Oregon State
Arizona (Pac-10 Tournament)
Beavers Fall To Wildcats In Semifinals, 90-59
March 11, 2005 | Men's Basketball
March 11, 2005
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES - Channing Frye led five teammates in double figures with 17 points and No. 8 Arizona used a 12-0 run at the start of the second half to put away Oregon State 90-59 Friday night in the Pac-10 tournament semifinals.
Arizona (27-5) advanced to Saturday's title game against either No. 14 Washington or Stanford, who met in the late semifinal at Staples Center. It will be their fifth final appearance in eight years.
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 record, breaking its own mark of 26 points in a 93-67 win over Oregon State in the 1988 title game.
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 tournament since that season.
Frye, who was 10-of-11 from the floor against Cal, finished 7-of-8 against the Beavers.
Salim Stoudamire added 17 points, Jawann McClellan had 15 off the bench, Hassan Adams had 14 and Mustafa Shakur 10.
Stoudamire hit three 3-pointers, giving him 322 in his career. On Saturday, he could break the conference record of 323 set by Arizona State's Stevin Smith from 1991-94.
David Lucas led Oregon State with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Reserve J.S. Nash added 14 points.
Ahead by five at the break, the Wildcats stunned the Beavers by scoring 12 straight points to start the second half and take a 52-35 lead. Nick DeWitz, one of the Beavers' top scorers, picked up his fourth foul in the run.
After a timeout, Oregon State regrouped with a 6-0 run, highlighted by David Lucas' one-handed dunk that excited the crowd. But that was the Beavers' only spurt of the half.
Arizona responded with 3-pointers from Shakur, McClellan and Chris Rodgers over the next five minutes to push its lead to 67-50. The Wildcats missed just 10 shots in the second half.
Just as he did the night before, Wildcats coach Lute Olson was able to rest his starters and give his bench valuable playing time.
The Beavers failed to outshoot their opponent for the first time in six games. They hit 39 percent, while Arizona connected on 59 percent. Oregon State had held its previous three opponents under 40 percent.
Oregon State's Chris Stephens, who had 17 points in a first-round win over UCLA, didn't score.
