Jan. 8, 2005

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By JANIE McCAULEY

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Dan Grunfeld scored six straight points during a decisive second-half run and finished with a career-high 29, and Stanford snapped No. 13 Arizona's nine-game winning streak with a 87-76 victory Saturday.

Chris Hernandez, the Cardinal's starting point guard, returned to the lineup after missing Thursday's game against Arizona State with back spasms and scored 23 in his team's best showing yet under first-year coach Trent Johnson.

Rob Little had 16 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with 1:07 left, helping the Cardinal (7-7, 1-3 Pac-10) avoid their worst start in Pac-10 play since losing their first six conference games in the 1983-84 season.

Arizona (12-3, 2-1) played a sloppy game and never got in sync offensively against the inspired Cardinal, who used a thrilling 80-77 victory over the Wildcats here last year on Nick Robinson's 35-footer at the buzzer to help propel them to the No. 1 ranking - a win that caused even Tiger Woods to run onto the court to celebrate.

Channing Frye had 20 points and 13 rebounds and Hassan Adams added 19 points and 10 boards for cold-shooting Arizona, which had averaged 90.4 points over its previous five games. Salim Stoudamire added 14 points for the Wildcats, who shot 38.4 percent.

Stanford beat Arizona for the third straight time and came out inspired in front of a near-capacity crowd at renovated Maples Pavilion. Grunfeld went 10-of-12, making all three of his 3-point tries. Hernandez was 3-for-5 from long range.

Arizona missed its first five shots of the second half and Stanford came out with an 8-2 spurt, taking a 47-38 lead on Hernandez's 3-pointer at 17:20. When Little scored and was fouled with 13:30 left for a three-point play, Arizona coach Lute Olson threw his arm in the air in frustration. Little's basket started a 14-2 run, and Grunfeld scored the next three times down the floor to make it 60-47 with 11:04 left.

Stoudamire pulled Arizona within 77-71 on two free throws with 1:39 left, then Hernandez took the ball the length of the court for a layin.

The Wildcats went away from their stingy full-court press until late, and wound up fouling Stanford in the backcourt more times than not. Hernandez and backup Jason Haas were on the floor at the same time for much of the game to handle Arizona's talented guards.

Hernandez hit a 3-pointer at the 10-minute mark of the first half that put the Cardinal ahead 22-19 and Stanford drew a goaltending call against Adams the next time down the floor. Grunfeld's 3 at 8:07 capped a 12-2 run.

Stanford made 13 of its first 21 shots - including 4 of 7 3s - while Arizona began 8-for-21. The Cardinal shot 58.6 percent on the way to a 39-36 halftime lead, but didn't go to the free-throw line and committed three straight careless turnovers late in the half that allowed Arizona to come back.

It marked the first time Arizona had trailed at the half in eight games, with Stanford's shooting being the highest against the Wildcats in an opening half all season.