First place at stake First place at stake (January 09, 2004)

Cardinal teams face Arizona with plenty riding on outcomes

by Rick Eymer

All the Stanford men's basketball team has to do in Tucson on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. is slow down the Pac-10's highest-scoring offense that comes at you from virtually every position.

The third-ranked Wildcats are waiting in the depths of McKale Center, where they have won 93 percent of their games dating to the 1987-88 season. Over the past four years, they've dropped just seven games there, but three of those have been to Stanford.

The fourth-ranked Cardinal are hoping a fourth straight win in Tucson leads to the Pac-10 title this year.

"The most important thing is to pile wins upon wins," said Stanford coach Mike Montgomery. "It doesn't do us any good if we play badly against Arizona State and lose, and then play great against Arizona and win."

The Cardinal played at Arizona State on Thursday night. Cal played at Arizona.

Saturday's game is one of the most anticipated since last year's Stanford-Arizona game, when the Cardinal knocked off the then-No. 1 Wildcats, 82-77. It was Arizona's lone conference loss.

Stanford and Arizona have been the elite teams in the Pac-10. They've finished 1-2 every year since 1997 and this year appears to be no different. The Wildcats were picked to win the conference title while Stanford was tabbed to finish second.

It's been a hotly-contested rivalry since the 1995-96 season, with Arizona holding a slight 9-7 advantage. Of the past 10 games, nine have been decided by nine points or less, and seven of those by five or fewer.

"If history means anything," said Arizona coach Lute Olsen, "it's a distinct possibility that this game will come down to the wire too."

Arizona averages 86.7 points a game, and four of its players rank among the top 16: forward Hassan Adams (17.6), center Channing Frye (14.9), guard Salim Stoudamire (14.8) and forward Andre Iguodala (12.8). . Stanford has some offensive weapons too, and its strength has been its accuracy. The Cardinal lead the Pac-10 in field-goal percentage (49.4) and also in field-goal percentage defense (39.0), rebounding defense (26.8), scoring margin (17.8) and rebounding margin (11.2). Matt Lottich (13.3) leads four Cardinal players who are averaging double figures. Three Stanford players are among the top eight in the conference in field goal percentage: Justin Davis (.583), Rob Little (.566) and Matt Haryasz (.545).

Stanford's defense has held the opposition to under 40 percent shooting six times, and has yet to be outrebounded this season.
Women's basketball

When Arizona visits Stanford on Saturday at 2 p.m., it will not only be a rematch of last year's Pac-10 tournament championship contest, it could also feature the conference's only remaining unbeaten teams.

The seventh-ranked Cardinal had to get by Arizona State and the Wildcats had to beat Cal on Thursday night to remain undefeated in conference play, and both were highly favored to do just that.

Arizona has won 10 of its past 11 games, with a loss to nationally-ranked Louisiana State the only blemish. Stanford took a four-game winning streak into Thursday's game against the Sun Devils. The Cardinal's only two losses this year have been to teams ranked among the nation's top five.

There are several similarities between the teams. Stanford's Tara VanDerveer and Arizona's Joan Bonvicini are both in their 25th year of coaching and each has an All-American on board. Stanford's Nicole Powell is a two-time All-American, while Arizona's Shawntinice Polk was an honorable mention selection last year after being named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year.

Both VanDerveer and Bonvicini have won at least 20 games in a season 18 times, have been to the NCAA tournament at least 15 times (VanDerveer has done it 17 times), and have appeared in at least two Final Fours (VanDerveer has been in five, with two national titles).

The biggest difference? Stanford has won 12 Pac-10 titles; Arizona is still looking for its fist conference title. The Wildcats, who have a 21-game home winning streak, know the road to the title goes through Maples Pavilion. Stanford has won 19 of the 22 games played against Arizona at Maples.

Pinewood grad Sebnem Kimyacioglu leads the Pac-10 with 29 3-point field goals, and has 141 for her career.

Results of last night's games against Arizona State are posted at www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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