Terry's offensive outburst ruins Texas' chance at upset

Associated Press Arizona Daily Wildcat UA guard Miles Simon gets by Texas guard Kris Clack during the second half of Saturday's contest in Austin. Simon had 20 points in the game as Arizona beat Texas 88-81.

Terry scored 20 points, including 12 in a key first half run, as Arizona overcame an early 11-point deficit, and Bibby scored five points in the final 49.8 seconds to help the Wildcats hold off Texas 88-81.

"This is a veteran ball club, and when we get down, we don't panic, ever," Terry said.

The Wildcats, which lost by three points to top-ranked Duke and No. 2 Kansas after falling behind by 20 points early in each game, opened the game 1 of 10 from the field.

Arizona, which has all five starters back from its national championship team, emerged from a 20-9 deficit thanks to Terry, who came off the bench and scored 12 points, including two 3-pointers, in a 20-6 run, giving the Wildcats a 29-26 lead with 7:20 left in the first half.

"I'm disappointed there isn't a sixth man award in college basketball because if there was, Jason Terry would get it," Arizona coach Lute Olson said.

"When he's on the court, he's like two defenders, and I swear he hits 80 percent of big 3s. He was the player of the game."

The Wildcats appeared to have the game in hand after they scored nine straight points, capped by a 3-pointer by Michael Dickerson with 4:16 left for an 80-67 lead.

But Texas (3-4) tightened its defense and shut down the Wildcats while running off 10 straight points, including 3-pointers by Kris Clack and DeJuan Vazquez, pulling within 82-78 with 52.6 seconds left.

Bibby, who finished with 19 points, then took over for Arizona, hitting one of two free throws with 49.8 seconds left, hitting a jumper with 31.5 to play and then hitting two free throws with 20.3 left for an 87-81 lead.

Texas could only come up with a 3-pointer by Luke Axtell with 26.7 left before Miles Simon, who along with Terry finished with 20 points, hit a free throw with four seconds left for the Wildcats to round out the scoring.

"We showed what kind of team we could be when February and March roll around," said Clack, who led all scorers with 21 points. "None of the guys were scared, and they went right after Arizona."

Axtell had 16 and Ira Clark added 14 points on 7 of 7 shooting for Texas, which was hurt by 25 turnovers.

Texas came out fired up in the second half and tied the game at 46 after a thunderous dunk by Gabe Muoneke. But Terry responded with a 3-pointer, Bibby stole the ball and went in for a layup and Dickerson scored on a slashing drive, giving the Wildcats a 53-48 lead with 15:16 left.

Texas coach Tom Penders ran out on the court and drew a technical foul while arguing that Axtell was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 10:52 to play.

The Longhorns pulled within 71-65 on back-to-back dunks by Clark. But Arizona scored nine straight points, capped by a three-pointer by Dickerson with 4:16 to play, putting the Wildcats up 80-67.

Arizona finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field, while Texas hit 48 percent of its shots.

"They jumped on us right from the start," Bibby said. "We had to fight back hard and that is where our confidence from last year is helping us."

No. 4 ARIZONA 88, TEXAS 81

ARIZONA (5-2) Davison 3-6 0-0 6, Dickerson 6-12 0-0 15, Bramlett 1-9 4-4 6, Bibby 7-16 5-6 19, Simon 5-13 8-9 20, Pastner 0-0 0-0 0, Tebbs 0-0 0-0 0, Wessel 0-0 0-0 0, Terry 6-12 5-6 20, Edgerson 1-3 0-4 2. Totals 29-71 22-29 88.

TEXAS (3-4) Muoneke 3-8 0-5 6, Clack 8-15 4-4 21, Mihm 0-4 2-2 2, Vazquez 4-7 1-1 11, Axtell 6-12 1-2 16, Perryman 1-4 0-0 3, Goode 1-5 0-0 2, Smith 3-6 0-0 6, Clark 7-7 0-1 14. Totals 33-68 8-15 81.

Halftime-Texas 39, Arizona 37. 3-Point goals-Arizona 8-23 (Dickerson 3-4, Bibby 0-7, Simon 2-4, Terry 3-8). Texas 7-27 (Muoneke 0-1, Clack 1-4, Vazquez 2-4, Axtell 3-9, Perryman 1-4, Goode 0-4, Smith 0-1). Fouled out-Vazquez. Rebounds-Arizona 37 (Davison, Bramlett 7), Texas 47 (Muoneke 14). Assists-Arizona 12 (Bibby 4), Texas 17 (Clack 5). Total fouls-Arizona 18, Texas 20. Technicals-Texas bench. A-16,175.