SAUL LOEB/Arizona Daily Wildcat

No. 1 ĪCats can't afford to slip up against Stanford tonight at home

If there is one glaring advantage that Arizona has over its opponents, it's depth. When it comes to Stanford, that edge is monstrous.

Not only is Stanford an inexperienced team ÷ it lost two would-be seniors Casey Jacobsen and Curtis Borchardt to the NBA draft ÷ but it is an unhealthy one ÷ Justin Davis is coming back from a knee injury after missing five games, and Chris Hernandez is out for the year with a broken foot.

"We're still a team that is very thin depth-wise and very young," said Cardinal head coach Mike Montgomery, who is in his 17th year. "We're trying to watch and make sure that we don't run ourselves into the ground."

It's gotten so bad for the Cardinal that they even have had to play five players for entire games due to their lack of depth.

Where and When . . . Who: Stanford at No. 1 Arizona When: Tonight at 6:30 Where: McKale Center TV: Fox Sports Net Arizona w/Dave Sitton and Bob Elliot Players to Watch:   Stanford: Justin Davis;   Arizona: Hassan Adams

"It's a problem because if a guy is not having a good game, we don't have anyone to replace him with, or if a guy gets hurt or in foul trouble," Montgomery said.

But UA head coach Lute Olson isn't buying into the idea that the Cardinal isn't where it used to be. He knows that Stanford (14-5, 5-2) will be ready for his No. 1 Wildcats (15-1, 7-0) tonight at 6:30 p.m. in McKale Center, even if it's not the top team in the Pac-10.

"Based on what everyone expected from Stanford with its losses ÷ that they were going to be a second division team ÷ well, I personally didn't feel that," Olson said. "I know Mike (Montgomery) and his staff, and I know the number of good recruiting classes they've had up there. I think the whole is greater than the individual parts. They mix well together."

That's what makes the Cardinal so difficult to coach against ÷ like Arizona, they don't have one go-to player.

This season four Stanford players average double figures, but the Cardinal has been the most effective on the defensive side of the floor. The boys from Palo Alto are ranked second in the Pac-10 in scoring defense, holding their opponents to just 64.6 points per game, and have the conference's first and third leading rebounders in Justin Davis (9.0) and Josh Childress (7.9), respectively.

"The addition of (Justin) Davis is huge because he gives them interior scoring, shot blocking, and big-time rebounding ability," Olson said. "(Julius) Barnes is a great athlete. He can penetrate, and he is a momentum-type player; if he starts hitting, you better not let him get shots. But that's easier said than done because of his athleticism."

Montgomery said Arizona is also a team that doesn't rely on one player or go-to-guy, and that's just the way that Olson wants it.

"They have any number of guys, and that's what makes them strong · having seven or eight guys," Montgomery said. "I don't think Olson has a team that he wants to have just one guy."

But if Arizona has had one guy it could look to recently, or for the last four years for that matter, it's been senior point guard Jason Gardner. Last season against the Cardinal, the Pac-10's Player of the Week averaged 26.5 points per game, and he scored 33 in their last meeting.

"I don't think that I have ever been the guy, but like I said, I'm the point guard and the ball has always been in my hands," Gardner said. "A lot of it is just learning and being in the program."

Starting lineups

Stanford Cardinal Starters (14-5 overall, 5-2 Pac-10) F ÷ Nick Robinson; F ÷ Josh Childress; C ÷ Rob Little; G ÷ Matt Lottich; G ÷ Julius Barnes

Arizona Wildcats Starters (15-1 overall, 7-0 Pac-10) F ÷ Luke Walton; F ÷ Rick Anderson; C ÷ Channing Frye; G ÷ Salim Stoudamire; G ÷ Jason Gardner