Olson earns record 305th conference victory

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- A record 305 Pac-10 victories for Lute Olson, and another outright conference title for the Arizona Wildcats after an afternoon of high drama against their often-overshadowed in-state rivals.

Salim Stoudamire's apparent shuffle of the feet went undetected and his double-pump 14-foot jumper went in with six-tenths of a second to play to give the 11th-ranked Wildcats a 70-68 victory over Arizona State.

The Wildcats (25-5, 15-3) won their 11th conference title and ninth outright because No. 10 Washington lost at Stanford earlier in the day, and Arizona's 20th victory in its last 21 meetings with Arizona State was a thriller.

"ASU? They played their hearts out," Stoudamire said. "We got up a bunch and they fought back, showed some grit. We got up in the second half and they fought back, showed some grit, and it went down to the wire."

The Sun Devils (18-12, 7-11) rallied from 18 down in the first half to pull within one at the break and from 15 behind in the second half to take the lead.

Stoudamire scored 22, but his game-winner was his only field goal after halftime. Replays showed he took a small extra step on the play, but there was no whistle. Kevin Kruger's desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer was far short.

Embattled Arizona State coach Rob Evans wouldn't comment on the non-call.

"I don't get into officiating," Evans said. "I mean, you saw the play."

In the Arizona locker room afterward, the players chanted "3-0-5" and then doused Olson with water to celebrate his 305th Pac-10 victory, breaking the record of 304 by John Wooden.

"It means I've been here a long time, I guess," Olson said. "Whatever you accomplish with the numbers, I mean, I haven't won a game. That's the whole thing you have to remember. There have been a lot of guys who have put blood, sweat and tears into this thing happening."

Hassan Adams scored all 15 of his points in the second half for Arizona. Mustafa Shakur added 14 points. Channing Frye had 10 points and nine rebounds but was just 3-for-11 shooting.

Ike Diogu, the Pac-10 scoring and rebounding leader, scored 25 points and played the last 11½ minutes with four fouls. Steve Moore, Adams' cousin, added 16 points. Jason Braxton had nine points, seven assists and nine rebounds in his final home game for ASU.

"Nobody really thought we stood a chance against them," Diogu said, "so we just wanted to prove everybody wrong. I felt like we deserved to win this game."

Diogu's two free throws tied it at 68 with 48 seconds to play. Adams missed for Arizona, but Stoudamire came away with the ball and Olson called a timeout with 20 seconds to left. Stoudamire took the inbound pass, dribbled down the clock and then had to double-pump against Braxton's tight defense before lofting it in.

"Oh man, I tried to force him right and stepped back and created enough cushion to get his shot off," Braxton said. "He kind of hung up a little bit in the air so I couldn't block it. He made a great play."

Evans, whose job may be in trouble, fell to 1-14 against Olson in seven seasons as the Sun Devils' coach.

"Just with all the rumors that we're hearing about coach Evans, we really wanted to get this win," Moore said. "Forget Senior Day, forget the records and all this -- you're hearing rumors and it hurts us that it's about our head coach when we're trying to get into a tournament. Our main thing was trying to get this thing for coach Evans, and we came up short."

Arizona scored 19 in a row early to go up 22-4, but Arizona State rallied and Kruger's 3-pointer with three seconds left cut the lead to 37-36 at the half.