First Stanford Loss Not a Cardinal Sin

Arizona took care of it all Thursday--that springy Maples Pavilion floor, the frenzied, stomping students and, most of all, Stanford’s undefeated record.

Arizona guard Mike Bibby was spectacular, and by the end of the No. 6 Wildcats’ 93-75 victory over No. 4 Stanford, he was plainly toying with the Cardinal defenders.

Bibby dribbled away from Arthur Lee with ease, driving to the basket and hitting long-range shots with a grin on his face. He finished with 26 points, 10 assists, and only one turnover in 37 minutes.

“Mike Bibby, if anyone wonders how good he is, take a look at those stats,” Arizona Coach Lute Olson said. “He’s obviously something special.”

Olson and guard Miles Simon called the game Arizona’s best performance of the season, and got no argument from Stanford, which lost for the first time in 19 games this season and saw its 20-game homecourt winning streak end.

“That’s an excellent, excellent basketball team,” Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery said. “That’s as well as I’ve seen Arizona play--maybe ever. Bibby and [Michael Dickerson] were tremendous.”

Dickerson made 12 of 16 shots, including two three-pointers, scoring 26 points and pulling down eight rebounds for an Arizona team that countered Arizona’s size with quickness all over the court.

Arizona’s quickness did Stanford in. Was there any way to slow down the Wildcats?

“Well, Tonya Harding tried that. . . .” Montgomery said.

It was supposed to be quickness versus size, but the foul trouble of Stanford’s 7-foot-1 center Tim Young, was a key factor.

Arizona led, 46-43, at the half and had trailed briefly in the first half. Young picked up his third foul in the first half and got No. 4 only 1:44 into the second half. Stanford trailed by three points then, but within five minutes Arizona led by 11 on the strength of Bibby’s hanging jumper followed by a three-pointer.

Every time Stanford countered--often behind Pete Sauer, who had 23 points and made 10 of 14 shots--Arizona struck back.

“I have no problem with our first loss being to the defending national champions, except it was on our homecourt,” Sauer said. “We’ve got to take care of things the second half of the season, which means winning down there, which isn’t easy to do.”

Arizona (18-3, 8-0), took sole possession of first place in the Pacific-10 race--a title still missing from the resumes of seniors Miles Simon, Dickerson and Bennett Davison.

It had been a week of high anticipation on the Stanford campus, with students camping out as early as Monday night to get prime standing-room spots on the sidelines in the midst of their Sixth Man Club.

It wasn’t quite Krzyzewskiville, but the Stanford fans were definitely aspiring to be like Duke’s Cameron Crazies.

Olson took them out of their game early, though, when Simon complained to the official with Bibby on the foul line and the students’ stomping shaking the unorthodox springy floor of Maples Pavilion.

The official spoke to the public-address announcer: “Refrain from jumping up and down. It can be a distraction to the shooter.”

The students’ derisive, self-congratulatory laughter was hushed a moment later when the announcer continued: “An additional free throw could be awarded.”

The students ceased their stomping, and seemed stumped for a counterattack--a lapse that exposed them as pretenders next to the resourceful Duke crowd.

Olson had been complaining about the stomping on free throws all week before the game. His well-planned little master stroke came less than three minutes into the game. Never mind that Bibby missed the second free throw too. The crowd was intimidated.

“We told the team before the game, ‘Play as if those stands are empty on that side, don’t give them the satisfaction of even acknowledging they’re there,’ ” Olson said. “I thought our team kept its composure well. Not a lot of teams that come in here have the kind of experience we have dealing with that.”

College Basketball Note

Referee Steve Wilson was being treated in the emergency room at Stanford Medical Center after being rushed to the hospital after leaving the court with chest pains late in the first half. Wilson left the court with 2:14 remaining in the half and went to the referees’ locker room, where he was attended to by Stanford team doctors James Klint and Gordon Campbell before paramedics were called.