Stanford Ends Arizona’s Streak, 87-76

Dan Grunfeld scored six consecutive points during a decisive second-half run and finished with a career-high 29, and Stanford ended No. 13 Arizona’s nine-game winning streak with an 87-76 victory Saturday at Stanford.

Chris Hernandez, the Cardinal’s starting point guard, returned to the lineup after sitting out Thursday’s game against Arizona State because of back spasms and scored 23 in his team’s best showing yet under first-year Coach Trent Johnson.

Rob Little had 16 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with 1:07 left, helping the Cardinal (7-7, 1-3 Pac-10) avoid its worst start in conference play since losing its first six conference games in the 1983-84 season.

“We need all the confidence we can get,” Little said. “We’ll take a win however we can get it. Right now we’re 7-7. We’ve got a long way to go. This isn’t a big party for us.”

Arizona (12-3, 2-1) never got in sync offensively against the Cardinal, which used an 80-77 victory over the Wildcats in Maples Pavilion last season on Nick Robinson’s 35-footer at the buzzer to help propel it to the No. 1 ranking.

Channing Frye had 20 points and 13 rebounds and Hassan Adams had 19 points and 10 boards for cold-shooting Arizona, which had averaged 90.4 points over its previous five games. The Wildcats shot 38.4%.

Stanford beat Arizona for the third time in a row. Grunfeld went 10 for 12 from the field, making all three of his three-point shots. Hernandez was three for five from long range.

Arizona missed its first five shots of the second half and Stanford came out with an 8-2 spurt, taking a 47-38 lead on Hernandez’s three-pointer at 17:20.

When Little scored and was fouled with 13:30 left for a three-point play, Arizona Coach Lute Olson thrust his arm in the air in frustration. Little’s basket started a 14-2 run, and Grunfeld scored the next three times down the floor to make it 60-47 with 11:04 left.

“Anytime a team shoots 58% from the field, 60% from three-point range and 77% from the line, you’re in trouble any way you look at it,” Olson said.

Arizona State 79, California 70 -- Ike Diogu had 25 points and seven rebounds at Berkeley, and the Sun Devils (13-2, 2-1) won for the 11th time in 12 games.

Diogu, the Pac-10’s leading scorer and rebounder, had his sixth consecutive 20-point game for the Sun Devils, who finished strong in their first road sweep of the conference’s Bay Area teams in 20 years. They ended a 13-game losing streak to Stanford on Thursday night.

Rod Benson had 15 points and eight rebounds, and walk-on Martin Smith had a career-high 12 points and seven assists for the Bears (8-6, 1-3). Leading scorer Richard Midgley was limited to six minutes because of a sprained right shoulder.

Oregon 73, Oregon State 64 -- Aaron Brooks scored 24 points to lead the Ducks (10-2, 2-1) past the Beavers (10-4, 2-1) at Eugene.

He had 15 points in the second half to help Oregon lead by as many as 15 points. Ian Crosswhite had a game-high nine rebounds, leading the Ducks to a 44-20 advantage on the boards.

David Lucas, getting his first start since returning from toe surgery four games ago, led the Beavers with 15 points, including 11 in the second half to help keep the game in range.