Feb. 28, 1998

Box Score

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Arizona broke Stanford's 18-game winning streak. The Cardinal couldn't follow suit.

Miles Simon had 20 points and eight assists, and A.J. Bramlett had 11 points and a career-high 19 rebounds as the second-ranked Wildcats routed No. 8 Stanford 90-58 Saturday to clinch their eighth Pac-10 title in 15 years under coach Lute Olson.

"This is the first group of seniors we've had in a while that hadn't won a (conference) championship their first three years," Olson said. "They really wanted it."

Arizona (26-3, 16-0) also tied a five-year-old school record by winning its 19th consecutive game - the nation's longest winning streak. The Cardinal (24-4, 13-3) won their first 18 before Arizona beat them 93-75 at home on Jan. 29.

Jason Terry and Michael Dickerson, the Wildcats' second-half weapon, had 15 points each. Dickerson, who had 21 points in the second half two nights earlier against California, was scoreless at halftime.

Mike Bibby had 14 points and seven assists - six in the second half, when the Wildcats went on a 17-4 run to take a 53-33 lead.

Bibby finished three fast breaks with alley-oop passes during the surge that put the game out of reach with 12:34 to play, and Arizona went on to outscore Stanford 59-38 in the half.

"We just got outplayed every way possible," said Stanford coach Mike Montgomery. "Once the tempo was established, it was tough for us to stay in the game."

Mark Madsen, who missed the first Arizona game, led the Cardinal with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Bramlett has tried to improve Arizona's scoring inside as the Wildcats prepare to defend their national title.

"The other night I only had three points, and I wanted to get back to my old self," he said.

Arizona got another kind of contribution from Bennett Davison, whose tough interior defense was crucial. Davison scored only five points, but had a school-record nine steals.

"Bennett was all over the place, and when we can run nobody can stay with us," Bramlett said. "Nine steals for a No. 4 man is unbelievable."

The Wildcats jumped on Stanford early, let up briefly, and then put on a 7-0 spurt for a 31-20 halftime lead.

The Cardinal missed their first five shots and 10 of their first 11, allowing Arizona to take an 11-4 lead on a three-point play by Bramlett 7:33 into the game.

Stanford closed to 24-20 when Peter Sauer found Madsen for a dunk with 4:18 left in the half.

But Simon made a jumper and a layup 26 seconds apart, and Terry sank a 3-pointer with 2:02 left, opening Arizona's first double-figures lead.

"At the beginning they couldn't even score," Simon said. "They were having trouble getting upcourt. We were on them the whole game."

Kris Weems made a 3-pointer, Arthur Lee hit two free throws in the first 36 seconds of the second half and Peter Sauer's 3-pointer with 16:57 to play cut Stanford's deficit to 36-29.

But Bramlett made a layup, Bibby sank a 3-pointer and then assisted on a dunk by Dickerson to get Arizona's running game going and start the run.

"They fed off their crowd, and when they got going there was not much we could do," said Sauer, who shot 1-of-8 against Dickerson's tight defense. "They were up double digits at the half, and we made a small run at them in the second half, but we couldn't close the gap."