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		Hard-working Wildcats stop Stanford By Daniel Dullum January 28, 2010

	TUCSON, Ariz. – Stanford learned a hard lesson Thursday in its quest to climb the Pac-10 men’s basketball ladder – holding a talented opponent to 33 percent shooting on its raucous home court sometimes isn’t enough. That’s what the Cardinal did against Arizona in front of a packed house of 14,563 at McKale Center. They also had more field goals, and a 27-19 edge in defensive rebounds. But the Wildcats banged the boards for 19 offensive rebounds, put up 11 more shots, made twice as many trips to the free throw line, and won 76-68. “They really did a good job on the offensive boards, and their first, second and third shots,” Cardinal coach Johnny Dawkins said before addressing his team’s 18 turnovers. “That was the difference, even though we held them to 33 percent shooting (21 of 64).” Cardinal forward Landry Fields scored a game-high 31 points and grabbed 11 of Stanford’s 34 rebounds. Fields and guard Jeremy Green scored all but two of the Cardinal’s points in the second half. Arizona guard Kyle Fogg, who finished with 15 points, said Field and Green, “They’re great players. One shot I could have sworn my hand was in Green’s face, and there’s no way he could have seen the basket, and somehow, it went in. Good players are going to make shots.” “I would like to see more contributions out there,” Dawkins said of the point distribution. “A lot of guys have stepped up for us throughout the season. Tonight was just one of those nights where their shots wouldn’t fall. “The shots didn’t fall tonight, but I have confidence in my guys to make contributions down the stretch.” “Looking back, we’ve got to take care of the ball and we’ve got to be smarter out there,” Fields said of the turnovers. “I think some of our choices weren’t up to par. That was the difference in the game.” On the subject of offensive rebounds, Arizona coach Sean Miller said, “a month ago, we would have only gotten four or five. We did a good job on the boards and that definitely helped us get the win.” Stanford (10-10 overall, 4-4 Pac-10) shot 47 percent on 2-pointers from the floor (25 of 53) and hit 8 of 20 (40 percent) from 3-point range, including five by Green. But the Cardinal also committed 25 personal fouls – along with a technical on Dawkins early in the second half – sending Arizona to the free throw line 34 times, making 27. “It’s an interesting stat that is hidden in the books that most of the offensive rebounds have fouls attached to them,” Miller said. “I don’t know how many points we would have scored had we not had all of those second chances. Defense definitely won this game for us.” Arizona (11-9, 5-3) forged a 7-3 run to open the second half, taking a 44-36 lead. A 3-pointer by Green with 15:17 remaining pulled the Cardinal to within 44-40, but the Wildcats responded with a seven-point run on a pair of free throws by Nic Wise, a 3-pointer by Kyle Fogg and a dunk by Derrick Williams, giving U of A a 51-40 lead with 13:07 to play. With 8:36 to play, a dunk by Fields pulled Stanford to within 55-50, but Fogg answered with a 3-pointer, and Arizona kept the Cardinal at arm’s length the rest of the way. When Stanford began fouling to get possession, Wise hit 6 of 8 free throws in the final 4:24. “Closing out the game is something we haven’t been doing, getting stops and knocking down free throws,” said Wise, who hit 10 of 12 free throws and finished with 14 points. “We usually allow easy lay-ups and miss some free throws on our end, but it’s something we’ve been working on in practice.” Derrick Williams led Arizona with 23 points, his fourth consecutive 20-point game. Williams was 8 of 9 at the line and grabbed eight rebounds. “Just making free throws,” Williams said of his recent scoring spurt. “Early in the season, I was going 3 for 6, 5 for 10.” Dawkins wouldn’t say what sparked the technical, but said, “It’s a game where you get fired up and you’re fighting for your guys. It was a well officiated and well played game. We just came up short.” Miller, meanwhile, said, “We’ll take this win. It wasn’t pretty, but I really attribute it to the fans and their energy. They are really the reason for the win.” Stanford concludes its swing through the 48th state when it visits Arizona State Saturday afternoon in Tempe.