Jan. 04, 1997
No. 9 Wildcats Outlast No. 21 Cardinal, 76-75
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Bennett Davison scored 16 points, including two last-minute tip-ins, giving ninth-ranked Arizona a 76-75 victory over number 21 Stanford in a Pac-10 Conference battle.
Michael Dickerson added 21 points and Jason Terry had 13 for Arizona (9-2, 2-0 Pac-10). Brevin Knight led Stanford (8-2, 1-1) with 17 points, while Tim Young and Kris Weems each added 12.
Davison tipped in a rebound to cut the Cardinal's lead to 75-74 and, after Knight missed the front end of a one-and-one, Davison got another rebound and tip-in for the game-winner with six seconds remaining.
"I was just anticipating and getting position, that's all rebounding is," Davison said. "It's being aggressive and anticipating and I was just in the right place. I was surprised I was able to get to the ball so easily and then I just put it back in. That's even better, to get a rebound and then the points."
"He was not the guy we wanted up there, but we had to foul him because they weren't going to give the ball to their big guys in that situation," Arizona coach Lute Olson said of Knight.
Knight's jumper at the buzzer hit off the front of the rim, leaving Arizona with a pair of one-point conference wins at home in three nights.
"Brevin actually had more time than he thought he did," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said. "I'm extremely disappointed. This was a huge opportunity. The game was there for the asking and we didn't get it done. It was a great opportunity for us to win and to get a leg up in the league. We made some huge baskets down the stretch that let us in. It came down to the end and they made a couple of plays and we didn't."
The final seconds were nearly identical to Arizona's 81-80 victory over California on Thursday.
"It's just coincidence, I guess, back-to-back games turning out the same way," Dickerson said. "I think it's good for us to win these last-second games like this. It gives us confidence we can come from behind and pull them out."
"It was just like the other night, where we had to worry about the last-second shot," Davison observed. "In that situation, we all had to try and hold a position and get in his face and hope he doesn't make it and it worked out for us again."
A basket by Dickerson briefly gave Arizona a two-point edge, but Rick Jackson made a three-pointer for Stanford's first lead, 73-72, since the opeing minutes. Young's jumper made it 75-72 with 1:50 to go.
Arizona's Donnell Harris made a basket and two free throws with 4:27 left to make it 70-66. Young countered with four free throws on Stanford's next two possessions to tie it.
Arizona freshman point guard Mike Bibby fouled out with 3:31 left, and the 6-foot-5, 190-pound Dickerson, normally a forward, began guarding Knight.
"I thought Michael Dickerson did a great job on Knight," Olson said. "On the final shot, he maintained his position and was stopping guys like Knight from driving too easily to the hoop."
"We anticipated Dickerson doing the job offensively and defensively, although we didn't talk about it," Montgomery said. "They really have four guards they're playing, so depth is a factor."
Dickerson scored five straight points to open a 63-50 lead with nine minutes remaining, but Stanford battled back to tie it, 66-66, on a three-pointer by Knight and a three-point play by Mark Madsen with 5:26 left.
"We forced them into 17 turnovers and we only made 12, and I'm very happy with that," Olson said. "I thought overall we did a great job of handling all the screens they like to set to give open shots. We got very good pressure on the perimeter. I thought we did a good job on keeping Young in check. Board-wise, they are awfully physical, but they only beat us by three on the boards."
Terry made four free throws, giving Arizona a 12-9 lead with 11:34 left in the first half. His three-pointer capped a 7-0 run that gave the Wildcats a 34-25 advantage with 3:38 left and Arizona, led by all of Terry's 13 points, maintained a nine-point lead at halftime.
The Cardinal took a 6-1 lead and held Arizona without a basket for the first 4:33.
"This kind of win lets us know what we still have to work on," Davison said. "We are a quick team and we have to use that quickness against bigger teams like Stanford."
STANFORD (75)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Sauer 14 2-4 1-2 1-4 1 2 5
Jackson 27 4-5 0-0 3-7 1 3 10
Young 22 4-8 4-7 2-6 0 3 12
Weems 35 4-8 1-2 1-3 2 3 12
Knight 36 6-17 2-4 0-1 7 4 17
Lee 8 0-2 2-2 0-1 1 2 2
Moseley 6 1-2 0-0 0-2 0 0 2
Mendez 8 0-1 2-2 0-0 0 0 2
Van Elswyk 12 3-5 0-0 3-3 0 3 6
Seaton 13 0-0 1-2 1-1 0 2 1
Madsen 19 1-4 4-6 3-8 1 3 6
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TOTALS 200 25-56 17-27 14-36 13 25 75
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Percentages: FG-.446, FT-.630. 3-Point Goals:
8-21, .381 (Sauer 0-1, Jackson 2-3, Weems 3-7,
Knight 3-7, Lee 0-1, Moseley 0-1, Mendez 0-1).
Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 5 (Young 2, Lee
2, Van Elswyk). Turnovers: 17 (Knight 7, Young 5,
Van Elswyk 2, Madsen, Seaton, Weems). Steals: 6
(Knight 3, Jackson 2, Seaton).
ARIZONA (76)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Davison 31 6-12 4-7 6-12 0 2 16
Dickerson 35 8-21 4-7 2-4 4 3 21
Bramlett 23 3-6 2-4 2-5 0 4 8
Bibby 23 1-3 1-2 0-1 3 5 4
Terry 40 3-8 6-7 0-2 6 2 13
Harris 22 2-5 2-2 3-5 0 4 6
Ash 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Edgerson 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
Lee 20 2-8 3-3 1-4 1 1 8
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TOTALS 200 25-63 22-32 14-33 14 23 76
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Percentages: FG-.397, FT-.688. 3-Point Goals:
4-13, .308 (Dickerson 1-3, Bibby 1-2, Terry 1-2,
Lee 1-6). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: None.
Turnovers: 12 (Bibby 3, Terry 3, Dickerson 2,
Bramlett, Davison, Harris, Lee). Steals: 8 (Bibby
2, Dickerson 2, Harris 2, Davison, Lee).
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Stanford 31 44 - 75
Arizona 40 36 - 76
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Technical fouls: None. A: 14,342. Officials:
Steve Wilson, Bill Kennedy, David Mccallister.