Salim Stoudamire scored 16 of his 26 points in the first half, and No. 12 Arizona beat Southern California 88-76 on Thursday night to give the 70-year-old Wildcats coach two more important achievements. Olson turned out to be the second Pac-10 coach to win 300 conference games. The record-holder is John Wooden, who guided UCLA Bruins to a 304-74 league record before retiring in 1975. Olson's teams are 300-86 against league opponents.

Olson can get his 301st conference win Saturday against the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion, where the 94-year-old Wooden is typically in attendance. Olson and Wooden are both members of the Basketball Hall of Fame. By winning for the 17th time in 19 Basketball games, the Wildcats (20-4, 10-2 Pac-10) reached the 20-win plateau for the 18th straight season.

Olson's Basketball teams have won 20 or more games in 27 of his 32 years as a college head coach, tying him with Texas Tech's Bob Knight and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim for second in NCAA College Basketball history. "It means I've been able to keep my job a long time," Olson said regarding reaching the 300-win plateau in conference action. "We've had a good team and great guys in the program."