Cardinal moves into runner-up spot in AP poll
The No. 2 ranking is
Stanford's highest since
the Cardinal earned a No. 1
ranking in March 2001
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
Stanford is as close to the top as it
has been in almost two years.
As Associated Press Top 25 Poll
rankings were released Monday, the
Cardinal, which remains undefeated,
found itself at No. 2, behind Duke.
Stanford (14-0 overall, 5-0 Pacific
10 Conference) is one of just three
teams that remains undefeated,
alongside St. Joseph's and Cincinnati.
The Cardinal's No. 2 ranking is the
highest Stanford has been ranked
since it was No. 1 on March 5, 2001.
"I think if you had said we were go
ing to be No. 2 in the country in Janu
ary, that (would have been) surpris
ing," Stanford head coach Mike
Montgomery said. "We haven't been
trying to do anything but play basket
ball and win games."
Seven weeks ago, Stanford was
ranked 21st in the nation. And in sev
en weeks, the Cardinal has jumped
from 17th to second in the USA To
day/ESPN poll.
Stanford is currently beating its op
ponents by an average of 15.3 points
per game, and the Cardinal has won
18 of its last 19 home games.
"Most of these kids have been
through this a time or two with the
rankings," Montgomery said. "We're a
good solid basketball team who en
joys playing together right now. We're
not too worried about what all that
other stuff is right now. If we can keep
our heads straight and do what we've
been doing we'll be fine."
Stanford hasn't had success with
just one star player; it has been a team
effort. Four of Stanford's five starters
are averaging more than 10 points a
game with senior guard Matt Lottich
leading at 14 points and 3 rebounds
per game.
"It makes it harder to guard us in
terms of the feeling of taking one
guy out and then that being the end
of Stanford," Montgomery said. "We
can score inside, we can score out
side, we've got some slashers, we've
got some depth, but the reality of it
is we're winning with defense and
rebounding."
Diogu domination
Forward Ike Diogu of Arizona State
is in his sophomore year, but he is al
ready one of the most dominating
players in the Pac-10.
Diogu is the conference leader in
points, averaging 23.1 per game, and
he and ranks third in rebounding
with 8.7 per game.
"He's been developing very well,"
Arizona State head coach Rob Evans
said. "He is critical to our basketball
team. He's barely into his sophomore
year but he's gotten better from last
year as far as his ability to step away
from inside."
Diogu has led the Sun Devils in
scoring in 10 of 16 games this season.
He is currendy in a streak of 46
straight games of double-digit scor
ing, which leads the nation. Diogu
has not failed to score in double-digits
in his collegiate career.
In Arizona State's 100-85 win over
USC on Saturday, Diogu led his team
with 27 points. He shot a career best
3 for 3 from the three-point line and
was a perfect 12 for 12 from the free
throw line.
"We can't have just me scoring,"
Diogu said. "Everybody on this team
is capable of scoring. There's no rea
son for us not to come out and play
like this all the time."
Arizona dropping in polls
As the Associated Press rankings
were released for week 10, Arizona
again found itself further down the
list than the previous week.
The Wildcats ranked in at No. 14 on
Monday. In week nine, Arizona was
ranked No. 7. The week prior, the Wild
cats were ranked as high as No. 3.
Arizona head coach Lute Olson is
n't worried because the NCAA Tour
nament in March decides which
teams go where.
"As far as national polls in basket
ball, it doesn't make any difference,"
Olson said.
The Wildcats (11-3,3-2) are in a tie
for third in the conference with Ore
gon. Arizona had its way in a 97-72
victory against UCLA on Saturday, but
prior to the Bruin matchup, the Wild
cats had lost two straight to then-No.
4 Stanford and USC.
"We're still a work in progress," Ol
son said. "By the time we get to the
end of March, we'll be a consistently
good ball club."
Contact the sports reporter
at jessethomas@dailyemerald.com.
Free throw shooting propels Longhorns past Tigers
Sixteenth-ranked Texas
improved to 12-2 with the
six-point win over Missouri
By Chip Brown
The Dallas Morning News (KRT)
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Guard Royal
Ivey scored a career-high 24 points
and almost single-handedly pulled
Texas through overtime as the 16th
ranked Longhorns overcame a huge
disparity in fouls called and pulled off
an improbable 75-69 victory over
Missouri Tuesday night.
"Royal Ivey's been around a long
time," UT coach Rick Barnes said.
"He's going to end up starting more
games than probably any other Texas
player when it's all over, and he used
every bit of his experience tonight. He
was terrific."
Texas players celebrated inside the
tunnel, probably in disbelief that the
Longhorns could overcome Missouri
shooting 37 free throws compared to
UTs 19 free-throw attempts. The
difference was that Missouri missed
14 of its attempts while Texas missed
only four.
A game that started out with the of
ficials letting players play turned into
a whisde-fest in the second half with
most of the whistles coming against
UTs big men. James Thomas, Jason
Klotz, Brandon Mouton, Brad Buck
man and Ivey all played with four
fouls in the second half. Buckman
fouled out in overtime.
But Ivey, the hero in a 63-61 victo
ry over Nebraska on Saturday, did it
again Tuesday, scoring 10 of UTs 14
points in overtime, including six-of
six shooting on free throws. The victo
ry gave Texas (12-2, 3-0 Big 12) its
sixth straight victory over the Tigers
(7-7, 2-2), including UTs third
straight at the Heames Center in front
of a sellout crowd of 13,611.
"I'm just playing and having fun,"
Ivey said.
After Missouri took a 64-63 lead in
overtime on a 3-point play by Arthur
Johnson, Ivey took over, scoring 10
straight points that put Texas up,
73-69, with 19.2 ticks left on the
dock. Johnson took his first 3-pointer
of the season for Missouri with 10 sec
onds to play, but it clanged off the
rim, ending the Tigers' hopes for a
comeback.
In regulation, Missouri took a 61
58 lead with 30.8 seconds left when
Rickey Paulding raced past Brandon
Mouton and brought the fans to their
feet with a two-handed jam.
(c) 2004, The Dallas Morning News.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
BACTERIA
continued from page 7A
Oregon. "It was great to see our team
play together."
Mendiola scored a combined 35
points last week, vaulting her into a tie
for 23rd place on the all-time Pac-10
scoring list with 1,596. She is the only
player in conference history to rank in
the top 25 in scoring and top 10 in as
sists (540).
Scoring snap
Mill#
Ul Hi
on
Tuesday, January 27 • ItOOam - 7410 p
Join us for a day of career
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Tuesday, January 27, 2004
2:00 * 4:00pm • EMU Ballroom
Tuesday, January 27,2004
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Oregon State guard Shannon How
ell exploded for 40 points Saturday in
an 87-74 loss to Washington.
It was the most points scored by a
Pac-10 player since Mendiola scored
43 against UCLA on Feb. 1, 2003.
Howell connected on 14 of 28 shots,
including 5 of 10 from three-point
range.
The junior-transfer from Nebraska
became eligible to play on Dec. 27
due to NCAA Division I transfer rules.
In seven games, Howell has helped
the Beavers to a 4-3 record while aver
aging 22.6 points per game.
Oregon State hosts Arizona State
Thursday and Arizona on Saturday.
The Beavers are in a tie for fourth in
the conference with the Sun Devils.
Contact the sports reporter
at jonroetman@dailyemerald.com.
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