Remember this score: Stanford 85, Arizona 76.
As of February 7, the men's basketball team was 20-1, ranked No. 2 in the country, and beating its opponents by an average of 21.3 points per game. But no victory loomed larger than the win over the Wildcats in Tucson, Ariz., on January 5. If the Cardinal shakes off the subpar performances of its last two NCAA tournament appearances and advances to the Final Four, the team may look back at that game as a key moment in a successful season.
Arizona, loaded with talent and picked by some sportswriters as the preseason favorite to win the national championship, seldom loses at McKale Center. Stanford has won there just once since 1984. This time, the Cardinal built a double-digit lead early in the second half and was never seriously threatened, rebuffing every potential Arizona comeback.
That victory, as well as a December 21 win over then No. 1 Duke, 84-83, bolstered the Cardinal's chances for a high seed as the team enters March Madness. It also demonstrated a quality that some feared might be missing when Mark Madsen graduated last spring -- leadership.
Senior co-captains Ryan Mendez and Jason Collins have taken over Madsen's role as squad leaders. The two have been instrumental in getting the players to function as a team, according to head coach Mike Montgomery. "They've really made a conscious effort to step up and talk to the other kids about what we need to be doing," he says.
This year's group might be quieter and less demonstrative than past teams, but they have developed into a strong unit, playing with confidence and determination. "The game against Arizona was obviously a big game, and it was apparent that our players were getting themselves ready to compete," Montgomery says. "It's different than in previous years, because we don't have a lot of running around and talking [to fire up their teammates]. These guys get themselves ready."
This team also has shown an ability to adapt to different styles of play, an important asset come tournament time. In a January 20 game against New Mexico, for example, the Cardinal struggled in the first half when the speedy Lobos guards repeatedly penetrated Stanford's man-to-man defense and set up teammates to score inside. Montgomery switched to a zone defense late in the half, and the Cardinal scored the next 13 points. They stuck with the zone in the second half and won in a romp, 75-44.
That sort of "whatever it takes" spirit was missing during the second-round loss to North Carolina in the NCAAs last March, says Mendez. The players second-guessed their performance and each seemed to think that, given a chance, he could have changed the outcome. "It was, 'I need the ball more. I need to shoot more,'" Mendez recalls. "It was definitely, 'Me, me, me.'"
Although several games have featured multiple players scoring 15 or more points, the offensive leader clearly is sophomore Casey Jacobsen. He leads the team in scoring and is a devastating perimeter shooter, making about 45 percent of his shots from three-point range, including a few 30-footers. In the Duke game, Jacobsen scored a career-high 26 points, including the winning shot with 3.6 seconds remaining. "He's playing fabulous basketball," Montgomery says. Point guard Mike McDonald also has been a steadying influence this season. He was averaging 5 assists and just 1.5 turnovers after the team's first 21 games and arriving at better decisions as a playmaker, according to Montgomery.
"We've won two conference championships in a row, and we have our third in our sights. That is really something special," Montgomery said as the Cardinal headed into February. The coach acknowledges, though, that the real prize is the NCAA tournament, which begins on March 15. After disappointing exits in the first and second rounds the last two years, Stanford is hoping that a combination of talent, timing and toughness will lead them back to the Final Four.
