Jan. 20, 2004
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Date: Thursday, Jan. 22, 2004
Time: 6:30 p.m. MST
Location: Olson Court at McKale Center (14,545), Tucson, Ariz.
Radio: Wildcat Radio Network (Brian Jeffries/Joe Nehls)
TV: FSNA (Dave Sitton/Bob Elliott)
Game Data: Fourteenth-ranked Arizona (11-3, 3-2 Pac-10) returns to McKale Center for a brief two-game homestand beginning Thursday vs. Oregon State (8-7, 2-3 Pac-10) ... The Cats are in the middle of a stretch of the schedule in which the team is on the road for eight of 12 games ... Arizona is 7-1 when tied or leading 10 minutes into the first half ... The case for defensive improvement: UA opponents averaged 85.5 points in two games last week, which is why the Cats managed only a split despite averaging 93.5 points themselves.
The Rankings: Arizona fell to No. 14 in the Associated Press poll and to No. 12 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll after last week's action. The Cats opened the season ranked No. 4 in both major college basketball polls. UA has been ranked in 279 consecutive AP polls released during the regular season only.
Arizona Head Coach Lute Olson . . . is in his 21st season at Arizona and his 31st overall as a college head coach with a career record of 702-242 (.744) and 510-150 (.773) at Arizona ... He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Sept. 27, 2002 ... Olson recorded his 700th collegiate victory on Jan. 3, 2004, and became Arizona's career victories leader (510) on Jan. 17, 2004 ... He has the second-most Pac-10 wins (282) in history, trailing UCLA's John Wooden (304, 1949-75) ... Olson has the second-best conference winning percentage (.781/282-79) and second-most league championships won (10) in Pac-10 history (minimum three years), trailing only Wooden (.810/304-74/16 titles) ... During his 21-year tenure at Arizona, the Wildcats have won one national championship (1997), played in the national championship game (2001), participated in four Final Fours (1988, 1994, 1997, 2001), won 10 Pac-10 Conference titles, four Pac-10 Tournament crowns (1988, '89, '90, 2002) and been to the NCAA Tournament for the past 19 years, which is the longest active and second-longest streak in NCAA history (North Carolina, 27)... He also led Iowa to the 1980 Final Four ... Olson has been named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year seven times (1986, '88, '89, '93, '94, '98, 2003), the Big Ten Coach of the Year twice (1979 & '81) and directed the UA program to the nation's best winning percentage over the past 16 years (429-101/.809) ... In his collegiate career, Olson has produced 46 NBA Draft picks, including 27 at Arizona - 20 alone since 1990 ... He's led UA to 16 consecutive 20-win seasons and has 25 overall in his career, making him one of only five head coaches in NCAA history to record 25 or more 20-win seasons... Under Olson, the Cats are 301-31 (.907) in McKale Center and have won 229 of its last 245 home games ... He is assisted by Jim Rosborough, Rodney Tention and Josh Pastner... Olson is 36-6 against Oregon State.
Last Time Out: Arizona put forth one of its most complete performances of the season in handing UCLA a 97-72 defeat Saturday and making Lute Olson the winningest coach in school history. UA shot 54.4 percent from the floor, including 60.9 percent from three-point range, held a 39-31 rebound advantage and saw three players score more than 20 points as the Wildcats jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead and built momentum from there. Channing Frye finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds to give Olson his 510th win as the UA head coach.
Scouting Oregon State: The Beavers enter Thursday's game with an 8-7 record (2-3 Pac-10) following Saturday's 103-99 overtime loss against Washington. As a team, OSU shoots 42.5 percent from the floor (416-of-917) and averages 75.7 points per game, while outscoring the opposition by +2.5 points per game. The Beavers are being outrebounded by -2.4 rebounds per game. Individually, three OSU players average in double figures, led by David Lucas' 16.1 ppg average, and eight players see double-figure minutes per game. Lucas also leads the club with a 6.5 rebounds per game average.
