Stanford Experiences That Sinking Feeling

Ike Diogu scored 28 points and had 15 rebounds to lead Arizona State to a 81-69 victory Thursday night over Stanford, off to its worst start in Pacific-10 Conference play in 20 years.

The Cardinal (6-7, 0-3), struggling under first-year Coach Trent Johnson, also had its 18-game home winning streak and 13-game string over Arizona State stopped.

Steve Moore added 19 points for the Sun Devils (12-2, 1-1), who beat Stanford for the first time in nearly seven years.

Dan Grunfeld scored 24 points and Matt Haryasz added 12 to lead the short-handed Cardinal.

Stanford’s already depleted bench got even thinner when junior point guard Chris Hernandez was unable to start because of back spasms sustained during the shoot-around. Hernandez has had back problems the past two years, and he sat out a season because of a broken foot.

Tim Morris was declared academically ineligible on Tuesday, and forward Evan Moore left the team the same day to focus on football. The Cardinal had eight scholarship players available for the game.

The Sun Devils outscored Stanford, 10-3, in the first four minutes of the second half to extend their lead to 49-34. Arizona State, with Diogu helping control the boards, eventually led by as many as 19.

Stanford closed to 68-57 on Nick Robinson’s baseline jumper with 5:42 left, but Diogu converted a three-point play 15 seconds later and the Cardinal never got closer.

No. 13 Arizona 87, California 67 -- Channing Frye had 20 points and eight rebounds at Berkeley to lead the Wildcats (12-2, 2-0) to their ninth straight victory in their first road game in 19 days.

Hassan Adams added 16 points and Ivan Radenovic had 14 points and seven rebounds for Arizona, which beat Cal for the 11th time in the last 12 meetings.

Arizona led for most of the game but couldn’t shake Cal until putting together an 18-4 run early in the second half. Frye sparked the spurt with seven points, including a short hook to give the Wildcats a 56-44 lead.

Arizona had not played away from Tucson since a 48-43 victory over Marquette on Dec. 18. The Wildcats, who last season had just their fourth losing road record in the Pac-10 under Coach Lute Olson, play three of their next five conference games away from home.

Richard Midgley scored 14 points to lead California (8-5, 1-2).

The Wildcats led most of the first half despite a slow start from leading scorer Salim Stoudamire. Stoudamire came into the game averaging 14.8 points but was held in check by Midgley, scoring six points.

Cal, which missed eight of its first 11 shots from the field, stayed close in the first half thanks to the shooting of Midgley, who had 12 points before halftime. Arizona also helped with turnovers on their first two possessions and 11 in the half.