Stoudamire was down to about four seconds in his college career. If he failed to launch a shot, if he failed to make it, he'd be headed off to convince NBA teams that being 6-foot-1 does not matter if you can shoot like no one before you.

Who have we seen that can consistently make shots going right to left and firing off the catch -- or do the same thing moving from left to right? He can stop and fire out of a scramble situation, instantly halting his momentum and raising up to release. He can nail a deep jumper off the dribble, bouncing it in either direction. He can pull up in transition, like when he smoked one from 20 feet to bring the Wildcats to a 72-70 deficit with 4:20 remaining.

"He's the best player in the country," said Arizona assistant coach Josh Pastner. "The best player in the country is able to do that."

Stoudamire's statistics are incredible, and they do not begin to capture his skills as a shooter. He entered the game having made 115 3-pointers on 51.3 percent accuracy. No other player in the country has made half his threes.

This one did not need to be a 3-pointer, though, and Stoudamire was not in position to make it one. He was about 17 feet away as Crawford and Bobik attempted to close on him. They had no chance.

Stoudamire jumped, twisted the ball above his head and over his left shoulder, and cut loose the shot. After it passed through the net, the clock operator flicked the switch with just 2.8 seconds left. Arizona was on its way to a regional championship meeting with Illinois.

"The last shot he hit, I thought we defended him pretty well," said Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton. "I mean, Daniel had his hands right in his face."

And Sutton was right, of course. His defensive alignment was ideal. His players were properly coached. They could not have handled the situation better. And still they could not stop Salim.

It turned out there were three geniuses at work in this game. Only one of them got to play, though.

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