Wildcats pounce on OSU to earn berth in title game

LOS ANGELES – The Oregon State University Beavers never knew what hit them.

No. 8 Arizona had five players in double figures and used a 12-0 run at the start of the second half to complete a record-setting 90-59 victory Friday in the Pacific-10 Conference men’s basketball tournament semifinals.

“That’s been something that has happened to this team all season long,” Arizona coach Lute Olson said about the second-half spurt. “We were almost letter perfect in the second half with our shooting.”

Channing Frye led the Wildcats with 17 points. Frye, who was 10 of 11 from the floor against Cal, finished 7 of 8 against the Beavers and has shot 89.5 percent in two tourney games.

Arizona (27-5) advanced to today’s title game at Staples Center against No. 14 Washington, a 66-63 winner over Stanford. It will be Arizona’s fifth final appearance in eight years.

“I was hoping we’d get an opportunity to play three games because I thought it would get us ready for next week,” said Olson, who believes Arizona is a credible threat for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. “We’ll try to get the Pony Express going to get the word out East that we played well.”

The top-seeded Wildcats have won a record four tournament titles and their 15-3 tourney record is the best. It was their second straight blowout win, having routed California 88-63 in Thursday’s first round.

Arizona’s 31-point winning margin set a tournament record, breaking its mark of 26 points in a 93-67 win over Oregon State in the 1988 title game.

“We’ve been playing extremely well on the defensive end,” said Salim Stoudamire, who added 17 points.

OSU coach Jay John, a former Arizona assistant, said the current Wildcats are better than the 2002-03 team that went 17-1 in the Pac-10. He was on Olson’s staff when Arizona made the 2001 Final Four.

The fifth-seeded Beavers (17-14) have their first winning record since 1989-90 and are likely to make the NIT field, which would be their first postseason berth since that season.

Arizona’s Jawann McClellan had 15 off the bench, Hassan Adams added 14 and Mustafa Shakur 10.

Stoudamire hit three 3-pointers, giving him 322 in his career. Today, he could break the conference record of 323 set by Arizona State’s Stevin Smith from 1991-94.

David Lucas led OSU with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Arizona 90, Oregon St. 59

Oregon State (17-14)—DeWitz 4-7 1-1 10, Lucas 6-12 3-4 15, Jeffers 4-5 0-0 8, Hurd 0-1 0-0 0, Stephens 0-5 0-0 0, Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Remmers 0-3 0-0 0, Fontenet 1-6 0-0 3, Cuic 2-9 3-4 9, Nash 4-4 5-5 14, Potter 0-0 0-0 0, Hooks 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-54 12-14 59.

Arizona (27-5)—Adams 6-12 2-3 14, Radenovic 3-8 2-2 8, Frye 7-8 3-3 17, Shakur 4-6 1-1 10, Stoudamire 5-10 4-4 17, Fox 0-1 0-0 0, McClellan 6-7 1-3 15, Dillon 1-1 0-0 2, Rodgers 2-3 0-0 5, Verdejo 0-1 0-0 0, Brase 1-1 0-0 2, Brielmaier 0-0 0-0 0, Walters 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-59 13-16 90.

Halftime—Arizona 40, Oregon State 35. 3-point goals—Oregon State 5-21 (Cuic 2-4, Nash 1-1, DeWitz 1-2, Fontenet 1-4, Hurd 0-1, Jones 0-1, Lucas 0-1, Remmers 0-3, Stephens 0-4), Arizona 7-15 (Stoudamire 3-7, McClellan 2-3, Rodgers 1-1, Shakur 1-1, Radenovic 0-1, Adams 0-2). Fouled out—None. Rebounds—Oregon State 27 (Lucas 12), Arizona 31 (Frye 7). Assists—Oregon State 15 (Fontenet 5), Arizona 15 (Adams 4). Total fouls—Oregon State 14, Arizona 16. A–NA.