Stanford @ Arizona preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 9, 2019 ) Arizona 75, Stanford 70

Two teams eager to improve their seeding for next month’s Pac-12 tournament meet Sunday as Arizona faces visiting Stanford, which sits in a three-way tie for sixth place entering the weekend. Arizona is one game behind the Cardinal through Friday and hoping to make a late surge after snapping a seven-game losing streak with Thursday’s 76-51 win over last-place California.

Forward Ryan Luther matched his season-highs in points (19) and 3-pointers made (five) against Cal as Arizona shot 49.1 percent from the field and won despite the absence of freshman guard Brandon Williams, who has missed the past six games due to a knee injury. Williams ranks second on the team in scoring at 12 points per game and hopes to return to face Stanford, which has lost 18 straight games against Arizona dating back to 2009. “In my mind there’s no game that we’ve played this season that's bigger than the one we play on Sunday,” Wildcats coach Sean Miller told reporters. “We only have two home games left, and we want to try to take advantage of both of those games, play our best basketball down the stretch. We have our fingers crossed that Brandon can join us; we’re a better team with him.” Stanford has won five of its past seven games but needs to regroup following Wednesday’s 80-62 loss to Arizona State, which shot 51.9 percent from the field and limited the Cardinal to 2-of-21 shooting from 3-point range.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT STANFORD (14-12, 7-7 Pac-12): Sophomore forward KZ Okpala, the fourth-leading scorer in the conference at 17.5 points per game, missed Wednesday’s game due to an ankle injury and is listed as day-to-day. Reigning Pac-12 player of the week Josh Sharma has emerged as a reliable scoring threat over the past five games, averaging 16.2 points and 9.2 rebounds while shooting 81 percent from the field. Coach Jerod Haase is looking for similar production from sophomore forward Oscar da Silva, who averages 10.1 points but has not scored in double figures in back-to-back games since late December.

ABOUT ARIZONA (15-12, 6-8): Junior guard Dylan Smith has started the past six games but turned his ankle against Cal and was held to three points on 1-of-7 shooting in 23 minutes. Miller is hopeful that Smith will be available to face Stanford, especially if Williams is not cleared to play. The Wildcats are exercising patience with sophomore guard Brandon Randolph, who leads the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game but has averaged 7.4 points while shooting 3-of-26 from 3-point range over the past seven contests.

TIP-INS

1. Miller is 16-0 in his career against Stanford, including his five seasons with Xavier.

2. Okpala scored a game-high 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting in last month’s 75-70 loss to the Wildcats.

3. Arizona is 93-7 at home since the start of the 2013-14 season - including 11-4 this season.

PREDICTION: Arizona 73, Stanford 68