Arizona @ Stanford preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 24, 2019 ) Stanford 54, Arizona 70

Washington’s Isaiah Stewart remains the frontrunner for Pac-12 freshman of the year honors, but Arizona’s Zeke Nnaji is closing in fast. The 6-11 forward is averaging 16.4 points and 8.8 rebounds for the Wildcats, who look to complete their fourth consecutive Bay Area road sweep when they face struggling Stanford on Saturday.

Nnaji recorded 21 points and five rebounds in Thursday’s 68-52 win over California as the Wildcats won for the fourth time in their past five games and moved into a four-way loss column tie for first place in the conference standings with Colorado, Oregon and Arizona State. “Zeke, man, he’s one of the best freshmen in the country,” teammate Dylan Smith told reporters. “It’s always good to get him the ball. So long as we get on the ball, a lot of good stuff happens there. And when he’s posting hard and he plays with energy, we’re a hard team to beat.” Smith also stepped up against the Bears and snapped out of a lengthy shooting slump by making four 3-pointers and finishing with 14 points. Arizona faces a favorable matchup against Stanford, which has lost six of its last seven games after opening conference play with a 4-0 record.

TIME: 10:30 p.m. ET. TV: Pac-12 Network

ABOUT ARIZONA (17-7, 7-4 Pac-12): Freshman point guard Nico Mannion is averaging 13.9 points and 5.5 assists while shooting 82.1 percent from the foul line for the Wildcats, who lead the Pac-12 in scoring at 78.3 points per game. Coach Sean Miller has been pleased with the production from 6-9 forward Stone Gettings, who has averaged 9.5 points and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 59.6 percent from the field since moving into the starting lineup six games ago. Freshman guard Josh Green missed the final seven minutes of Thursday’s win over Cal due to an apparent injury and is listed as day-to-day.

ABOUT STANFORD (16-8, 5-6): Freshman point guard Tyrell Terry matched his career-high with 24 points in Thursday’s 74-69 loss to Arizona State, which shot 60 percent from the field in the first half and led by as many as 14 points before Stanford rallied after the break. Terry is averaging 15.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Cardinal, who are 12-3 at Maples Pavilion this season. Sophomore forward Jaiden Delaire scored 11 points off the bench against the Sun Devils while filling in for leading scorer and rebounder Oscar da Silva, who remains out after suffering a head injury against Colorado last weekend.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Arizona has beaten Stanford 19 straight times – including 18 straight under Miller.

2. Stanford junior guard Daejon Davis has averaged 10.3 points in four previous meetings against the Wildcats.

3. Arizona senior center Chase Jeter has missed six of the last eight games due to back spasms.

PREDICTION: Arizona 77, Stanford 66