Arizona Erases 20-Point Deficit, Stuns Kansas

Salim Stoudamire got embarrassed. Then he got motivated.

Stoudamire, benched Wednesday night because of poor play, scored a career-high 32 points Saturday and No. 1 Arizona stormed back from a 20-point deficit to stun No. 6 Kansas, 91-74, at Lawrence, Kan.

Against Arizona State on Wednesday, the 6-foot-1 Stoudamire scored only three points and played 20 minutes. Against the Jayhawks, in a game featuring the two highest-rated teams to face each other all year, he was 12 of 18 from the field and made six of nine three-point shots.

“He shot the ball and he played hard,” Arizona Coach Lute Olson said. “I benched him on Wednesday and it helped him. I think we got the point across.”

Stoudamire had two baskets in a momentum-changing 10-0 run by Arizona (15-1) that started the second half and ignited the comeback.

“I was just playing my game,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking about anything else. I just tried to move to the open spot and get good shots.”

Kansas (13-5), which shot a sizzling 65% in the first half and led 44-24 with 5:37 left, shot only 29% in the second half even though the Wildcats played essentially the same defense.

Coach Roy Williams and his players were at a loss to explain how they could lead by 20 in Allen Fieldhouse and then wind up suffering their most lopsided home loss since 1989.

“In the first half we looked as good as anybody in America,” Williams said. “In the second half we looked like a team that couldn’t win another game the rest of the season. It’s impossible to figure out, let alone explain.”

The loss ended the Jayhawks’ 25-game home winning streak and their 13-point halftime lead was the biggest they had blown in Williams’ 15 years as head coach.

“Our confidence the first half was great,” guard Kirk Hinrich said. “But to have a dropoff like that in a game like this is just so disappointing. We were very positive, confident. But I guess overconfident. We just didn’t play.”

Arizona turned it completely around with the run over the first 3:31 of the second half, slicing a 13-point deficit to 52-49.

Stoudamire’s three-point basket about a minute later made it 54-53 and gave the Wildcats their first lead since the opening minutes of the game.

“The No. 1 team was not on the floor in the first half, I’ll guarantee you that,” Olson said.

Jason Gardner, on a feed from Stoudamire, scored under the basket to put the Wildcats on top, 76-66, with 5:55 to go and quiet the roaring crowd of more than 16,000.

“They were as loud as any crowd, if not louder,” Arizona’s Luke Walton said. “It’s a great atmosphere here.”

No. 23 Oregon 76, Washington State 66 -- Luke Ridnour scored 28 points, and the Ducks (14-4, 4-3) overcame a one-point halftime deficit at Eugene, Ore., to hand the Cougars (5-12, 0-8) their eighth consecutive loss. With the score tied, 51-51, with 7:19 left, Oregon scored 11 consecutive points to take control.

Oregon State 82, Washington 62 -- Jimmie Haywood scored 16 points and the Beavers (9-7, 2-5) surged in the second half to defeat the Huskies (7-10, 2-6) at Corvallis, Ore. Tied 40-40, Oregon State went on a 9-0 run to make it 49-40. Haywood’s three-point shot with 8:18 left gave the Beavers a 66-53 lead and the Huskies never got within 12.