Publication Date: Friday, December 05, 2003
Stanford men eye hoop upset of top-ranked Kansas
Stanford men eye hoop upset of top-ranked Kansas
(December 05, 2003) by Rick Eymer
The John Wooden Classic has been kind to the Stanford men's basketball team, no matter where the opponent was ranked at the time.
One of Stanford's biggest victories ever occurred at the Classic in 1999, when the Cardinal upset then No. 2-ranked Auburn, 67-58. That helped propel Stanford to its first- ever No. 1 ranking a few weeks later.
Stanford gets another chance to take a big step forward when it meets No. 1 Kansas on Saturday at 1 p.m. (KRON-TV) at The Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.
The Jayhawks leapfrogged into the top spot this week from No. 6 after beating then-No. 3 Michigan State last week, and with other top teams, including Connecticut, Duke and Arizona, losing.
Stanford is 3-25 against top-ranked schools, though the Cardinal has won two of the past three games against the nation's No. 1 team. On Dec. 21, 2000 at the Pete Newell Challenge, Casey Jacobsen sank a bank shot in the closing seconds to give the Cardinal a 84-83 victory over Duke, and on Jan. 30, 2003 in Tucson, Matt Lottich scored 23 points, including a crucial three-pointer with 58 seconds to play, to lift Stanford to an 82-77 victory over Arizona. The Wildcats later exacted revenge on Stanford, 72-69, at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford and Kansas both bring a 3-0 record into their meeting, though this will be the Cardinal's first game against a nationally-ranked opponent. Stanford will also be without junior forward Josh Childress, who is recovering from a stress fracture in his left foot and is expected to miss up to four weeks. He's using crutches to help keep pressure off the foot.
Childress, a preseason All-American, led Stanford in rebounding and was second in scoring last year. A serious loss, for sure, but this season the Cardinal has other places to turn for production.
One such place is redshirt sophomore Chris Hernandez, who missed last year with a broken foot. He's averaging 15 points and five assists so far this season.
Justin Davis and Rob Little are carrying the rebounding load. Davis is grabbing 7.3 per game, while Little has 6.3 to go with 11.7 points a game.
"He's developed so much," Childress said of Davis. "When I'm on the court with him I don't notice it but there are times I can step back and see how much better he's gotten. He's developed a consistent post game and has go-to moves."
Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said Little has also made big strides in his game.
"He works on things he's not good at," said Montgomery. "He's a lot better than he was."
Nick Robinson has taken over Childress' role, and is averaging 8.3 points and 3.3 rebounds. Lottich also averages more than eight points a game, giving Stanford a well-rounded attack.
Kansas, however, also has a devastating, and balanced attack. The Jayhawks have won eight of their nine meetings with Stanford, and ended the Cardinal's season in 2002 with an 86-63 decision in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Keith Langford leads Kansas with a 20.3 scoring average, followed by Wayne Simien at 18.3. Freshman David Padgett, who nearly attended Stanford, is also a starter.
Stanford will be competing in the John R. Wooden Classic for the third time. The Cardinal also beat Georgia, 76-74, in 1997.
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