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SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Superstition gave Hollis Price his new hands and Oklahoma its chance to advance.
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Oklahoma played fantastic perimeter defense in this Sweet 16 matchup, holding Arizona to 5-of-22 shooting from beyond the 3-point line. Oklahoma also excelled on the glass, outrebounding Arizona 43-35.
Sooners guard Ebi Ere and forward Aaron McGhee combined for 35 points in the second half. Guard Hollis Price had scored 22 of the Sooners' 33 first-half points (with six 3-pointers).
This was a brilliant performance by Oklahoma, led by Kelvin Sampson, one of America's real Rolls-Roycers in coaching. more...
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Price, off-target during the pregame warmups, had 26 points and
a season-high six 3-pointers as Oklahoma beat Arizona 88-67
Thursday night in the West Regional semifinals.
"I've got a superstition. If I'm not hitting in warmups, I'll come in the locker room, and I'll wash my hands," Price said. "I came out with a new set of hands."
Second-seeded Oklahoma (30-4) heads to its first regional final
since 1988, and will play Missouri in an all-Big 12 matchup. The
12th-seeded Tigers beat UCLA 82-73 Thursday.
Third-seeded Arizona (24-10), which lost to Duke in last year's NCAA championship game, could not overcome the Sooners' tough defense or Price, whose accurate outside shooting kept Oklahoma in it early before a sustained second-half rally.
"In the end I don't think there was any question," Arizona
coach Lute Olson said. "Oklahoma was quicker and a whole lot more
explosive."
Jason Gardner, probably playing his last college game, led the
Wildcats with 14 points. Luke Walton, the son of former UCLA and
NBA great Bill Walton, had nine points and eight assists.
With Duke's loss to Indiana on Thursday, both participants in
last season's final were knocked out within 30 minutes.
Aaron McGhee finished with 21 points and eight rebounds for
Oklahoma, with 19 points in the final 7 minutes as the Sooners
turned a close game into a blowout.
The Wildcats singled him out after he averaged 25.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in the Sooners' first two tournament games.
"When I was on the inside, I wasn't really hitting anything,"
McGhee said. "It was like there was a lid on the basket."
Arizona apparently forgot about Price.
|  | | Andrew Zahn and the Sooners blew the game open in the late going. |
"Early in the game he was feeling his shot -- and you can't let
a player like that get his stroke on," Walton said.
Oklahoma jumped out to an 8-2 lead, as Price made two
3-pointers. But the Sooners went scoreless for more than five
minutes, and the Wildcats narrowed the gap before taking a 10-8
lead on Rick Anderson's jumper.
The Wildcats shut down McGhee, and Oklahoma had to rely on its
perimeter shooting. Price carried the Sooners, with 22 of their 33
points before halftime.
The Wildcats took a 28-23 lead on freshman Will Bynum's
acrobatic layup with 5:31 to go, and the Wildcats stretched their
lead to as many as seven points on the way to a 37-33 halftime
edge.
"I was really disappointed with our competitiveness in the first half," Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said. "I got into them a little bit at halftime. I said, 'This isn't about winning and losing. This is about our identity.' You're always known for something, and in the first half, we didn't do the things we're known for."
Price made a mistake when he lost the ball at midcourt, and
Gardner snatched it up as it rolled toward Arizona's basket.
Gardner outran Price for the basket and got fouled to give the
Wildcats a 44-40 lead.
But the Sooners went on an 11-0 run, capped by Ebi Ere's
3-pointer, to go up 51-44. They were able to slow down the speedy
Wildcats during the spurt, and kept the game at their pace
throughout the rest of the half.
"We've had a lot of games where we've had to battle," Olson said, "and in this one we got out-quicked and out-fought in the second half." | 
Sooner charge