It wasn't Wisconsin out there last night, but Saint Louis sure played like the Badgers, and a few Wildcats sure did remember.

The slow-down style of basketball that made Wisconsin famous has been transported to the Billikens by their coach, Brad Soderberg ÷ and boy, did it make for a slow basketball game. Even the Arizona players, who won the game by 33 points, said the game was boring.

"I think we were bored out there tonight," said sophomore shooting guard Salim Stoudamire, who played in his first game of the season. "Even the guys on the bench were saying how boring it was."

Sophomore Will Bynum agreed.

"I was not frustrated with how the game went, but with how boring the game was," he said.

That's what the deliberate stall offense the Billikens run can do to a team like Arizona, and that's one of the reasons head coach Lute Olson put the team on the Wildcats' schedule. When tournament time comes around, UA has to be prepared to play against any style of team and Olson said he wants to make sure his team gets to face many different styles before March.

"It's always tough to play teams like that. We're going to see teams that don't want to get up and down the floor with us," Olson said.

Last night's game was particularly different for Arizona because most SLU offensive possessions were taken down to the final seconds of the shot clock, making the Wildcat players sit back on defense for more than 30 seconds each time down.

"They slowed it down, but we could have got more steals and we couldn't play our game," freshman guard Hassan Adams said. "We didn't win like the No. 1 team tonight. We are a little down on ourselves because we know that we can play better."

But the players still don't discount how nice it is to win games by 30 points, despite the poor effort shown in many areas, especially on the defensive glass and shooting percentage.

But a 30-point win still isn't something that is an everyday occurrence. Last season UA only won one game by more than 30 points and only two games more than 20. This season, the Wildcats have beaten each of their three opponents by more than 30 points.

"We're happy that we won by 30, but we were kind of frustrated that we couldn't get up the floor and go," senior forward Luke Walton said.

But the difference between this Arizona basketball team from last season's is that even when it doesn't play its best basketball and is forced to play a style different from what it likes to run, it still has the depth that can allow it to blow teams out, as shown by the score last night.

"Their guys coming off the bench could start at any other school," SLU guard Marque Perry said. "Everyone on Arizona is talented."

Nine players played at least 17 minutes or more last night, as head coach Lute Olson was continually subbing players in and out of the game. Even during the first substitution of the game, Olson took out all five starters and replaced them with five fresh players off the bench.

"I didn't feel the first group was putting good pressure on the ball," Olson said. "We got much more pressure on the ball with the second group."

Senior guard Jason Gardner said he was happy with the win, but still only gave his team an average grade. It is not very often an All-American point guard will give his team a C after a 33-point win. But with a lineup like Arizona has this year, a C is definitely passing, at least this time around.