AT A GLANCE
* How they got there: Defeated Eastern Illinois, 101-76, and Butler, 73-52, in the first two rounds of the Midwest Regional at Kansas City, Mo.; defeated Mississippi, 66-56, in the regional semifinals and Illinois, 87-81, in the regional final at San Antonio.
* Leading tournament scorers: Arenas, 16.3, Woods 15.8, Gardner 11.8; Wright 11.3; Jefferson 11.3.
* Leading tournament rebounder: Woods 6.8.
* Season in review: Arizona, No. 1 in preseason polls, struggled to an 8-5 start. Coach Lute Olson took a leave of absence in late December to care for his wife, Bobbi, who died of ovarian cancer Jan. 1. Since Olson’s return, the Wildcats have won 17 of 19, including their last 10. The team’s strength is balance. All five starters were preseason Wooden Award candidates and all have scoring averages in double figures. The maturation of sophomore guards Jason Gardner and Gilbert Arenas keyed the midseason surge. Late in the season, enigmatic 7-foot-1 center Loren Woods emerged as a scorer and shot blocker.
* Key facts: Arizona shot 50.7% in the Midwest Regional and had four players score in double figures in each of the four games. None of Arizona’s regional opponents shot 40%. The Wildcats are 16-0 when scoring 80 or more points.
LOG
ARIZONA (27-7)
*Chaminade: W 97-57
*Dayton: W 76-59
*Illinois: W 79-76
**Purdue: L 72-69
Gonzaga: W 101-87
Saint Mary’s Ca: W 101-41
at Connecticut: L 71-69
***Illinois: L 81-73
LSU: W 88-75
Butler: W 72-60
Mississippi St: L 75-74
California: W 78-75
Stanford: L 85-76
at Washington St: W 84-51
at Washington: W 89-64
USC: W 71-58
UCLA: W 88-63
Arizona State: W 86-75
Texas: W 80-52
at Oregon: L 79-67
at Oregon St: W 68-41
Washington: W 82-62
Washington St: W 86-51
at UCLA: L 79-77
at USC: W 105-61
at Arizona State: W 88-58
Oregon St: W 65-54
Oregon: W 104-65
at Stanford: W 76-75
at California: W 78-76
NCAA tournament
Eastern Illinois: W 101-76
Butler: W 73-52
Mississippi: W 66-56
Illinois: W 87-81
* Invitational in Maui.
** at Indianapolis. *** at Chicago.
