Key players

Kyle Fogg, Arizona

When the Wildcats and Cardinal first met this season, Fogg held Stanford’s leading scorer, guard Jeremy Green, to 15 points on 5-for-14 shooting. Green has seen those low shooting percentages as a trend since then, but there’s always a chance he breaks out of his slump and gets hot. Fogg is the man to keep him cool.

Anthony Brown, Stanford

The freshman started his first game last Saturday in Stanford’s 70-56 win over Oregon State, surprising the Beavers for 21 points and playing all but three minutes of the game. If the 6-foot-6, 200 pound wing can keep it up, the Cardinal will have enough offense to drop another first-place team, just as they did Washington a few weeks back.

Arizona wins if …

The Wildcats can physically wear down the Cardinal. While Cardinal head coach Johnny Dawkins does use his bench, it’s more of a reaction to his team’s youth rather than a way of throwing waves of fresh players into the game, as does UA head coach Sean Miller. Once the Wildcats tire out the Cardinal, that might cause the young Stanford roster to mentally break.

Stanford wins if …

Confidence overcomes the Wildcats. Having won six of its last seven, Arizona is a month away from its last disappointing experience, a loss to the Oregon State Beavers on Jan. 2. Of course there was that Washington defeat, but that wasn’t necessarily unexpected. If Arizona comes out sloppy against a well-coached Stanford team, this could be a game down the stretch. And even with large leads, the Wildcats haven’t finished in the closing moment well their last two games.

Fun facts

• Last weekend’s wins clinched Arizona’s 27th consecutive winning season, dating back to 1984-85. In comparison, Duke’s last losing season was 1994-95, North Carolina’s was 2001-02, and Kentucky’s was 1988-89.
• Four of the last five games UA has played at Maples Pavilion have scoring margins of five points or less, and the Wildcats have gone 3-2 in those contests.
• Arizona holds a 52-29 series lead against the Cardinal, winning 10 of the last 14.

— Kevin Zimmerman