No. 2 Arizona Basketball prepares for Stanford in Pac-12 Quarterfinals

Fresh off a regular-season Pac-12 Championship and a dominant season, No. 2 Arizona Basketball (28-3, 18-2) takes on Stanford (16-15, 8-12). 

Tournament time is here! Well, kind of… After a short break, No. 2 Arizona Basketball returns to action to kick off their play in the 2022 Pac-12 Conference Tournament.

Fresh off a dominant 2021-22 campaign, the Wildcats will take to the court again against Stanford, this time as the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

Coming  in, Arizona should have all the confidence in the world as the team has been rolling and just beat Stanford days ago.

However, that win didn’t come easy as Stanford played the Wildcats close down to the wire. Beyond that, the Cardinal is fresh off a buzzer-beater win over ASU, and we imagine that they will put up another fight.

So, while Arizona is the clear and definite favorite in this one and the real tournament action starts next week, the Cats need to be sharp from the start if they are going to win. Hopefully, the Wildcats won’t overlook Stanford here, and that Tommy Lloyd will have the boys ready to roll.

Getting to Know the details of Arizona Basketball’s opponent, the Stanford Cardinal.

Team: Stanford Cardinal

Conference: Pac-12 Conference

2020-21 Record: Finishing the year with a 14-13 (10-10) record in 2020-21, the Cardinal ended up as the No. 7 team in the conference. Stanford ended their year with a first-round loss to Cal in the Pac-12 Conference Tournament.

Head Coach: Jerod Haase enters his 6th season with the Cardinal where he has compiled a 98-88 (52-60) record as head coach, which includes one postseason appearance in 2017-18 (NIT). Before Stanford, Jerod had an 80-53 (42-26) record with UAB. Overall, he is 178-141 as a head coach in 10 seasons.

Keys to the Game:

Win the Battle of the Boards – The Cardinal is one of the better rebounding teams in the country, averaging 36.9 rebounds per game, and both times that Arizona and Stanford have met this year, the Cardinal has given the Wildcats fits on the glass.

Well once again, this one should be a battle on the boards, especially as the Wildcats gave up several rebounds the last time they met. For Arizona to win, they are going to have to attack and dominate the glass to minimize Stanford’s opportunities to stay in this game. If they do that, they should win big!

No Slow Starts – Arizona is still notorious for having slow starts, and against weaker opponents, that might be okay, but with the Wildcats closing out the year, and the stakes growing higher, they are going to need to play with a sense of urgency in this one, after all, it is a tournament game.

So, once again, Arizona will need to be ready from the tip and avoid yet another slow start. Should the Wildcats take care of business from the tip, they are going to run away with the victory against Stanford.

Get the Confidence Going – For many of these guys, this is essentially their first tournament game. Remember, Arizona did not play in the NCAA or Conference Tournament last season, so this is essentially all new territory for several of our Wildcats.

Now while this is just a conference tournament game, and the NCAA Tournament is still looming, the Cats need to treat this game just as important, and use the tournament setting for a positive experience. Bring the swagger, be confident in what you do, and walk away victorious!

Arizona Basketball versus the Stanford Cardinal game information and details:

Date: Thursday, March 10, 2022

Time: 1:00 P.M. MST / 12:00 P.M. PST

Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nev. (18,000)

Spread: TBD (Also, don’t forget to use WynnBet to enhance your overall betting experience)

Television: Pac-12 Network

Radio: 107.5 FM (Tucson) / 1290AM (Tucson) | Arizona IMG Sports Network

Team Records:

No. 2 Arizona Wildcats (28-3, 18-2): Arizona is back in action after dismantling Cal and securing the regular-season Pac-12 title. However, the real work now begins as the tournament action heats up. For Arizona, they will return to action to take on Stanford as they look to continue their strong play.

Stanford Cardinal (16-15, 8-12): Fresh off a thrilling, buzz-beater win over Arizona State, the Cardinal return to action to take on No. 2 Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament Quarterfinals. These two has a close meeting last time, so we will if Stanford can pull off the upset.

Head-to-Head Record (since 1949-50): Since 1949-50, Arizona has dominated this matchup, winning 70 of 98 meetings, including 22 of their last 24 games.

Last Meeting vs. Arizona: The last time the Wildcats played the Cardinal was in Tucson just last week where Arizona came away with the narrow, 81-69 victory over Stanford.

My Prediction: Arizona 83 Stanford 68 – Arizona looked sharp against Cal; however, the Golden Bears are not a particularly great team. After a short break, the Wildcats return to action to take on a motivated and talented Stanford team that is fresh off a buzz-beater win over ASU.

The last time Arizona and Stanford met, this one was a battle, almost coming down to the wire before the Cats scored the win. However, as Stanford plays their second game in as many days will prove too much as the Cats come away with the win here!