Feb. 20, 2002
By MEL REISNER
AP Sports Writer
TUCSON, Ariz. - Salim Stoudamire scored 24 points, including No. 14 Arizona's last two baskets, and the Wildcats hung on for an 83-75 victory over Arizona State on Wednesday night.
Stoudamire hit a 3-pointer that made it 72-66 with 4:28 left, and tipped in a miss by Luke Walton with 41 seconds to play that gave the Wildcats a 78-73 lead.
The Wildcats rode out the victory at the free throw line, glad to be there after allowing Arizona State to recover from an 18-point deficit in the first half.
The Wildcats (18-8, 11-5 Pac-10) had lost to UCLA and Southern California in Los Angeles over the weekend and were trying to avoid losing three straight regular-season games for the first time since 1983-84. That season they had losing streaks of six, four and three games during coach Lute Olson's first year with the program.
With a win, Arizona kept its hopes alive for a conference championship, remaining just behind USC, Stanford and Oregon, all tied for first with 10-4 records.
Rick Anderson had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Jason Gardner added 16 points for Arizona.
Arizona State's Curtis Millage had a career-high 27 points, and Chad Prewitt had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Sun Devils (14-11, 7-9), who beat Arizona 88-72 in Tempe on Jan. 23 - their first win in 13 tries against their most bitter rival.
But Prewitt hurt his right calf with 1:22 left and limped from the court. He was the second Sun Devil in the dressing room when the game ended.
With 6:01 left in the first half, Arizona State's Kyle Dodd, a reserve guard, piled on while teammate Chris Osborne and Arizona's Walton were wrestling for a rebound.
After a scuffle, Dodd was ejected, and Stoudamire made two technical free throws for a 39-21 lead, Arizona's biggest of the game.
Millage, who had tied it at 58 with a layup a minute before, made an 8-footer that gave Arizona State a 60-58 lead with 9:36 left.
Dennis Latimore gave Arizona a 63-62 lead with a three-point play with 10:41 left, Stoudamire made a layup and Channing Frye scored on a goaltending called with 7:37 to go.
The 67-62 lead stood up, although Smith had two baskets, the latter a 15-footer on the baseline that narrowed it to 67-66 with 5:23 to play.