LOS ANGELES - His name means "the chosen one," and all he needed was one shot for it to be remembered.
Arizona freshman point guard Mustafa Shakur chose to take matters into his own hands, and he didn't disappoint, leading the No. 21 Wildcats (20-8, 11-7 Pacific 10 Conference) to a last-second 79-76 win over Southern California (13-15, 8-10) in the first round of the Pac-10 Tournament last night in Los Angeles.
"It was a great basketball game," losing coach Henry Bibby said. "I don't think you could have seen better basketball tonight than Arizona-USC."
Shakur took the inbounds pass from the USC baseline after the Trojans called timeout with 4.7 seconds left and the game tied at 76.
"The play was kind of designed for a full-court pass to (sophomore forward Hassan Adams), but I knew if I got it I was going to make it," Shakur said of his coast-to-coast strut as time expired. "I was just thinking in my mind, 'if I get it, which direction (do I) go to get open?'"
Shakur weaved his way upcourt only to bury the clinching 3-pointer as the clock hit zero, sending his Wildcat teammates into a massive heap of bodies at mid-court - but more importantly, sending them to the next day of the Pac-10 Tournament.
"I called a timeout to do what we were going to do defensively," Bibby said. "Whatever it was, it didn't work."
Shakur overshadowed his own 16-point, seven-rebound, six-assist effort with his last-second heroics, as well as a game-high 21-point, 14-rebound night from Adams.
"We have such a great team, so I just try to play my role and get everyone involved," Shakur said. "But I saw the opportunity there and just took it.
"I knew I was going to make it once I shot it. Everything felt like it was in slow motion."
UA head coach Lute Olson's reaction was relatively simple.
"We're just happy to be moving on," Olson said. "We feel very fortunate to get this one."
Arizona, which led by as many as 13 points in the first half, couldn't build much on a four-point halftime advantage. USC capitalized on an off-night for UA junior shooting guard Salim Stoudamire, who shot just 3 of 15 from the floor for eight points, and constant foul trouble for the Wildcats.
Just as important for Arizona, however, was Stoudamire's counterpart, Trojan senior Desmon Farmer, who played his final game in a USC uniform.
Farmer was held to just two first half points before finishing with four in 37 minutes. He hit just 2 of 20 shots from the field, missing all 12 3-point attempts.
"Salim had a really bad shooting game, but on the other hand, he caused Farmer to have a worse one," Olson said.
Junior center Channing Frye added 19 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats, while USC football tight end-turned-center Greg Guenther added 10 and 10 of his own for the Trojans.
The third-seed Wildcats hit the same Staples Center floor tonight to take on second-seed Washington at 9:45 Arizona time, with the winner advancing to tomorrow's championship game.
The Huskies, who defeated UCLA 91-83 yesterday, look to down the Wildcats for the third time this season - a feat no Pac-10 team has ever accomplished against Arizona.
"They come at you for 40 minutes with pressure," Olson said about the Huskies. "I think our guys are excited about playing Washington since they have two wins over us. They feel like they can get this one."
The game will start about 30 minutes after Stanford's tilt with Oregon, which begins at 7:15 p.m. Both games can be seen on Fox Sports Net.