Pacific 10 Conferences

New Washington starters Doug Meekins and Brent Merritt scored 18 points each as the Huskies raced to an early lead and defeated Stanford, 71-59, Thursday night in a Pacific 10 Conference basketball game at Seattle. Meekins, a sophomore forward making his second collegiate start, scored the first four points of the game, sparking a 6-0 run for the Huskies (7-6, 2-3). Merritt, a junior transfer in his first starting role at Washington, scored 10 points in the second half.

Once again, Damon Stoudamire doomed Stanford, scoring 29 points as No. 9 Arizona extended the 15th-ranked Cardinal's misery at McKale Center into a second decade Thursday night with an 84-73 victory at Tucson. Stoudamire had a career-high 45 points when the Wildcats beat Stanford, 89-83, in overtime a month ago.

Forward Roy Fisher scored 17 points, including eight during an eight-minute stretch in which California took the lead en route to a 63-58 victory over Washington Saturday in a Pacific 10 Conference game at Seattle. The Bears (12-4, 3-2) outscored Washington (7-7, 2-4), 16-4, during the run for a 52-45 lead with five minutes left. California Coach Lou Campanelli gave Fisher most of the credit for the second-half rally. "We were ignited by Roy's second half play," he said.

Washington is No. 1 in the Associated Press poll and Miami in the USA Today-CNN poll, and the coaches are arguing about who is running up scores. But, it could well be that Arizona will determine which winds up national champion. The surprising Wildcats can settle the issue by upsetting Washington on Saturday at Tucson. On the other hand, a decisive victory by the Huskies almost assuredly would give them the top spot in both polls.

Ordinarily, a week off in the middle of a tough football season is just what a college team needs. But rest might not have come at the right time for Arizona. After a strong performance in a one-point loss to top-ranked Miami, the Wildcats shut down UCLA and seemed to be in full stride. It will be interesting to see what became of all that momentum when the Wildcats play Saturday at Stanford. "All in all, I think the idle week could work to our benefit," Arizona Coach Dick Tomey said.

Lamond Murray scored 23 points, helping California overcome the absence of center Brian Hendrick and hand Oregon its 14th consecutive Pacific 10 Conference road loss, 82-65, Thursday. Cal (8-2) won a Pac-10 opener for the first time since a 74-70 victory over UCLA in 1988. Oregon (7-6) has not won a road game in the Pac-10 since it beat Cal, 83-70, in Berkeley on Feb. 3, 1991.

Rich Brooks is in his 18th season as Oregon's football coach, a remarkable feat considering that until this season, his Ducks were never in contention for the Rose Bowl bid in November. They finished second in the Pacific 10 Conference in 1989 and third the next year. So now Brooks, who just before the season, relinquished his duties as athletic director, needs Oregon to win its last two games to assure a Rose Bowl berth. Brooks already is sounding like a championship coach.

Dion Cross scored 22 points and reserve David Harbour scored 15 to lead Stanford to a 91-75 victory over No. 12 Arizona State on Thursday night at Palo Alto. Brevin Knight added 21 points for Stanford (11-1 overall, 2-1 in the Pacific 10), which led throughout the second half and never let the Sun Devils get closer than three points in the final 20 minutes. The Cardinal made 31 of 33 free throws, including 13 of 13 in the first half.