St Marys (Calif.) St. Mary's/Arizona Arizona Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Richard Jefferson joined Loren Woods on the ineligible list, but the two starters were never missed Saturday night as fifth-ranked Arizona handed winless St. Mary's its most one-sided loss ever 101-41.

Guards Jason Gardner and Gilbert Arenas dominated the game from the outside early and the deep Wildcats overpowered the outmatched Gaels inside from start to finish.

The previous worst margin of defeat for St. Mary's was 51 points -- 108-57 against BYU on Dec. 10, 1966.

With the 60-point victory, Arizona (5-1) narrowly missed its most lopsided victory ever. The Wildcats set that mark on Dec. 28, 1996, in a 118-54 rout of Robert Morris.

Gardner scored 17 points in 23 minutes, Arenas 16 in 20 minutes. Luke Walton added 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Michael Wright scored 15.

Jovan Harris scored 11 and Ross Benson 10 for St. Mary's (0-5), which shot 25 percent, was outrebounded 57-28 and committed 24 turnovers.

After a 101-87 victory over Gonzaga on Wednesday, Arizona scored more than 100 points in consecutive games for the first time since 1977.

Jefferson, a 6-foot-7 starting forward, was declared ineligible for the game by the university because he received a ticket to Game 1 of last season's NBA Finals and at least one plane ticket from San Diego to Tucson from former NBA and UCLA great Bill Walton.

Walton's son Luke, who started in place of Jefferson against St. Mary's, is Jefferson's best friend and roommate.

The school said it would appeal to the NCAA on Monday to have Jefferson's eligibility restored.

Woods, Arizona's 7-foot-2 center, was declared ineligible for the first six games of the season for receiving improper benefits from a family friend last summer. This was the last game of his suspension. He will be eligible to return for Arizona's game next Saturday at Connecticut.

The Wildcats 52-13 at the half.

St. Mary's shot 18 percent in the first half (5-for-28), including 0-for-11 from 3-point range. Arizona, meanwhile, shot 55 percent (17-for-31).

Arenas scored 16 in the first half on 7-for-11 shooting, including 2-of-4 on 3-pointers. Gardner had 13 points at the half, including 3-of-6 3-pointers.

The Wildcats shot out to a 19-5 lead and it got worse from there.

In the second half, coach Lute Olson stayed with his starters for a few minutes, then eventually went to his bench. The Wildcats played the last five minutes with three walk-ons, a freshman and backup forward-center Justin Wessel.

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Arizona's Olson mad after NCAA declares Jefferson ineligible