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Friday, December 15, 2000
West: Pac-10 sides with refs on goaltending call
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
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The Pacific-10 Conference finally issued a statement on Loren Woods' goaltending call at the end of the loss to Connecticut.
Pac-10 officiating chair Lou Campanelli said, "We have reviewed numerous camera angles of the play in question, in reel time, slow motion and freeze frame. Our review has convinced us that it was a reasonable judgment call, given the fact the official (Richie Ballesteros) had to make it instantaneously.
The official had primary responsibility on the play for goaltending since he was the center official off the ball. He had an unobstructed view of the play and made the call immediately when the play occurred."
Meanwhile, Arizona is primed to beat Illinois again Saturday in Chicago. After losing to Connecticut, the Wildcats' staff said this has been the best week of practice this season.
"We're practicing with more intensity and this team is exhausting itself," Arizona assistant Jay John said. "Had we done that in the two losses then we would be undefeated."
Wyoming can't get many home games and had to play at Cal State-Fullerton and at Cal State-Northridge. The Cowboys, who have only 12 home games including the seven in the Mountain West, split the trip to Southern California.
"Hey, when you play that many on the road, you're going to lose some," Wyoming coach Steve McClain said.
But McClain isn't fretting about his shift from an uptempo team to one that's looking more inside in the halfcourt. And why shouldn't he? The Cowboys have three beefy inside players in Josh Davis, Ugo Udezue and Uche Nsonwu-Amadi. The Cowboys are getting production out of power player Ronell Mingo off the bench, too. Davis and Amadi are in double figures but Udezue is struggling since being eligible in the fourth game of the season after sitting for an extra benefit he used last spring.
"Josh's numbers went up moving to the three position from the four but I knew we wouldn't be as uptempo," McClain said. "I'd be a fool not to throw it down to them."
The Cowboys have two more chances to make a splash on the road when they travel to South Carolina (Dec. 21) and LSU (Jan. 3) before the MWC.
USC caught a break last week when it beat Cal State-Northridge at home. The game was supposed to be at Northridge, but the school decided to take the money of a guarantee instead of playing a straight home-and-home with the Trojans.
Gonzaga point guard Dan Dickau is expected back by Jan. 2 against New Mexico. Dickau broke a finger in the second half against Arizona. The Bulldogs are 2-1 without Dickau, losing at Boise State last Saturday. Gonzaga plays Florida Saturday in Fort Lauderdale before traveling to Wisconsin-Green Bay Wednesday.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. His Weekly Word on college basketball is updated Thursdays/Fridays throughout the year.
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ALSO SEE
Weekly Word: NCAA serves notice
East Chatter: Spiders' caught in postseason web
Midwest Chatter: Welcome back to the Big 12
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