BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- Outworked and outhustled by California, Arizona relied on smarts and a little luck down the stretch.

Loren Woods scored 23 points, including two key baskets over the final 1:30, and Arizona (No. 4 ESPN/USA Today, No. 5 AP) beat California 65-61 Thursday night in the teams' Pac-10 opener.

The Wildcats (12-2) staved off the upset bid with clutch shooting and mistake-free play in the late going after a slow start.

"As bad as we played for 20, 25 minutes, that's a relief," Woods said.

Cal (9-4), which started four freshmen, hurt itself by committing 14 of its 21 turnovers in the second half, including two critical giveaways in the last four minutes.

"It's obvious the team that played the hardest didn't win," said Arizona coach Lute Olson, whose Wildcats were outrebounded 46-31. "Cal killed us on the inside boards and went to the glass relentlessly each time underneath. (But) in the end, they played like a young team and made bad decisions and had too many turnovers."

Cal coach Ben Braun said the Bears' mistakes were too much to overcome despite the intense effort.

"We really played harder than Arizona. I talked to Lute after the game and he even told me that," Braun said. "This is a tough game to swallow because we feel we were definitely good enough tonight to get the win."

Michael Wright added 15 points and the freshmen backcourt of Gilbert Arenas and Jason Gardner had 10 points each for the Wildcats (12-2), who won their conference opener for the third time in four years while giving Olson his 599th career victory.

Olson will seek his next one Saturday, when Arizona plays top-ranked Stanford.

"This trip is not going to be a picnic," Olson said.

Nick Vander Laan's 14 points led Cal, while Dennis Gates and Sean Lampley added 12 points each.

The Wildcats were trailing 56-51 when they put together a 7-0 burst, moving in front 58-56 on a putback and two free throws by Wright.

Lampley grabbed an offensive rebound and dunked to tie it 58-all but Arizona scored six straight points, starting with Luke Walton's 6-foot runner in the lane. Woods had a driving layup off a feed from Gardner and then hit a short turnaround jumper with 50 seconds remaining.

Brian Wethers came back with a 3-pointer but that was the last score for Cal. Gardner made one of two free throws with 18 seconds left and Joe Shipp and Lampley missed long jumpers for Cal in the final seconds.

Arizona went in front 51-50 behind an 11-3 run that included 3-pointers from Gardner and Walton but Cal scored the next six points, starting with a 15-foot jumper by Lampley to regain the lead.

Vander Laan scored 10 of his points in the first half, when Cal led 40-35.