Arizona Has Last Rights

Nobody can stop Salim Stoudamire when he doesn’t stop himself, it seems.

His driving 17-footer with 2.8 seconds left against Oklahoma State gave Arizona a 79-78 victory in a Chicago Regional semifinal Thursday, and now only once-beaten Illinois stands between the Wildcats and the Final Four.

“I think they’ve got a great shot to beat Illinois,” Oklahoma State Coach Eddie Sutton said.

Put the ball in Stoudamire’s hands with the game on the line, and not many people will doubt him.

Trailing by one, Stoudamire called a clear-out and ignored a screen set by Channing Frye to drive on Oklahoma State’s Daniel Bobik, darting forward to create space and going up hard against Bobik and Terrence Crawford, trying to help on the play.

“As soon as I saw Salim cross over, I went to the front of the rim,” said Frye, who knew the shot was going up -- and was pretty certain there wouldn’t be a rebound.

Arizona Coach Lute Olson had a good feeling too.

“He’s about perfect when it’s down to the last shot.”

Oklahoma State (26-7) still had one more shot.

With 2.8 seconds left, Oklahoma State got the ball in to John Lucas, but Arizona, with a foul to give, fouled him near midcourt with 1.3 seconds left, leaving Oklahoma State with precious little time to set up a shot.

Once again, the Cowboys went to Lucas -- the player who made the shot that sent Oklahoma State to the Final Four last season when he scored with 6.9 seconds left against St. Joseph’s.

He got off a baseline three-pointer in time, but it bounded off the rim.

“When I let it go, I thought it was going in,” Lucas said. “When it hit the rim, my heart just dropped, because it’s my last game playing for Oklahoma State University. Everything this program’s done for me, it’s just a real sad moment right now.”

Arizona (30-6), which made an astonishing 66% of its shots against a strong Oklahoma State defense, jumped to a 10-point lead early in the game but it slipped away after Stoudamire -- who finished with 19 points and made four of seven three-point shots -- spent 10 minutes of the first half on the bench with two fouls.

Hassan Adams kept Arizona in the game, scoring 10 of his 19 points in the first half, including a dagger of a three-pointer just before halftime that gave Arizona a 41-38 lead. (Adams made three of four from behind the arc in the game.)

In the second half, with Stoudamire less aggressive and Bobik playing good defense on him, Oklahoma State came back.

Forward Joey Graham, held to single digits in each of the Cowboys’ first two games, broke out with 26 points and eight rebounds, and made a surprising three of five three-point shots.

Oklahoma State led by four points late in the game, but Stoudamire sank an off-balance three-pointer with 1:58 left to cut it to one and Frye made a short jumper for a one-point Arizona lead.

Graham gave Oklahoma State the lead once more with 19 seconds left on a floating drive, setting up Arizona’s final possession.

It was Stoudamire’s time, and the player once best-known for streaky shooting and pouting is now known for winning.

“It’s on me. I want to do it,” Stoudamire had told assistant coach Jim Rosborough a few minutes earlier.

“I thrive in those situations,” Stoudamire said after the game. “That’s what I live for.”