Stanford @ Arizona preview
McKale Center
Last Meeting ( Dec 19, 2020 ) Arizona 75, Stanford 78
Stanford ended a 12-year drought of losing to Arizona with a close win in December and now the Cardinal will go for their first sweep of the Wildcats since the 2007-08 season when the teams meet in Tucson, Arizona, on Thursday night.
Oscar da Silva led Stanford (9-5, 5-3 Pac-12) with 21 points in its 78-75 win over Arizona (12-3, 6-3) at Santa Cruz, Calif., on Dec. 19. The victory snapped a 20-game losing streak to the Wildcats.
The senior da Silva had a game-winning basket last Saturday against UCLA off an inbounds pass in overtime. He finished with 26 points.
"When you grind a game out like that, it's very rewarding when you win in the end," da Silva said. "It couldn't have come in more dramatic fashion."
The 6-foot-9 power forward has become more of a 3-point shooting threat, connecting on 37.5 percent of his shots beyond the arc. He is 3 of 6 from that range in his last two games.
He is averaging 19.8 points and 7.1 rebounds a game.
Fellow forwards Ziaire Williams and Jaiden Delaire combine to average 23.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.
Two of Arizona's players who played in the December loss to Stanford might not play Thursday.
Jemarl Baker Jr., who made a career-high eight 3-pointers and finished with 29 points in that game, is definitely out. He is sidelined the rest of the season with a broken right wrist.
Bennedict Mathurin, who is establishing himself as one of the top freshmen in the Pac-12, went down with a sprained right ankle in Monday's 80-67 win over Arizona State. His status for Thursday is undetermined.
Mathurin is averaging 11.8 points and 4.9 rebounds a game.
"There's different severities of a sprain, as we all know," coach Sean Miller said. "I don't think his is significant, but it might be the first ankle injury he's ever had. So, if it's happened to you before, the first one scares you more than anything."
Miller made the comment that Arizona is running low on guards with Baker and Mathurin injured, but he is getting production at that position from starters Terrell Brown Jr. and James Akinjo.
Akinjo, a transfer from Georgetown, leads Arizona averaging 14.3 points, 5.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
Brown, a transfer from Seattle who scored 18 points against Arizona State on Monday, is averaging 8.7 points and 3.5 assists per game.
--Field Level Media