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Wildcats defeat Stanford despite bad shooting

Not many Pac-10 basketball observers would have predicted that the Arizona Wildcats could win a key conference game while missing more than two-thirds of their shot attempts.

But that’s exactly what transpired at McKale Center on Thursday night, when the Wildcats defeated visiting Stanford 76-68 despite shooting just 32.8 percent from the field.

“I would say that tonight’s win is very satisfying for all of us – coaching staff and players – because it was a night when things didn’t go well for us on offense,” Arizona head coach Sean Miller said.

The Wildcats offset their 21-of-64 field-goal shooting by grabbing a season-high 19 offensive rebounds.

“We’re a smaller team, but we still want to be one of the best offensive rebounding teams,” said Arizona point guard Nic Wise, who finished with 14 points and six rebounds.

Wise, a 5-foot-10 senior, rebounded his own missed free throw with 20 seconds left and the Wildcats ahead by five points. He immediately was fouled again and made his two subsequent free throws to give Arizona an insurmountable 74-67 lead.

“A month ago, it would take us three or four games to get 19 (offensive rebounds),” Miller said. “We’ve really improved in that area. And although they have two terrific players who had big nights (senior forward Landry Fields, who scored a game-high 31 points for Stanford, and sophomore guard Jeremy Green, who added 25 points), I thought our defense forced some turnovers (18) and we really stayed with it, grinded it out. I think that’s a sign of our team growing – when we can win and not play the way we’re capable of on offense.”

In earning their third consecutive victory, Arizona moved into sole possession of second place in the Pac-10, just one game behind the California Golden Bears, who will visit Tucson on Sunday for a 1:30 p.m. showdown against the Wildcats for the league lead.

“We’re excited about our next game, and I’m very happy for our team that we were able to win three games in a row this season for the first time,” Miller said.

Arizona (11-9, 5-3) began the night in a five-way tie for second place in the conference at 4-3. While the Wildcats dealt Stanford (10-10, 4-4) its fourth league defeat, the other three teams in the deadlock ( Arizona State, USC and UCLA) also lost on Thursday.

“We knew we could be here, with the tough preseason (non-conference) schedule we had before the Pac-10,” Wise said. “We had one of the top five schedules in the country.”

The Wildcats finished 6-6 in non-league play, defeating Northern Arizona, Rice, Colorado, Louisiana Tech, Lipscomb and North Carolina State, while losing to Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, UNLV, Oklahoma, San Diego State and BYU.

“I think that helped to let our freshmen grow up,” Wise said. “They’re playing great basketball right now and they’re all contributing to our team.”

Forward/center Derrick Williams, one of five freshmen who are playing key roles for the Wildcats, led Arizona with 23 points and eight rebounds against Stanford. It was the fourth consecutive game (and seventh overall) that Williams has scored at least 20 points.

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“He’s really an amazing player right now for us,” Miller said about Williams, who is averaging 16 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. “I have a hard time believing there are many freshmen in the country who are better than Derrick or who are having a bigger impact on their team.”

Williams scored on a third-chance putback of his own missed shot to give the Wildcats a 60-52 lead with 6:50 left. He added a two-handed slam with 2:30 remaining to put Arizona ahead by the seemingly comfortable margin of 68-56.

Stanford battled back, however, as Fields and Green hit consecutive three-pointers to make it 68-62 with 2:02 left.

A drive to the basket by Green reduced Stanford’s deficit to 69-64. Green then knocked down a three-pointer from just left of the top of the key to draw the Cardinal to within 71-67 with 23 seconds remaining.

Wise then stepped up by making 3 of 4 foul shots over the ensuing five seconds. He split his first pair of free throws during the sequence, missing the second attempt but grabbing his own rebound and drawing another foul. Wise swished both of his ensuing free throws to give the Wildcats a seven-point lead with 18.6 seconds remaining.

Arizona made 27 of 34 free throws on the night.

Stanford went 10 of 16 from the foul line while making 25 of 53 field goals.

By Tom Kessler
DFN Sports Staff Writer