The women's basketball team's 78-66 loss to No. 8 Stanford on Sunday was doubly difficult for Arizona basketball - in two ways.
Not only did the Wildcats drop their second game to a ranked Cardinal squad in as many years, they did so just three days after an unranked Cardinal squad swamped the No. 17 men's hoops team 87-76.
That spells an "F" for the UA. Both teams showed flaws that have lingered all season, follies neither seems able to correct.
The lady Cats stumbled once more against a ranked opponent, this time in the least likely of places. Arizona's 34-game home winning streak is gone now, thanks to another lopsided performance against a top-10 team (see Ohio State).
Most of the blame falls on a normally well-behaved category. The trigger-happy Wildcats were simply outshot, converting only 37 percent of their shots, well short of their season average (.452). Arizona made 25 baskets, two more than the Cardinal (23-47, .489), but with 20 more attempts.
Worse, Stanford made another example of their conference rivals from the line. The No. 5 Buckeyes made 18 free throws to the Wildcats' seven on Nov. 17; Sunday, the Cardinal sank 25, as Arizona camped out deep. Guards Dee-Dee Wheeler and Katrina Lindner combined to shoot 17 3s, making all seven of the team's 24 attempts.
Through 15 games, the Wildcats have only three players who average more than three free-throw attempts per game: junior center Shawntinice Polk, Wheeler and 5-foot-8 freshman guard Ashley Whisonant. The Wildcats must throw more weight around to survive the rest of its conference schedule, which includes rematches with ASU and Stanford, as well as two games with No. 19 UCLA.
A positive step would be to find a tough third scoring option behind Wheeler and Polk. Jessica Arnold, Shannon Hobson and Natalie Jones have gobbled down starting time this season, but only Hobson has shot better than 44 percent from the field. Jones must improve her long-distance shooting - she's made only 12 of 42 attempts, second on the team behind Wheeler - and Arnold (9.3 points per game on 33-of-77 shooting) needs more touches when she returns from a recent knee injury. A team that sports an assist-to-turnover ratio less than 1-to-1 must make the most of its scoring opportunities, regardless of whose hands are up to contest.
For the men, a similar season staple, defense, crashed and burned against the Cardinal. Following a frustrating pattern of leaving their games home against lesser teams (see California, Utah, Michigan, Virginia), the Wildcats allowed Stanford, under .500 with six wins, to shoot 58 percent overall and 6-of-10 from long range. As guard Salim Stoudamire said after the game, "We didn't play any defense."
That's odd, because so far this season Arizona has played much better defense than it did a year ago. What's the difference now? I'll give you a hint: He's a rookie forward for the Philadelphia 76ers. Betraying this writer's predictions, losing Andre Iguodala to the NBA this summer has hurt the team on offense, where it seemed least vulnerable. Thanks to underachievement by Isaiah Fox and replacement Ivan Radenovic at power forward, the team lacks a viable frontcourt option after center Channing Frye, who only lately has stepped up his scoring.
The result? Like their female counterparts, the men's team has called the Los Angeles Lakers for advice on offense. There's just a slight difference. The women are more '03 Los Angeles, while the men are woefully in the present. Save for Stoudamire, Arizona continues to founder on the perimeter, hoisting and clanking far too many jump shots.
Exhibit A: Hassan Adams. After showing immense versatility last season paired with Iguodala, Adams has regressed in his junior year. This, in a system custom fitted for his high-flying, über-energetic attack. Part of the problem rests at long distance. Adams has made only six of 21 (.286) 3-point attempts this season. Adams has also seen fewer shot attempts as Stoudamire and sophomore guard Mustafa Shakur have teed off undeterred. A potential first-round NBA draft pick last June, Adams now averages about five fewer points per game than last season.
The loss to Stanford evened the men's team's road record at 2-2. Arizona plays only seven more regular-season games away from home, where it's already a perfect 16-0. (Just like the Raiders this year, ha-ha.) With that sure to help the team's psyche (not to mention home dates with USC and UCLA) the Wildcats have ample time to prepare for a rematch with the Cardinal in Tucson Feb. 5.
Just make sure to mark your calendar twice - the women get their turn on the road two days before.
Tom Knauer is a journalism sophomore. He can be reached at sports@wildcat.arizona.edu.