2/20/2005

By BOB BAUM AP Sports Writer
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) Senior Day was sensational for Salim Stoudamire.

The left-handed sharpshooter, in his final home game, sank a school record nine 3-pointers and scored 31 points to lead No. 10 Arizona to a 91-70 rout of Oregon State on Sunday.

"Salim was disgustingly good," said teammate Channing Frye, also a senior in his last game at McKale Center. "They were trying so hard to keep him from shooting. There is only so much they could do."

Frye added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats, who won their sixth in a row and stayed alone in first place in the Pac-10. Stoudamire and Frye left the game with 9:43 to play and Arizona leading 74-49.

Hassan Adams had 13 points, tied his season high with 10 rebounds, and had five steals for the Wildcats (23-4, 13-2 Pac-10), who finished 15-1 at home. Ivan Radenovic added 10 points.

"We are far and away the best we've been all year," Arizona coach Lute Olson said. "But we're going to get better."

Nick DeWitz and Jason Fontenet scored 16, and David Lucas had 15 for the Beavers (14-11, 6-8), 0-7 on the road in the Pac-10.

Stoudamire, 9-for-14 on 3-pointers, broke Jason Gardner's school record of eight, set against Kansas on Dec. 1, 2001.

"I was feeling a career night," he said. "Now I got one with 3s."

He fell one shy of the Pac-10 record held by Stephen "Headache" Smith of Arizona State.

Olson wasn't aware that Stoudamire was so close to the conference mark.

"If I had known, I would have left him in," Olson said.

Oregon State coach Jay John helped recruit Stoudamire when John was an Arizona assistant.

"Salim changed the whole game," John said. "We played well in the first half, but he just changed the game by hitting shots. He drained the energy out of us and gave it to everyone else in the gym."

Olson repeatedly has called Stoudamire the best shooter in college basketball.

"Salim was what Salim is," Olson said. "I swear that every day in practice, he does the same thing. You give him a look and it's almost automatic."

Stoudamire's only field goal that wasn't a 3-pointer came with his foot on the 3-point line. He also had his elbow hit on a couple of shots that ended up air balls.

"It was another day at the office," Stoudamire said.

A 55 percent 3-point shooter this season _ tied for first in Division I _ Stoudamire was 5-of-5 on 3s in the final 6:16 of the first half to put Arizona up 45-33 at the break.

"You just can't guard him," Dewitz said. "He was hitting shots from almost halfcourt."

Stoudamire made four 3's in a breathtaking final 2:22 of the half. The left-hander made one from about 25 feet and another from 28 feet out, near the "N" on the "Arizona" decal on the court. The final one, shot just before the buzzer and three feet from the top of the key, capped the outburst.

Three-pointers by Stoudamire started and ended a 13-0 run that blew open a 71-44 lead for the Wildcats with 11:50 to play. His record-breaker with 10:13 to play put the Wildcats ahead 74-49.

The Wildcats jumped out to leads of 14-3 and 21-7, but Oregon State went on a 13-2 run to cut it 23-20 on Chris Stephens' 5-footer with 10:04 left in the half.

Stoudamire was 6-for-8 on 3s in the first half. That tied the school record for a half set by Matt Othick against Temple on Feb. 23, 1992, and matched by Chris Mills against Delaware State on Dec. 28, 1992.

With three regular-season games and the Pac-10 and NCAA tournaments still ahead, Stoudamire has 311 3-points, seven shy of Gardner's school record of 318. Smith, later implicated in a point-shaving scandal, has the Pac-10 record of 323.

Stoudamire moved up to seventh on Arizona's career scoring list. Frye is 11th. Arizona finished 50-8 at home in the seniors' four seasons at the school.

All senior players were honored in a ceremony with their parents after the game.

"I was just hanging with my dad and talked like it was a regular day," Stoudamire said. "It didn't start hitting me until right before the game that this is my last home game. I kind of got a little sad."