Two days after scoring two points in a blowout loss at McArthur Court, Oregon State junior guard Jimmie Haywood left the Beavers program.
Haywood, a starter for 21 of Oregon State’s 24 games this season, said Monday his departure was based on personal reasons.
“We appreciate all that Jimmie has done for this program,” Oregon State head coach Ritchie McKay said. “I’m sad to see him leave our program, and I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”
Haywood averaged nine points in just under 28 minutes per game. He is ranked eighth on OSU’s all-time list for most three-pointers made with 93.
The Seattle native’s best game came on Jan. 24 when he scored a career-high 23 points in a 74-72 win at Washington State. Haywood’s three free throws in the closing seconds lifted the Beavers to the victory.
Oregon State (10-14, 3-11) must find a way to deal with the absence of Haywood in its remaining four Pacific-10 Conference games, as the Beavers are just a half-game ahead of Washington for eighth-place.
The Huskies visit Gill Coliseum on Thursday to try to take over the lead position in the fight for the eighth and final spot in the Pac-10 Tournament.

Back and forth they go
The top six men’s basketball teams in the Pac-10 are on a teeter-totter.
One weekend, some teams are up. The next, they’re down.
But in reality, all six contenders for the league title have remained at an even keel, with neither end of the playground structure touching the bark dust.
Last week at this time, Arizona was alone at the top before entering a tough two-game road trip in Los Angeles. The Wildcats proceeded to drop a tough 77-76 loss at UCLA on Thursday and then a 94-89 decision at Southern California.
Just like that, first place was out of their hands and was now being shared by USC, Stanford at Oregon with 10-4 league records, while the Wildcats stand a half-game back at 10-5. Below Arizona is California and UCLA at 9-5.
Arizona head coach Lute Olson knows that two losses on the road doesn’t eliminate his team in this wacky conference race, especially with just one game separating all six teams. The Ducks lost two overtime decisions in the Bay Area, fell out of first, and then beat Oregon State on Saturday to jump right back to the top.
In Olson’s eyes, his Wildcats still have an advantage since they close out the regular season at the McKale Center.
“I think the league champ or co-champs will be in that position as a result of the last game a week from Saturday,” Olson said Monday. “When you take a look at the schedules, we’re fortunate to have three games at home. This week, USC and UCLA are up in the Bay Area, and the last weekend Oregon is at USC and UCLA.
“The teams that are bunched in the top six will be meeting one another through the next two weeks.”
Arizona may be in Tucson for the rest of the season, but it won’t necessarily be smooth sailing. The Wildcats face an always dangerous Arizona State team Wednesday and then close things out a week later with Stanford and California.
The Sun Devils are coming off a 69-68 upset at UCLA and have already beat the Wildcats, 88-72, on Jan. 24.
“I was impressed when we played them up there,” Olson said. “They are playing very well. Defensively, they get after you. They are a very aggressive team.”
Arizona’s two road losses were a rarity for the Wildcats. Under Olson, it was just the seventh time in 72 Pac-10 road trips that the Wildcats have been swept.

Polls and honor rolls
Five Pac-10 teams showed up in Monday’s Associated Press top-25 poll with the Ducks climbing two spots to No. 15.
Stanford heads the class at No. 10 while Arizona’s weekend losses dropped it to No. 14. USC and UCLA swapped positions from a week ago, as the Trojans jumped five spots to No. 20 and the Bruins barely made the poll at the 25th spot.
Also announced Monday was the Pac-10 player of the week award, which went to USC’s David Bluthenthal, who averaged 26 points and almost 10 rebounds during two wins over the Arizona schools.
Bluthenthal was the first Trojan to receive the award this season, leaving the Ducks as the only team in the Pac-10 to not yet have a player honored.

ASU ends streak, loses SID
Arizona State accomplished something that Oregon hopes to do later this season. The Sun Devils ended a long drought of losses at UCLA with their 69-68 victory Saturday.
The last time Arizona State had won at Pauley Pavilion was on Feb. 16, 1987. Similarly, Oregon’s last victory at UCLA came on Feb. 9, 1984.
One employee of the Arizona State athletic department wasn’t around for the conclusion Saturday, though. ASU sports information director Doug Tammaro was ejected from the game with seven seconds left for reportedly offending official Charles Range while protesting his calls.

Bracketology
Oregon’s seed and its opponent stayed the same, but the location and the date of its game changed.
In this week’s “Bracketology” on ESPN.com, where the entire NCAA Tournament field is projected, the Ducks remain a fifth-seed and have a first round match-up with 12th-seeded Mississippi State.
The teams are predicted to meet in Dallas, Texas, on March 15.