Feb 5, 2004
By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer
STANFORD, Calif. - For some reason, Stanford performs even better whenplayers are injured.
"It focuses us," coach Mike Montgomery said.
That sure seemed to be the case Thursday.
Rob Little had 17 points and six rebounds, and the second-ranked Cardinalwon big despite being short-handed, easily defeating Arizona State 81-51 tostay unbeaten.
The Cardinal (19-0, 10-0 Pac-10) beat the Sun Devils for the 13th straighttime and sixth in a row at Maples Pavilion, where a raucous sellout crowd of7,391 watched an inspired Stanford team dominate without two important players.
"We knew we had two key guys down and we had to step up," senior guardMatt Lottich said. "We got out defensively and set the tone early. We were theaggressors."
Matt Haryasz, a 6-foot-10 sophomore forward, sprained his right ankle duringpractice Tuesday. He was supposed to start in place of injured power forwardJustin Davis, out at least three weeks with a bruised bone and partially tornmedial collateral ligament in his left knee.
Haryasz was on crutches and is doubtful for Saturday's game against No. 12Arizona.
Nick Robinson started instead, finishing with six points, four rebounds,three assists and three steals. Lottich and Josh Childress added 11 pointsapiece and 11 different Stanford players scored.
Ike Diogu scored 14 points as Arizona State (8-11, 2-8) lost its thirdstraight game. Diogu was whistled for two offensive fouls, picking up his thirdpersonal just 24 seconds into the second half. Moments later, he was called forgoaltending, giving Little two points.
"We just got a little stagnant in our zone and they took advantage," Diogusaid. "But we hold ourselves accountable. We should have played better thanthis. I feel that we're tough. We just need to put together a solid 40-minutegame. We haven't done that all season."
During one stretch, Stanford's lineup included seldom-used forward FredWashington, reserve forward Joe Kirchofer and backup point guard Jason Haas.And they produced a big run that put the game out of reach early.
The Cardinal are one of only two remaining undefeated Division I teams alongwith third-ranked Saint Joseph's (19-0).
If Stanford beats the Wildcats on Saturday, the Cardinal will match the bestwinning streak in school history, accomplished by the 2000-01 team that began20-0.
On a night Stanford needed a solid inside presence more than ever, Littleprovided it.
The 6-10, 230-pound center - he shed 30 pounds in the offseason - scored 10points during a 23-4 first-half run over a span of 7:08. He also had a blockedshot and a steal.
Stanford relied on a last-second basket by Childress to beat the Sun Devils63-62 in Tempe last month, relinquishing a 13-point lead. At halftime,Montgomery told the Cardinal not to let the Sun Devils back into the game thistime.
Arizona State was held to 32.3 percent shooting, to Stanford's 50.8 percent.
"It's just a mind-set," Little said. "If we knew, we'd do it every time.There was a lot of emotion in this game. We couldn't afford to let down. Whenwe feel threatened, we come together."
Students are planning to camp out starting Friday afternoon to secure theprime seats for the Arizona game. There are only about 500 courtside seats forstudents and the ones who don't get seats there are placed in an overflow areahigh above the west basket.
Arizona State started the game 5-for-22 and shot 31.3 percent in the firsthalf to fall behind 43-22 at the break. Lottich scored seven straight pointsduring a 13-0 run that gave the Cardinal a 24-10 lead 5:52 before halftime.
The Sun Devils had nine turnovers and only two assists in the first half.
"We just didn't have the confidence to fight back after that (first-halfrun)," Arizona State coach Rob Evans said. "We had a nice long talk about it.That will remain confidential. Now we'll move on.".