Arizona Buries, Then Praises Stanford, 97-83

Before anyone with a Brooklyn accent or a watch that is set three hours fast jumps to the conclusion that Arizona’s waltz into the final game of the Pacific 10 Conference basketball tournament today against Oregon State means there is only one worthy basketball team in the West, Arizona Coach Lute Olson would like to make a point.

The edge in his voice suggests it’s getting to be a sore point.

The Stanford team that Arizona beat, 97-83, Saturday before 13,549 fans at McKale Center to advance to the final game is one of just two teams that has defeated the No. 3-ranked Wildcats (30-2) this season. Other respected teams tried and failed.

And Oregon State, which finished second in the conference and advanced to the final with a 74-68 double-overtime victory over Washington State, has had an outstanding season of its own.

It was an ugly victory that Oregon State scratched out in a slowed-down, defensive contest with the feisty Cougars, but it improved Oregon State’s overall record to 20-9.

“We’ve played a lot of good teams this season, and I certainly think Stanford can play with anyone we’ve played,” Olson said. “Oregon State’s record certainly indicates they should be in there. All this talk about the Pac-10 only getting one team in the (National Collegiate Athletic Assn.) tournament is a result of the negativism that comes out of the East on cable television.

“Everything is based on UCLA. How many games has Stanford won? How many has Oregon State won? Why should Stanford be judged on whether UCLA can win on TV?

“I wish the people who were saying this would get their behinds out here and see some of these teams play and then make a judgment.”

Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery, of course, judges his team to be worthy of an NCAA bid. But he wasn’t lobbying in the aftermath of his loss to Arizona.

Montgomery was still marveling at the Wildcats’ whirlwind attack at the start of the game that had his Cardinal down, 16-2, and the fans up out of their seats before even the first five minutes had ticked off the clock.

“They were very, very aggressive and intense,” Montgomery said. “They denied everything. They got up into us and forced us out of our motion. They forced us out of our offense.

“They were running the floor on the fast break and getting the ball where they wanted it.”

In those opening minutes, Arizona not only shot the ball well, inside and from three-point range, it also took the ball away from Stanford in a variety of ways. Defensive rebounds. Steals. And the highlight--Anthony Cook’s mighty block of a shot by Stanford star Todd Lichti.

Sean Elliott, the Pac-10 player of the year who scored 32 points for Arizona, said the Wildcats were as fired up for the Cardinal game as they have been for any game in a long time.

Olson likened it to “letting race horses out of the gate.”

Elliott said: “Like coach said, they are one of the two losses we have this year. They put a blemish on our (17-1) conference record. We wanted to go out and prove we were the better team. We got the big lead and started having a good time. You can use the crowd to your advantage.”

Montgomery knew that. He knew he didn’t want the crowd involved. “We knew we couldn’t afford to let them get a quick lead and get the crowd going to give them that emotional advantage. . . . The game was pretty much won or lost in that first 5-6-7-minute sequence.”

With half of the first half left to play, Olson had starting center Tom Tolbert on the bench along with starting forward Cook and starting guards Steve Kerr and Craig McMillan.

Resting them for future tournament games? Letting everyone get tournament sharp? Or following USC Coach George Raveling’s suggestion that Olson ease up and give the rest of the conference a chance?

Olson said: “We came out determined to contest every foot of the court. I didn’t want to try to do that the whole game and have Steve Kerr’s legs not be there late in the game. . . . I have great confidence in the guys on the bench.”

Washington State’s Kelvin Sampson greeted the media after his double-overtime loss with red eyes and a trace of a sniffle, saying: “I’m proud of our kids. They did their best. Shoot, I just hope I have as much fun every year as I had this year with these kids.”

Oregon State Coach Ralph Miller thought the grueling game took its toll on his team. Especially while facing the prospect of playing Arizona today.

“I don’t think the two overtimes did us any good,” Miller said. “The biggest problem will be for (center) Bill Sherwood. He played (on a sprained ankle) for longer today than I ever thought he could.”

Sherwood played 48 minutes.

Miller said, “There is a question in my mind whether he’ll be able to play against Arizona. If he doesn’t, that puts a big burden on the other players.”

Pac-10 Notes

Arizona forward Sean Elliott was asked whether he was disappointed not to be meeting UCLA in the final. Elliott said: “They can enjoy their plane flight back home as far as (I’m concerned).” Coach Lute Olson broke in: “What Sean meant to say, if I can interpret a little, is that we just want to play whoever is next for us.” . . . Arizona shot 61.6% for the game, with Elliott bringing down the average. Elliott made 8 of 17 from the field but scored 15 more points on 16 free throws, a Pac-10 tournament record. . . . Stanford’s Todd Lichti finished with 23 points, giving him a career total of 1,616, a school record. The record was held by Kimberly Belton at 1,615.