Arizona Finishes Fast to Clinch Title

Salim Stoudamire scored four of his 18 points in the final 45 seconds as No. 1 Arizona clinched the Pacific 10 title for the 10th time in Coach Lute Olson’s 20-year tenure, beating No. 19 Stanford, 72-69, Saturday at Stanford.

Josh Childress had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Stanford, which had its season-best six-game winning streak end. The Cardinal had won 10 of their last 11 games and 13 of 15. They also had won nine in a row at home.

Childress made a three-point basket with 58 seconds left to cut Arizona’s lead to 68-67. Stoudamire then scored with 43 seconds remaining and came up with a key rebound 18 seconds later and was fouled. He made both free throws.

After the Wildcats’ Rick Anderson missed a free throw with 18 seconds left, Stanford had a final chance to tie the game. Childress missed a three-point shot with five seconds left, then Julius Barnes missed a three-pointer with one second on the clock.

At a school where winning Pac-10 titles is commonplace, Stoudamire was especially thrilled with the accomplishment. It’s his first conference championship.

“Our intensity on defense was the difference in this game,” the sophomore said. “We did the dirty work you have to do. In the second half we were a little tired. We were just hoping they would keep missing, and they did. I’m just really happy.”

Arizona (23-2, 15-1) avenged its only conference loss of the season -- Stanford (22-7, 13-4) beat the Wildcats, 82-77, on Jan. 30, in Tucson.

Arizona also completed its fourth straight sweep of the Bay area schools, having defeated No. 23 California, 88-75, Thursday night.

The previous three meetings between these teams at Maples Pavilion were decided by a total of 10 points. And Stanford’s win at Arizona a month ago was only the third time in school history the Cardinal had upset a No. 1 team.

Washington State 98, Washington 76 -- Marcus Moore, playing his first game in five weeks, scored 23 points to lead the Cougars at Pullman, Wash.

Moore, who underwent ankle surgery Jan. 24, made seven of 14 shots, including three of six three-point attempts, and made six of seven free throws.

Randy Green added 15 points for the Cougars (7-18, 2-14), who won consecutive Pac-10 games for the first time since beating Oregon and Oregon State in February 2002.

Washington’s Brandon Roy led with 17 points and seven rebounds. He scored 15 points in the second half, the most points against Washington (9-16, 4-12) in a half this season.