Jan. 8, 2005
By JANIE McCAULEY
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Dan Grunfeld scored six straight points during adecisive second-half run and finished with a career-high 29, and Stanfordsnapped No. 13 Arizona's nine-game winning streak with a 87-76 victorySaturday.
Chris Hernandez, the Cardinal's starting point guard, returned to the lineupafter missing Thursday's game against Arizona State with back spasms and scored23 in his team's best showing yet under first-year coach Trent Johnson.
Rob Little had 16 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with 1:07 left,helping the Cardinal (7-7, 1-3 Pac-10) avoid their worst start in Pac-10 playsince losing their first six conference games in the 1983-84 season.
Arizona (12-3, 2-1) played a sloppy game and never got in sync offensivelyagainst the inspired Cardinal, who used a thrilling 80-77 victory over theWildcats here last year on Nick Robinson's 35-footer at the buzzer to helppropel them to the No. 1 ranking - a win that caused even Tiger Woods to runonto the court to celebrate.
Channing Frye had 20 points and 13 rebounds and Hassan Adams added 19 pointsand 10 boards for cold-shooting Arizona, which had averaged 90.4 points overits previous five games. Salim Stoudamire added 14 points for the Wildcats, whoshot 38.4 percent.
Stanford beat Arizona for the third straight time and came out inspired infront of a near-capacity crowd at renovated Maples Pavilion. Grunfeld went10-of-12, making all three of his 3-point tries. Hernandez was 3-for-5 fromlong range.
Arizona missed its first five shots of the second half and Stanford came outwith an 8-2 spurt, taking a 47-38 lead on Hernandez's 3-pointer at 17:20. WhenLittle scored and was fouled with 13:30 left for a three-point play, Arizonacoach Lute Olson threw his arm in the air in frustration. Little's basketstarted a 14-2 run, and Grunfeld scored the next three times down the floor tomake it 60-47 with 11:04 left.
Stoudamire pulled Arizona within 77-71 on two free throws with 1:39 left,then Hernandez took the ball the length of the court for a layin.
The Wildcats went away from their stingy full-court press until late, andwound up fouling Stanford in the backcourt more times than not. Hernandez andbackup Jason Haas were on the floor at the same time for much of the game tohandle Arizona's talented guards.
Hernandez hit a 3-pointer at the 10-minute mark of the first half that putthe Cardinal ahead 22-19 and Stanford drew a goaltending call against Adams thenext time down the floor. Grunfeld's 3 at 8:07 capped a 12-2 run.
Stanford made 13 of its first 21 shots - including 4 of 7 3s - while Arizonabegan 8-for-21. The Cardinal shot 58.6 percent on the way to a 39-36 halftimelead, but didn't go to the free-throw line and committed three straightcareless turnovers late in the half that allowed Arizona to come back.
It marked the first time Arizona had trailed at the half in eight games,with Stanford's shooting being the highest against the Wildcats in an openinghalf all season.