The Series: Thursday's game marks the 55th meeting of the two schools with Arizona holding a 39-15 series advantage. UA has won eight of the last nine meetings in the series, which dates back to Nov. 28, 1975, including the last meeting, 72-60, March 6, 2003 in Tucson. All-time, Arizona is 22-5 in series games played in Tucson, 16-10 in Corvallis and 1-0 in neutral-site games. See page 126 in the UA media guide for more series information.
Last Meeting: Arizona 72, Oregon State 60, March 6, 2003: Arizona held Oregon State to 39.7 percent shooting and posted a 43-38 rebound advantage which enabled the Wildcats to grind out a 12-point win. Channing Frye posted his sixth double-double of the season with 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Luke Walton chipped in with 12 points, six boards and seven assists. The Beavers committed 15 turnovers in the contest and shot just 9-of-21 from the free throw line.
Tops In Tucson: Arizona head coach Lute Olson became Arizona's all-time winningest coach with Saturday's win over UCLA. Olson moved past legendary UA mentor Fred A. Enke with his 510th win at the school. Now in his 21st season at Arizona, Olson currently has a 510-150 (.774) record, while Enke amassed a 509-324 (.611) in 36 highly successful seasons (1925-61) in Tucson.
Holes in the Defense: Channing Frye helped Arizona to a split in conference play by averaging 21.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in two games last week. The junior connected on 17-of-27 (.630) of his field goal attempts and 9-of-13 (.692) attempts from the free throw line. He opened the week by totaling a team-high 17 points to go with six rebounds in Thursday's loss at USC. He hit 6-of-8 shots from the floor and added a blocked shots in the effort. He capped the week with game-high totals of 26 points and 10 rebounds in the win over UCLA. Frye hit a career-high 11-of-19 field goals en route to equaling his career best for points and six of his 10 rebounds were on the offensive glass. On the year, Frye is averaging 15.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots per game.
A Familiar Face: Thursday's Oregon State vs. Arizona matchup features Olson against one of his former assistants. Oregon State head coach Jay John was an assistant under Olson for four seasons (1998-2002). All told, Olson is 7-1 in games against his former aides. He is the one of four former Olson assistants to match wits with the mentor, joining Dick Kuchen (an Olson aide at Iowa), who was 1-3 vs. Olson at California; Kevin O'Neill, who was 0-1 at Marquette, and Jessie Evans who is 0-1 at Louisiana-Lafayette. John is 0-2 at Oregon State. Here is the eight-game breakdown:
Feb. 2, 1984 W, 56-50 vs. California (Kuchen)
March 3, 1984 L, 62-70 at California (Kuchen)
Jan. 10, 1985 W, 69-67 at California (Kuchen)
Feb. 9, 1985 W, 66-48 vs. California (Kuchen)
Jan. 8, 1994 W, 94-80 vs. Marquette (O'Neill)
Jan. 4, 2003 W, 80-65 at Oregon State (John)
Feb. 9, 2003 W, 72-60 vs. Oregon State (John)
Dec. 30, 2003 W, 72-69 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (Evans)
Anomaly: The Wildcats amassed 90 or more points in two games this week, but managed only a split in a pair of contests this week. Scoring 90 points is usually a good indicator of Arizona success as the Wildcats are 164-9 (.948) in the Lute Olson era when scoring or more points.
Doubling Up: Channing Frye's 26-point, 10-rebound effort Saturday was his third double-double of the season and the 18th of his career. It was also Frye's 20th double-figure rebounding game of his career.
Three Score: In Saturday's 97-72 win at UCLA, Arizona had three players score 20 or more points (Channing Frye 26, Salim Stoudamire 25, Hassan Adams 23) for the first time this season. In fact, it's the first time a trio of Wildcats has accomplished the feat since Feb. 2, 2002, when Channing Frye (22), Luke Walton (20) and Jason Gardner (20) each topped the 20-point plateau in a 88-82 (ot) win at Stanford - a span of 58 games. Arizona has 13 20-point games this season.
Making Shots: Arizona connected on 37-of-68 (.544) of its field goal attempts in Saturday's win, marking the fifth time the team has shot 50 percent or better from the filed this season. The Wildcats are 5-0 this season when shooting 50 percent or better from the field. Additionally, Arizona is 10-0 when shooting better than the opposition.
