TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Arizona athletic department is investigating whether its basketball team stole money and up to 80 candy bars from a vending machine in Lawrence, Kan., last weekend.

Lute Olson, coach of the No. 1 Wildcats, called the accusations "nothing but hearsay and rumor" at his weekly news conference Tuesday.

An unidentified Wildcats coach reimbursed the Marriott Spring Hill Suites in Lawrence for the missing candy, and manager Stephanie Bowler told the Tucson Citizen the hotel would not press charges. Associate coach Jim Rosborough said the payment was less than $100.

Police Lt. David Cobb told the newspaper a hotel guest saw young men wearing Arizona warmup jackets pilfer up to 80 candy bars and money from the machine late Friday night or early Saturday.

"The athletic department is beginning to investigate, obviously spurred on by the coaches' desire to get to the facts in the case," team spokesman Richard Paige said.

After Arizona (15-1) overcame a 20-point deficit to defeat then-No. 6 Kansas 91-74 Saturday, police surprised the coaching staff by entering the locker room to interview players.

The team then left the arena with less than three hours to catch its flight out of Kansas City, Mo.

Olson said he won't let the internal probe obscure his concentration on games this week against Stanford and Pac-10 co-leader California.