16 points, fouled out in the final minutes.

"We tried to play aggressive defense. It was a lot like a tournament game, but it was frustrating when the ball wouldn't fall," Clack said.

Hours earlier, the then-unbeaten Longhorns were raised five spots in the poll to No. 13, their highest ranking since February 1982, when they were 12th.

Bibby had 14 points and five assists along with his steals.

"We got into the passing lanes," Bibby said. "That's what we wanted to do. They have good shooters and they're good off the dribble."

"I can't believe he's a freshman," Texas coach Tom Penders said. "He was really effective defensively."

Bramlett scored 13 points and Davison had 12 and eight rebounds.

Dickerson scored 13 points during a 24-7 run in the first half, which ended with the Wildcats ahead 39-38. But Texas got the lead at 46-45 on a three-point play by Dennis Jordan with 16:13 to play.

Arizona regained the lead nine seconds later on a layup by Davison and held it the rest of the way.

* NO. 3 KENTUCKY 90, WRIGHT ST. 62: Ron Mercer and Derek Anderson each scored 19 points and Kentucky (6-1) won its sixth straight in its home opener. The Wildcats made five 3-pointers to open the game and finished 13-for-26 from 3-point range. Anthony Epps scored all 15 of his points on 3s for Kentucky, which led 56-29 at halftime. Rob Welch had 22 points for the Raiders (1-1), going 6-of-7 from 3-point range.

* NO. 25 BOSTON COLLEGE 59, VANDERBILT 52: The Eagles (4-1) managed the home victory despite only two starters scoring. Duane Woodward had 15 points and Danya Abrams added 12, and the rest came from the Boston College reserves. Austin Bates had 15 points for the Commodores (3-2), who went more than 12 minutes in the second half without a field goal. Pax Whitehead, Vanderbilt's leading scorer at 17.0, finished with seven points on 1-for-10 shooting.

WAC

* SAN JOSE ST. 68, CAL POLY-POMONA 55: at San Jose, Calif., Brad Quinet scored 18 points and the Spartans held Cal Poly-Pomona to four first-half field goals. Tito Addison added 11 points for San Jose State, off to its first 4-1 start since 1986. Terryl Woolery had 16 points and seven rebounds for Cal Poly-Pomona (5-1), which shot only 15.4 percent (4 for 26) and committed 14 turnovers in the first half as San Jose State built a 39-20 lead. The Spartans won although Olivier Saint-Jean went scoreless in the first half and had only five points in the game. Saint-Jean led Western Athletic Conference scorers with a 23.3-point average entering the game.