March 17, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Tournament title points the way

by Rick Eymer

The number '1' has been a frequent visitor to the Stanford campus over the years as the Sears Cup Trophy attests, but it has taken a particular hold on the men's basketball team in recent weeks.

That's No. 1, as in best in the Pac-10 following Stanford's convincing 77-66 victory over Washington on Saturday in the championship game of the Pac-10 Tournament at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

And on Sunday that meant No. 1, as in the top seed in the West for the upcoming NCAA tournament that gets underway Thursday when Stanford plays Texas-San Antonio in a first-round game in Seattle at 2:15 p.m.

Stanford also got another No. 1 back, in The Associated Press Top 25. Earlier in the day the Cardinal were ranked No. 1 by USA/Today.

The Cardinal (29-1) took care of business in the conference tournament, avenging their only loss of the season while Xavier was beating up on previously unbeaten and top-ranked - for the week anyway -- St. Joseph's.

Now, Stanford can turn its attention to No. 16-seeded Texas-San Antonio. The Roadrunners (19-13) won the Southland Conference with a 74-70 victory over Stephen F. Austin in the championship game. Still, Stanford coach Mike Montgomery knew little of his team's first-round foe early this week.

"We've got faxes. We've got internet stuff. We've got rumors, and we've got tape," Montgomery said of the Roadrunners, in the NCAA tournament for the first time in five years and winless in their two previous appearances.

The Roadrunners are led by Southland Conference Player of the Year, 6-foot-7 LeRoy Hurd, who is averaging 19.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. The remaining starters include 6-1 Justin Harbert (10.6 ppg), 6-2 Kurt Attaway, 6-2 Rapheal Posey (11.7 ppg) and 6-6 John Millsap (8 ppg). David President, a 6-1 guard, is a top reserve. The team's two tallest players are 6-11 Anthony Fuqua and 6-10 Dwain Hall.

Said Roadrunners' coach Tim Carter: "We have a great respect for the Stanford program and we know that a number 16 has never defeated a number one. But, our theme this week will be why not us? We are going there to win."

Stanford is doing likewise. The Cardinal are one of four No. 1 seeds, joining St. Joseph's, Duke and Kentucky. The Wildcats received the overall No. 1 with Duke second. That means, should all the No. 1 seeds reach the Final Four, Stanford would play Duke in one semifinal.

The Cardinal did everything they needed to gain the top seed, and they'll bring one of the most entertaining teams into the tournament as they hope to reach their first Final Four since 1998.

"Going into the tournament we want to be clicking on all cylinders," said Stanford All-American forward Josh Childress. "We also wanted to show that we earned the Pac-10 title."

The Cardinal did it the old-fashioned way.

Washington was rolling along after surviving a couple of Stanford runs, and was still within five points with less than six minutes to play when once again a defensive play turned the tide for good.

With just about four minutes remaining to play, Washington's marvelous guard Nate Robinson swiped the ball from Childress and was heading for a momentum-changing layup.

Did we mention Childress was named an All-American earlier the week? Well, a millisecond before Robinson was about to drop the ball into the net, Childress came from behind to get enough of the ball and force Robinson to miss. The Huskies never recovered and the Cardinal made enough free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory.

Washington missed 10 consecutive shots at one point late in the game and was 1-of-14 over the final 6:07.

"They don't make too many mistakes," said Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar. "In the second half, they really did a great job defending us. We hung around and hung around and just didn't have enough to get over the hump."

Childress, named the Pac-10 tournament MVP, scored 14 points, grabbed nine rebounds and could have been overshadowed by Matt Lottich, who had a game-high 20 points to go with six rebounds and five assists.

Justin Davis, who played 27 minutes in just his third game back from injury, added 13 points and seven rebounds and Joe Kirchofer produced 11 points and eight rebounds in a sterling effort.

With that kind of balance, Stanford has the ability to attack any kind of defense.

"Justin is such an integral part of this team," said Childress. "He provides an inside presence we need to go with guys like Rob Little, Joe Kirchofer and Matt Haryasz. And we couldn't have done this without Nick Robinson, who filled in everywhere there was an injury. We know injuries are part of the game but when you come to this point, it's all mental."

Stanford won its first Pac-10 tournament title, and earned the Pac-10's automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. The Cardinal lost in the first round of the previous two tournaments.

"You got to love Matt Lottich," Montgomery said. `"He's got so much pride in himself and so much competitiveness. He made some huge shots, as always."

In previous conference tournaments, the Cardinal didn't have much motivation to win. This year, after getting beat by Washington in the season finale to end its bid for an unbeaten season, Stanford had plenty of motivation.

"We wanted to win it to prove we're the best team in the Pac-10," Lottich said.

Washington were within 47-45 with 14:34 remaining to play but Stanford went on a 12-3 run to begin pulling away.

Washington never got closer than five points after that. The Cardinal controlled the boards 42-33 and held a 48-26 scoring edge in the paint.

Stanford reached the championship game with a 70-63 victory over Oregon on Friday night.

Childress scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds along with three assists and two blocks in 36 minutes. Lottich added 15 points, four rebounds and four assists in 36 minutes while Rob Little chipped in with 13 points and six rebounds.

The lead changed 13 times in the game, with Stanford's biggest lead at eight points, 55-47, with 7:32 to play. Oregon tied the game at 61-61, but then Stanford scored seven straight points.

Washington reached the championship game with a 90-85 victory over Arizona, the third time this year that the Huskies have beaten the Wildcats.

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