Their long-range shooting betrayed them, but they still kept shooting from St. Paul against the Duke Blue Devils.

Center Loren Woods was having the game of his life, but the Devils started muscling the 7-foot-1 senior out of the lane and the 'Cats lost sight of him.

Lute Olson's heartbreak season ends on a sour note, but the Wildcats fought hard.(AP)

They had to stop gambling with a 3-2 collapsing zone that led to their national semifinal victory over Michigan State, and that led to the nation's best player taking over down low late in Duke's 82-72 victory before 45,994 at the Metrodome.

A long season of adversity for Arizona ended with one insurmountable hurdle.

"We just didn't have enough," said Wildcats coach Lute Olson, who at 66½ years old was bidding to become the oldest coach to win an NCAA title by two months over Phog Allen of Kansas.

"We battled hard down the stretch, they were just stronger than we were. It seemed like the loose balls ended up in their hands instead of in our hands. We had a number of times where we had done a good job defensively, then couldn't corral the rebound."

Olson's second title in five years slipped away in the final three minutes of the game, when Arizona could not repel Duke a third time in the second half

The Wildcats cut a 50-39 deficit to 50-48, then Duke led 64-52 when Arizona roared back to get to within three points, at 73-70 with less than four minutes remaining.

Then Duke ran away from Arizona, which missed all seven of its 3-point shots in the first half and then went 4-for-15 beyond the arc in the last half.

"We couldn't get our run like we usually get," Woods said. "We just couldn't get it today. I mean, they just beat us at our own game ... we were taking quick shots, and they were going back on the other end (and) moving the ball around. They were getting wide-open shots.

"That's just Duke basketball. It was hard."

Woods had 13 points in the first half, sinking half of his 10 attempts on an array of power hooks, mid-range jumpers and even one basket on a nifty spin move and lunging scoop shot from the right baseline.

In the second half, Woods took only five shots, hitting three.

"I thought they 'out-physicaled' us inside," Olson said. "They moved Loren off the block, and they got better pressure on the basketball ... made it tougher to get the ball in. And we had some foul problems."

Michael Wright and Eugene Edgerson left Olson searching for a power forward, and Woods was left watching traffic to his right and left. Woods blocked four shots in the second half, but Carlos Boozer and Shane Battier gave Duke (35-4) a low-post edge.

A 4-for-17 shooting performance also showed that Wildcats sophomore shooting guard Gilbert Arenas' bruised upper chest was bothering him more than he had hoped it would.

"It obviously bothered him a lot," Olson said. "(Sunday), it was a case where he couldn't really get his hand above his head. But I thought he competed hard."

The Wildcats did that until the end in a season that started with suspensions and doubt, then dovetailed when Olson's wife Bobbi died from cancer on New Year's Day. Arizona (28-8) had won 18 of 20 games, before Monday, after Lute Olson returned to the court in the middle of January.

"It's all about growin' up," Woods said. "All of us came to college as boys, and we're leaving as men. Coach has taught us so much, and we've all learned as much as we could from him. He's taught us courage, patience and dignity, for yourself and for your family.

"That's not about Coach Olson, that's about growing up. He's been there for us. He's been a father figure for us. It's all up to us, you know, to soak it in, and that's what we've done."

Junior forward Richard Jefferson said he learned invaluable lessons from his coach about family.

"Family comes first," Jefferson said. "(Olson) went through some very tough times this year and his family was really there for him. You see his family and how close-knit they are, and that's how you want to raise your family."

Olson was especially proud of the resiliency his players showed this season, how they bonded through the tough times and how they handled themselves so well when they were so often asked about his wife's death, and it's affect on Olson and the program.

The moment he dreaded, the end of the season, was inevitable late Monday night.

A daughter and her four children will move into his Tucson home with him. Soon enough, summer recruiting will occupy his time and he will prepare for a promising 2001-02 season in which he will add more sterling players.

"It's a fact of life, so it's there," Olson said. "Like I've said, thank goodness for family and great friends. With all the things that happen to us, we have to be willing to accept that it has happened.

"I have some new inhabitants in the house, (daughter) Christi and her four kids, who are 11 down to 5. If that's not keeping you occupied, I don't know what is. They'll make sure that the old man isn't by himself too much."