MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Duke repeated as national champions nine years ago in the Minneapolis Metrodome, but defending champion Michigan State will be unable to duplicate the Blue Devils' feat.
Sparked by a 18-1 explosion at the beginning of the second half, coupled with a 21-point performance by Wildcats point guard Jason Gardner, Arizona broke open a closely contested game and turned it into an 80-61 drubbing of the Spartans champs Saturday night.
The final outcome of the game was all the more staggering considering the nip-and-tuck battle that was the first half. When one team delivered a powerful punch, the other team always seemed to deliver a counterpunch of its own. In fact, neither led by more than five points throughout the opening stanza, as both defenses neutralized their opponents. In addition, the much-hyped battle in the paint went exactly as expected, with both teams grabbing 18 rebounds and each team's frontcourt piling in the majority of the its squad's points.
However, despite the close nature of the contest, Arizona never relinquished the lead to the Spartans, as Gardner was deadly from the perimeter, chipping in 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting from three-point range in the first half.
"The last couple of games, Jason's been huge," Arizona senior Luke Walton said. "He's always hit those timely three's. When the [opponent] starts doing something, that's when he strikes and when he's the most dangerous. It's just great to have a point guard like that."
With their guards forcing turnovers on the perimeter, the Wildcats erupted as soon as the buzzer sounded, scoring the half's first nine points and 18 of the first 19 up until the 15:35 mark. Arizona coach Lute Olson saw this impressive offensive and defensive display as the key to his team's victory.
"We came out at the beginning of the second half and we got a number of stops in a row," Olson said. "Offensively, we did a good job and we hit our shots, but the game was won on the defensive end."
Michigan State's Zach Randolph also believed that this early second-half run was back-breaking to his Spartan team.
"They ran the score up so quick," Randolph said. "I think a couple of our players got their heads down and they just kept running the score up. You can't catch them-they're so fast."
The Spartans attempted a comeback, cutting Arizona's 50-33 lead to 55-41 with 11:45 to play. Andre Hutson led the 8-2 run, hitting two jump shots in the process.
But the Wildcats' defense proved to be too overwhelming, as it continued to wreak havoc in the passing lanes, causing 12 steals in all. The Spartans were never able to reduce the lead to more than 10 points, and a thunderous dunk by Eugene Edgerson-the only current Wildcat to receive significant playing time on Arizona's 1997 national title-winning team-near the end of regulation punctuated the victory. Edgerson's rim-rattler sent the Wildcat fans into hysteria and his team into tonight's national championship game against Duke.
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