TOP 25 MEN Simply perfect: Arizona plants itself in Garden

The Wildcats beat Texas and improved to 9-0 at Madison Square Garden.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK -- Arizona has won almost 85 percent of its games at the on-campus McKale Center. That's nothing.
The Wildcats are unbeaten at Madison Square Garden under coach Lute Olson. Maybe it's just a case of a team from the West doing well on the West Side of Manhattan.
The ninth-ranked Wildcats beat No. 6 Texas 91-83 Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic to improve to 9-0 under Olson in the Garden.
"We talked at the end of practice yesterday that we were 8-0 in the Garden and told them you wouldn't want to be the team that breaks that streak," a smiling Olson said. "Our guys came out just right. They weren't tense and that's what you hope for as a staff. That's the way they handle a big game against a big team in a building like Madison Square Garden."
Leading the way
Hassan Adams had a career-high 30 points for Arizona (3-1), while Andre Iguodala had a triple-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.
It was another balanced offensive effort for the Wildcats, who entered the game with six players averaging between 14.0 and 9.7 points. It was also a solid performance on defense as Texas (4-1) shot 36 percent, a figure augmented by 25 offensive rebounds.
"We were concerned with a number of things about Texas, their size and depth for two," Olson said. "Defensively, I think we created more problems for them than they created for us."
Adams, a 6-foot-4 sophomore forward whose previous-best 22 points came against Western Kentucky last season, didn't seem to have many problems all game, going 12-for-21 from the field, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range.
"I just went out there and played my game. The shots came to me and I took them in rhythm," he said. "I was feeling it today and I was ready to play."
The Wildcats' streak in the Garden includes the Preseason NIT in 1990, '95 and '99 and the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in 2001.
Providence beat No. 14 Illinois 70-51 in the opening game of the doubleheader.
Opening it up
The Wildcats took command with a 20-3 run early in the second half that gave them a 61-43 lead with 12:50 to play.
Their biggest lead was 79-60 on a 3-pointer by Adams with 6:03 to play and it seemed as if it would be a matter of watching the clock run out.
But the Longhorns were relentless on the offensive glass the rest of the way and held the Wildcats to just one field goal -- a four-point play by Salim Stoudamire with 4:02 left. They got as close as 86-80 on a 3-pointer by Kenny Taylor with 31 seconds left, but Arizona went 5-for-6 from the free throw line to close it.
"We should have performed better," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "I thought our perimeter shot selection was awful. We can be an outstanding team. It's early in December. We feel we can play with anybody but we have to get there."
Iguodala's triple-double was the seventh in school history and first since Luke Walton had one in 2001-02.
"Our chemistry is coming together and I'm having a good time with it," Iguodala said.
Stoudamire had all 17 of his points in the second half for Arizona, while Channing Frye had 15 and Mustafa Shakur 10.
"Our guys can score or they wouldn't be at Arizona," Stoudamire said. "Our guys are always going to step up, it's a matter of being positive."
Freshman P.J. Tucker had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Longhorns, who shot 36 percent for the game (32-for-89) and outrebounded Arizona 53-48, including 25-11 on the offensive end.
No. 12 Saint Joseph's 67, Boston College 57
PHILADELPHIA -- Delonte West scored 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Jameer Nelson added 13 points to lead Saint Joseph's.
Jermaine Watson had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Boston College (6-1).
Nelson had seven assists to become the Hawks' (6-0) all-time leader with 584.