If Craig Robinson received a phone call Saturday evening from his brother-in-law, United States president-elect Barack Obama, it wasn’t to congratulate him, as he has done previously.

Referee Bobby McRoy ejected the Oregon State men’s basketball head coach from the Beavers’ game against Arizona with 2:14 remaining; at the time, his team was trailing by just 8 points after being down by as much as 18.

But Robinson yelled at McRoy when a few of his players were knocked over by UA forward Jordan Hill’s rebounding attempt. UA forward Chase Budinger grabbed the loose ball in the backcourt and passed it to point guard Nic Wise

As that transpired, an unhappy Robinson made his case heard to the referees, resulting in a double technical foul and immediate ejection.

“”When my two guys fell down, and there was no call, that is what set me off,”” Robinson said. “”… I said, ‘That was a foul,’ but I said it very loud. I wanted him to make sure he heard me.””

Budinger made all four of the ensuing free throws, putting the Wildcats (11-5, 2-2 Pacific 10 Conference) up 59-46 and giving him 24 points. Arizona finished the game on a 9-0 run after the ejection, comfortably beating the Beavers (6-8, 1-3) 64-47 in McKale Center.

OSU was only able to attempt one field goal after Robinson’s ejection -ÿa botched wide-open dunk by guard Calvin Haynes in the final seconds.

The Wildcats had no choice but to take advantage of Oregon State’s collapse in the final moments, Budinger said.

“”The game’s never over,”” said Budinger, who led all scorers on 7-for-13 shooting. “”You’ve got to play through until the horn sounds. That’s what our coaches have been telling us: anyone can go on a 7-0, 8-0 run.””

It was Budinger’s second straight 20-point game, and Hill chipped in with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Wise, however, scored just 3 points on 1-for-9 shooting in the contest.

“”We asked Nic to do a lot,”” said UA interim head coach Russ Pennell. “”I thought today his shot wasn’t falling, but I thought he did some other things pretty well.

“”It’s tough right now when you’re the point guard of this team, and you’ve got to carry the ball as long as he does,”” Pennell added. “”He’s got to be out there a lot, and I’m sure it takes its toll on him.””

The Beavers kicked off the second half on a 6-0 run, cutting their deficit to 34-27.

Arizona missed their first six shots of the half before Zane Johnson converted a 3-point play under the basket, curing a 5:02 dry spell for Arizona.

“”I think we just weren’t knocking down shots on the offensive end,”” Budinger said. “”I know I had a little jumper I missed, Jordan had a little jumper he missed.

“”On the defensive end we were a little lazy at the beginning of the second half, and they were able to get to the rim,”” Budinger added. “”Once we said, ‘That was it,’ I don’t think they did that anymore.””

Wise scored his only 3 points of the game with a long ball at the 8:23 mark to gave Arizona a 46-34 lead. Nearly three minutes late, the Wildcats took their biggest lead of the night when Hill sank two free throws, catapulting them to a 52-36 advantage.

It wasn’t so pretty in the first half, though.

After being down 5-0, the Beavers cut the lead to within one and stayed with the Wildcats. Though both teams showed solid ball movement in the opening 20 minutes -ÿthe Wildcats had eight assists on 13 baskets, and the Beavers had 7 dimes with 9 buckets -ÿOSU controlled the tempo of the game, slowing down the home team on the offensive end in the process.

Guard Ricky Claitt made a fade-away 3-pointer from the right side 9:35 into the half to bring the Beavers within a point, 12-11.

“”I thought we were really tired today. … It just seemed like some of them didn’t have enough gas in the take, so to speak,”” Pennell said.

After Claitt’s basket, Kyle Fogg, Budinger and Johnson all made consecutive 3-pointers, followed by a layup and another 3 from Budinger to put the Wildcats ahead 26-11, ending a potent 14-0 run.

Aside from Arizona’s week showing to open the second half, the Wildcats never looked back, especially after the Beavers lost their head coach for the final minutes of the game.

“”I didn’t feel like we were as sharp as we’ve been, but full credit to our guys,”” Pennell said. “”I thought we battled.””

And 1

UA freshman guard Garland Judkins did not play. He sat on the bench in street clothes, but Pennell wouldn’t elaborate why.

“”Coach’s decision,”” Pennell said.

When asked if Judkins would play next weekend against the Los Angeles schools, Pennell said, “”I’m not talking about him. I want to stay on this game.””

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Johnson registered 9 points, 5 boards and 3 assists, a breakthrough performance for the forward who said he may have come into the game in a shooting slump.

Since netting 17 points against Loyola Marymount on Dec. 2, Johnson scored just 19 points over the next eight games.

He had about 1,200 shots in the gym with associate coach Mike Dunlap to thank for it.

“”It’s a little crazy,”” Johnson said.

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For the second consecutive game, the Ooh Ahh man appeared on the court to give Arizona a boost.

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Former Arizona head coach Lute Olson was in attendance for the third straight home game. He sat with his estranged wife, Christine Olson.