Stanford Road Warriors Stifle Arizona, 82-72

A Stanford victory at Arizona is nothing new. A dominating double-digit Cardinal win, though, was unexpected and impressive.

Josh Childress scored 19 points to lead five Stanford players in double figures and the fourth-ranked Cardinal remained unbeaten after an 82-72 victory over No. 3 Arizona on Saturday.

“A really nice road trip for our basketball team,” Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery said. “The kids are real pleased right now, and they should be.”

Stanford, which improved to 13-0 overall and 4-0 in the Pacific 10 Conference, led by 20 points with 4:02 to play. Only a late 24-14 run prevented it from being the worst home loss for the Wildcats in Coach Lute Olson’s 21 seasons in Tucson.

“It is hard throwing a fat rock up a hill,” Arizona’s Channing Frye said. “That is the only way to explain this game. In the end, that rock just squished us.”

The Cardinal won at McKale Center for the fourth consecutive season. No other team has won more than twice at Arizona.

Childress, whose rebound basket gave Stanford a 63-62 victory at Arizona State on Thursday night, has yet to lose in the state of Arizona in his three college seasons.

“We try to live by the motto that we’re road warriors and we’re going to go out and play to win,” he said. “We’re going to come into anybody’s house and play our game -- play hard, physical defense and try to win.”

The home team hasn’t won in the last eight games of the series involving the Pac-10 powers. The Wildcats (10-2, 2-1) have a four-game winning streak at Stanford.

Matt Lottich scored 17 points for the Cardinal, and Rob Little scored 13. Justin Davis had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the winners, whose size and depth overpowered the quicker Wildcats. Chris Hernandez had 11 points and nine assists but also committed seven turnovers.

Still, Olson thought Hernandez was the best player on the floor because of his intelligence, toughness and passing ability. Stanford’s smart play was impressive to the Hall of Fame coach.

“They must have to have a pretty high GPA to get in there or something,” Olson said, “because they really play with poise and intelligence.”

Freshman Mustafa Shakur scored a career-high 20 points for Arizona but 14 came in the final run. Andre Iguoudala had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Frye scored 12 but was only four for 13 from the field and grabbed only four rebounds. Salim Stoudamire, the focus of Stanford’s defense, scored 11 points on four-for-14 shooting, including one for eight on three-point shots.

“I thought we played well, with the exception of putting the ball in the hole,” Olson said. “It wasn’t the case of us throwing the ball all over the arena or anything like that. We just didn’t make shots.”

Arizona shot 36% for the game, 19% (six for 31) in the first half, and finished four for 21 on three-pointers. The Wildcats were 0 for 10 on three-pointers in the first half.

“I think Arizona hit nine straight shots the last 3 minutes and 23 seconds,” Montgomery said. “Up to that point, we’d obviously done a pretty good job of defending.”

The worst home loss in the Olson era remains 61-49 to Tennessee in 1983, in his first season in Tucson.