Arizona will attempt to get an early edge in the Pac-10 race and Lute Olson will try to become the school's all-time winningest coach as it hosts rival Stanford on Saturday.
The third-ranked Wildcats (10-1, 2-0) have won nine straight, including Thursday's 95-75 rout of California. However, they have lost three consecutive home games to fourth-ranked Stanford (12-0, 3-0). The two teams have combined to win six of the last seven conference titles.
Olson tied Fred Enke for the most career wins by an Arizona coach with Thursday's victory. Olson's 21-year record at the school is 509-148, compared with Enke's 509-324 in 36 years. Olson has 701 career victories.
Despite their easy win on Thursday, the Wildcats know they have a big game in front of them with the Cardinal.
"We'll have a big practice ahead of us tomorrow," said Hassan Adams, who had 13 of his 19 points in the second half. "We sent a message: They're going to have to play just like us."
Freshman Ivan Radenovic matched his season high with 17 points, and Channing Frye had 16 points and four blocks.
Stanford had a much tougher time on Thursday, beating Arizona State 63-62 on Josh Childress' follow shot with 9.4 seconds left. It was the third year in a row that he's had a late rebound basket at Arizona State.
"In that situation, it's do or die," he said. "You have to crash. There's no question. It would have done me no good to sit outside on the wing."
Childress, playing in his third game after missing the first nine with a stress reaction in his right foot, had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Stanford blew a 14-point lead in the second half, as the Sun Devils shot 62 percent and took a brief one-point lead late in the game. The biggest difference was Arizona State's tight man-to-man defense that gave Stanford fits.
"They took us out of what we wanted to do," leading scorer Matt Lottich said.
A close game could be just what Stanford needed to get ready for Arizona. The Cardinal have won their first 11 games by an average of 16.4 points.
"I think we need to learn from this," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said of Thursday's win. "We didn't execute very well, and we've got to execute better against pressure obviously if we're going to continue to win."
The Cardinal have swept their games in the state of Arizona the past three years. They won at Arizona State for the ninth time in a row and have a three-game winning streak at Arizona.
Arizona holds a 42-22 overall lead in the series.
