No. 1 STANFORD VS. No. 8 WASHINGTON STATE

Season results: Stanford, 26-1 overall, 17-1 in the Pac-10; Washington State 13-15 overall, 7-11 Pac-10. Stanford beat Washington State twice this season, including a 63-61 thriller last Thursday in which the Cardinal got a last-second winning three-point basket from Matt Lottich. Washington State has had its best season in some time under new Coach Dick Bennett.

How they match up: Under Bennett, the Cougars like to play a deliberate pace, and that bothered Stanford enough last week to nearly defeat the Cardinal, which trailed with 25 seconds left, 61-56. Stanford has two all-conference players in Hernandez and Childress and considerably more talent overall than Washington State, which will counter with tall perimeter players in Kelati, Varem and Moore.

*--* STARTERS Washington Ht Wt Stat Pos Stanford Ht Wt Stat St. Shami Gill 6-7 238 5.3 RPG F Nick 6-6 200 32 STL Robinson Jeff Varem 6-6 235 9.4 PPG F Josh 6-8 205 15.2 PPG Childress Chris 6-6 211 80 pf C Rob Little 6-10 265 59% FG Schlatter Thomas Kelati 6-5 184 11.4 PPG G Matt 6-4 205 3.7 APG Lottich Marcus Moore 6-6 208 13.4 PPG G Chris 6-2 190 10.6 PPG Hernandez KEY RESERVES Ezenwa 6-8 253 5.4 PPG Matt 6-10 225 51% FG Ukeagu, C Haryasz, F Randy Green, 6-4 180 5.1 PPG Joe 6-9 250 3.7 PPG G Kirchofer , F Justin 6-9 240 2.2 PPG Dan 6-6 210 3.6 PPG Bellegarde, Grunfeld, F G-F

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Keys to the game: The Cougars somehow match up well against the Cardinal, and were convinced of that by their near miss last week. Also, Stanford has minimal incentive in a tournament that will grant a berth in the NCAA tournament, something that Stanford will get regardless of who wins this game.

-- Bill Dwyre