Record-Setting Effort: Bolstered by 60.9 percent shooting from three-point range (14-of-23), Arizona set a Pauley Pavilion record with 14 three-point field goals Saturday vs. the Bruins. Salim Stoudamire (7-of-11) and Hassan Adams (4-of-8) combined to connect on 11-of-19 (.579) attempts from behind the arc. All told, it's the fourth time this season that UA has shot 50 percent or better from three-point range.
On Target: Salim Stoudamire equaled a career best Saturday with seven three-point field goals. It was the second time this season that the junior from Portland, Ore., has nailed seven treys in a game (Dec. 13 vs. Marquette. In Pac-10 play, Stoudamire is shooting 48.8 (21-of-43) from three-point range. Saturday's effort also moved Stoudamire into a tie for fifth place on the Arizona career three-point field goals list with Khalid Reeves (1991-94) at 186 treys.
On the Rise: With each passing game, freshman Mustafa Shakur becomes a bit more comfortable in the point guard role and his play mirrors that. In Saturday's win, Shakur tallied 11 points (5-of-9 FG), five rebounds, six assists and zero turnovers in 33 minutes. All told, Shakur has five or more assists in eight of his last 11 games, while he has connected on 45-of-91 (.488) of his field goal attempts in his last 12 games. On the year, Shakur is averaging 9.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.
Board Work: Arizona's 39-31 rebound advantage in Saturday's win certainly was a welcome sight, and not just for statistical purposes. Prior to the UCLA contest, the Wildcats had been outrebounded in each of its last three games by an average margin in that span of 11.0 rebounds per game. Despite the lapse, Arizona still holds a +3.5 rebound advantage and is 8-1 when outrebounding the opposition.
Out of the Top 10: Despite snapping a two-game losing streak with a convincing win at UCLA, it wasn't enough to keep the club from falling out of the top 10 of the Associated Press Top 25 poll. The last time Arizona was ranked outside of the top 10 came during the week of March 4, 2002, - a span of 30 polling periods - when the Cats were ranked No. 15 in the AP poll.
Rising to the Top: Junior Salim Stoudamire has risen to the top of the UA scoring charts in Pac-10 play with 94 total points and an 18.8 points per game average. Through the first five games of league play, Stoudamire is shooting .524 (33-of-63) from the field, including .488 (21-of-43) from three-point range. He also leads the club with 152 minutes played (30.4 mpg) in league play.
Swatting Shots: Arizona continues to lead the Pac-10 with a 5.71 blocked shots per game average. Interestingly, UA was out-blocked, 4-1, in the win over UCLA, marking just the second time this season that an opponent (ASU) won the blocked shot battle.
Leading the Way: Sophomore Hassan Adams continues to lead the Wildcats in scoring with a 16.6 ppg average through 14 games. The 6-foot-4 native of Los Angeles ranks among the Pac-10 leaders in scoring (4th/16.6 ppg), blocks (3rd/2.0 bpg), steals (7th/1.6 spg) and rebounding (6th/7.4 rpg).
Scoring 80: Perhaps no statistic is more telling of UA success, as the squad is 118-12 (.908) since the start of the 1997-98 season when scoring at least 80 points. The Cats are 9-1 this season when scoring at least 80 points.
Early Signees: Coach Olson and his staff signed three student-athletes to National-Letters-of-Intent during the November early signing period. Daniel Dillon (G, 6-4, 190) from Hampton, Victoria, Australia, and North Laurel High School in London, Ky.; Jawann McClellan (G, 6-5, 202) from Houston, Texas, Charles H. Milby High School; and Mohamed Tangara (F, 6-9, 230) from Mali, West Africa, and Mt. Zion Christian Academy in Durham, N.C., will join the squad next fall.
Up Next: Following Thursday's game, Arizona plays a rare Sunday afternoon regular-season game. The Wildcats host Oregon on Sunday, Jan. 25, with tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m. MST. The contest will be televised by CBS-TV.
