There isn't much left in the tank for these Cardinal. Tyrell Terry played only eight minutes of the second half due to injury, Oscar da Silva had foul trouble and Stanford couldn't overcome its shortcomings to beat a very beatable Arizona team, extending the miserable losing streak to 20.
That's 20 straight losses to a program that long ago matched up with Stanford in thrilling rivalry games. Saturday night Stanford left the court to "U of A" chants from a happy crowd of Arizona fans who took over Maples Pavilion for the final five minutes of the game.
It was a painful night for the Cardinal and Jerod Haase. In the postgame press conference (linked below) Haase talked about working as hard as possible to flip the switch for the team, beginning with the next practice and then the road trip to Washington. Stanford has lost seven of its last eight games.
Even though they never led Saturday, the Cardinal defense and Bryce Wills throwing shots in while contorting his body like a gymnast had them within four a couple times.
Stanford's defensive rebounding and lack of effectiveness on offense undid all the other work done by the team. The Wildcats were atrocious shooting the ball (3-of-21 3FGA) and turned it over 16 times. But they made 26-31 free throws, had a 39-25 edge in rebounds and 13-3 in offensive rebounds. While the game was still a contest they held a 10-2 edge in second chance points until a meaningless three at the end by Stanford.
The rebounding problem repeatedly ruined great defensive possessions. It was a tough night for Lukas Kisunas and James Keefe off the bench. They combined for only three rebounds in 15 minutes combined and Keefe quickly picked up four fouls.
da Silva also couldn't stay out of foul trouble and the officials were often heard from in this game.
Stanford fans shouldn't complain about that, though, because at one point it seemed obvious that they had a golden opportunity because of fouls. Zeke Nnaji is Arizona's best player and he picked up three quick fouls in the second half right after Stanford scored five points to create momentum. In the following minutes that he sat on the bench Stanford proceeded to make zero progress on the scoreboard. It was astonishing to watch.
Wills kept the Cardinal close but I don't suggest anyone get too excited about what he did being repeatable. Wills made several ugly, lucky shots that should better be described as tossing the ball toward the rim. What he did was not the result of a well-executed offense. However, there's no denying his effort was fantastic.
Stanford is limping toward the end of the season and may not have enough left to hold off a disastrous finish. It's also a group that shouldn't be completely counted out until there are no games left to play. They're never going to give up on defense and if Terry can play next week then anything can happen.
That's 20 straight losses to a program that long ago matched up with Stanford in thrilling rivalry games. Saturday night Stanford left the court to "U of A" chants from a happy crowd of Arizona fans who took over Maples Pavilion for the final five minutes of the game.
It was a painful night for the Cardinal and Jerod Haase. In the postgame press conference (linked below) Haase talked about working as hard as possible to flip the switch for the team, beginning with the next practice and then the road trip to Washington. Stanford has lost seven of its last eight games.
Even though they never led Saturday, the Cardinal defense and Bryce Wills throwing shots in while contorting his body like a gymnast had them within four a couple times.
Stanford's defensive rebounding and lack of effectiveness on offense undid all the other work done by the team. The Wildcats were atrocious shooting the ball (3-of-21 3FGA) and turned it over 16 times. But they made 26-31 free throws, had a 39-25 edge in rebounds and 13-3 in offensive rebounds. While the game was still a contest they held a 10-2 edge in second chance points until a meaningless three at the end by Stanford.
The rebounding problem repeatedly ruined great defensive possessions. It was a tough night for Lukas Kisunas and James Keefe off the bench. They combined for only three rebounds in 15 minutes combined and Keefe quickly picked up four fouls.
da Silva also couldn't stay out of foul trouble and the officials were often heard from in this game.
Stanford fans shouldn't complain about that, though, because at one point it seemed obvious that they had a golden opportunity because of fouls. Zeke Nnaji is Arizona's best player and he picked up three quick fouls in the second half right after Stanford scored five points to create momentum. In the following minutes that he sat on the bench Stanford proceeded to make zero progress on the scoreboard. It was astonishing to watch.
Wills kept the Cardinal close but I don't suggest anyone get too excited about what he did being repeatable. Wills made several ugly, lucky shots that should better be described as tossing the ball toward the rim. What he did was not the result of a well-executed offense. However, there's no denying his effort was fantastic.
Stanford is limping toward the end of the season and may not have enough left to hold off a disastrous finish. It's also a group that shouldn't be completely counted out until there are no games left to play. They're never going to give up on defense and if Terry can play next week then anything can happen.
