Arizona Drops No. 1 Stanford

The floor shook Saturday at Maples Pavilion, but it was No. 5 Arizona that provided the shock, upsetting No. 1 Stanford, 68-65, in what amounted to an important service break for the two leading Pacific 10 Conference contenders.

It was the 600th win of Arizona Coach Lute Olson’s career, and few could have been sweeter.

Arizona, its roster depleted to seven scholarship players after starting forward Richard Jefferson broke his right foot three minutes into the game, somehow withstood Stanford’s superior depth.

“When I saw Richard go down, I really got worried,” Arizona center Loren Woods said. “All of a sudden we only have two subs on the bench. A sense of urgency came upon everybody on the floor. We pulled together even tighter.”

Five Arizona players logged 30 minutes or more, and three were freshmen.

So why didn’t it matter?

“Depth is one of our strengths,” Stanford forward Mark Madsen said. “But they didn’t seem to get worn down at all. They’re in phenomenal shape.”

Stanford is 68-8 at home since the start of 1994-95, but Arizona didn’t seem to be affected by the sellout crowd of 7,391, especially freshman guard Jason Gardner, who scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the pressure-packed second half.

The Wildcats trailed by two at halftime and dominated more than 19 minutes of the second half before nearly blowing a 10-point lead with 30 seconds left.

David Moseley hit two three-pointers in the last 10 seconds to cut the lead to 66-65 with three seconds left, setting up a dramatic finish.

Stanford’s Mike McDonald momentarily thought he had intercepted the inbounds pass and bounced it out of bounds off Woods’ leg, but the official ruled McDonald was out of bounds.

Stanford quickly fouled Gardner, who stood at the free-throw line with three seconds remaining and a one-point lead. One of the quirks of Maples is a playing surface that literally bounces when the students stomp their feet.

But Gardner never flinched. The freshman asked the official to tell the Stanford crowd to quit stomping while he was shooting, which he knew the referees were obligated to do.

“Josh Pastner was telling me the whole week, ‘Tell the refs to tell the crowd to sit down,’ ” Gardner said of advice he received from a teammate. “I told the ref that.”

Gardner calmly sank two free throws. Stanford had a last chance to tie, but Moseley shot an air ball at the buzzer.

Arizona improved to 13-2 with the win and 2-0 in Pac-10 play, earning Olson career win No. 600.

“I’m not into counting things,” Olson said. “But the 500th is easy to remember, because Miles Simon threw in a 65-footer against Cincinnati and this one came against a great team, in a tough situation, No. 1 in the nation. Certainly not one I’ll forget regardless of how many senior moments I have.”

Stanford (12-1, 1-1) had been No. 1 since Dec. 19, but didn’t play like it Saturday, making only 23 of 69 shots, and only six of 25 three-point attempts.

Madsen, making his first start of the season after returning from a hamstring injury, made only one of seven shots. Moseley was five of 11, Jarron Collins made only four of 10, Mike McDonald was five for 11 and freshman Casey Jacobsen, the team’s leading scorer, was two of nine.

Arizona received several solid performances.

Michael Wright had 15 points and eight rebounds, Woods finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots, and Luke Walton had seven assists in place of the injured Jefferson.

Olson said Jefferson is probably out for eight weeks because of the foot injury.

Stanford tried to take Arizona out early, building a nine-point lead three times in the first half, the last with 8:45 remaining when Ryan Mendez followed a missed Madsen shot to put the Cardinal ahead, 26-17.

But Arizona scored the next eight points, on three-pointers by Gardner and Gilbert Arenas and Luke Walton’s follow, cutting the lead to 26-25.

Stanford built the lead back to six on Jason Collins’ basket and free throw with 2:38 left, but Arizona cut the deficit back to two at the half.

Stanford’s problem?

The Cardinal missed 21 of its last 24 shots in the half.

With apologies to UCLA vs. anyone, Stanford-Arizona has become the rivalry in the Pac-10.

Saturday’s game marked only the fourth matchup of top-five teams in Pac-10 history, and the last since Arizona State vs. Oregon State in 1981.

Locals say the rivalry was born Feb. 4, 1988, when Stanford stunned No. 1 Arizona at Maples, but things really only got interesting after Stanford stopped dribbling the ball off its foot.

The Cardinal, remember, had not made an NCAA appearance since 1942 until Montgomery’s squad broke the jinx in 1988-89.

And Arizona still has a decided statistical edge, having won 20 of the last 24 meetings. The Wildcats won 15 consecutive games in the series until Stanford ended the streak in 1996.

The rivalry was really born two years ago, when the matchup decided the Pac-10 title.

Arizona walloped Stanford by 32 points at Tucson to clinch the conference title in 1998. Stanford exacted revenge last year with a Pac-10-clinching, 15-point win at Maples.

Saturday’s game was only the first salvo fired in what appears to be a battle for the Pac-10 crown.

With Jefferson out, Arizona is certainly vulnerable to another loss or two before Stanford and Arizona meet against in Tucson on March. 9.

“We were going to lose at one point,” Montgomery said. “You have to learn from this. It’s a long way from over. We’re certainly not out of anything.”