Dec 4, 2001

Box Score

By BOB BAUM
AP Sports Writer

PHOENIX (AP) - To say Arizona coach Lute Olson is surprised by his young team's start this season is an understatement.

"Somebody said after our first game in New York that I looked shocked," Olson said after his seventh-ranked Wildcats held off No. 5 Illinois 87-82 Tuesday night. "I am shocked."

Arizona, unranked in the preseason after losing four starters from its NCAA runner-up team, has beaten Maryland, Florida, Texas and now Illinois. The lone loss was 105-97 in Tucson Saturday against No. 4 Kansas. Every game has been against a ranked team.

Jason Gardner scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, including six consecutive free throws over the final 54 seconds, as Arizona beat the Illini for the third time in four tries over the past 13 months.

Their last meeting was an 87-81 Arizona victory in last season's Midwest Regional final.

Frank Williams scored 16 of his 30 points over the last 4:19 as the Illini (6-2), who trailed by as many as 19 points early in the second half, narrowed the gap to four.

"I think Will's ready to turn the corner," Illinois coach Bill Self said. "He showed a great effort."

Rick Anderson scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 21 minutes for the Wildcats (4-1) before fouling out with 57 seconds to play. Freshman Isaiah Fox added 12 points, nine in the first half as Arizona built a 16-point lead.

The Wildcats had four freshmen on the floor with Gardner when they took the big lead.

"People can't believe we're 4-1 with the schedule that we've played," Luke Walton said, "but like I've said, the freshmen we have are capable of doing this all the time."

Williams' third 3-pointer in his late rush cut the lead to 84-80 with 36 seconds to go.

Gardner lifted Arizona out of danger with his final two free throws that made it 86-80 with 32 seconds remaining, then Fox made one of two from the line to put the Wildcats ahead 87-80 with 16 seconds to go. Sean Harrington, fouled by Fox on a 3-point attempt, made two of three free throws with 7.8 seconds to play for the final margin.

Gardner made 12 of 15 free throws, while Williams was 9-for-9 at the line.

The Illini made four of 20 3-pointers. Corey Bradford was 0-for-8 from 3-point range and 3-for-15 overall.

"We just don't have the way we really want to play down yet," Self said, "but we're showing improvement."

The teams met for the fourth time over the last 13 months. The Wildcats won three of the four, including an 87-81 victory in last season's Midwest Regional final.

The game was the first half of a doubleheader dubbed the Southwest Showdown at America West Arena. Arizona State played Utah in the second game.

Illinois went inside in a 20-6 run that cut the lead to 64-59 on Damir Krupalija's two free throws with 7:31 to play.

"In the second half, we were getting into a rhythm," Williams said. "I think the second half showed us if we just run our stuff and execute, we can get about any shot we want."

Arizona freshman Will Bynum's three-point play boosted the lead to 67-59 with 7:19 remaining. Illinois cut it to five again, but Anderson grabbed teammate Luke Walton's missed free throw and was fouled. Anderson made both free throws to make it 70-62, then Dennis Latimore scored inside to put Arizona up 72-62 with 4:38 to play.

The Wildcats made three of five 3-pointers to start the second half, the last by Anderson, to go up 58-39 with 15:25 to play.

Arizona led 47-31 at halftime, even though Gardner had just five points on 1-for-5 shooting. The junior playmaker, the only starter back, was coming off a career-high 34 points in Saturday's loss to Kansas.

The Wildcats held Illinois to 28 percent shooting in the first half and pestered the Illini into 13 turnovers, compared with three for Arizona.