Gotta like Mike

Stanford's Montgomery keeps winning, star power or not

More in this column: • Heavy hearts for Huskies • Showdown in Atlantic 10 • Worth noting: Two No. 1s in Kentucky?

There were no wild celebrations in Stanford's locker room last week after the Cardinal went on the road and knocked off No. 1 Arizona. Coach Mike Montgomery was hardly overwhelmed by his team's performance.

"It's not like we had this out-of-body experience," he said. "We just kind of did what we always do."

What they always do -- each of the past three seasons, at least -- is win at Arizona.

And what they always do -- four times in the past five years, to be exact -- is earn a top three seed in the NCAA tournament.

When it came to making predictions before the season, however, none of that seemed as relevant as the loss of stars Casey Jacobsen and Curtis Borchardt to the NBA draft, two-sport standout Teyo Johnson to the NFL and starting point guard Chris Hernandez to a broken foot.

So the Pac-10 media submitted their ballots and picked the mighty Cardinal to finish ... seventh?

"I laughed," sophomore forward Josh Childress recalled of hearing that prediction.

"I said from the beginning, 'That's not going to happen,'" said Arizona coach Lute Olson. Sure enough, unheralded, underappreciated and decidedly underwhelmed Stanford sits 16-5 and just a game out of first place at 7-2 in the Pac-10 after last week's road sweep of Arizona and Arizona State. The Cardinal have also beaten current No. 1 Florida, No. 20 Xavier, Oregon, Gonzaga and UNLV.

None of which surprises those who have played them.

"Whether or not the personnel has changed," said Oregon coach Ernie Kent, "the system is still there."

That Montgomery-led system, now in its 17th season, is about the only reasonable explanation for the Cardinal's success this season, considering their seemingly modest roster.

Senior point guard Julius Barnes, who averaged 6.1 points his first three seasons, is tied for the team scoring lead at 14 points per game. Scrappy junior guard Matt Lottich has gone from playing six minutes a game his first two years to being the team's top 3-point shooter (40.9 percent). And forward Justin Davis has fought through injuries to double his rebounding average to 8.1 per contest.

With the possible exception of Childress, a former McDonald's All-America averaging 14 points in his first year as a starter, there is no Jacobsen, Brevin Knight, Mark Madsen or Jason and Jarron Collins.

"We know we're not a great basketball team from the standpoint we don't have the veterans and the skill some of the other people have," said Cardinal coach Mike Montgomery. "We're just going to try to approach this thing like they picked us early, see if we cant squeeze out some wins. When it's all said and done, hopefully it will be enough to get us in the [NCAA] tournament, that would be quite a coup for this group of kids."

You'll have to excuse Montgomery for being so modest about a team that, barring a total collapse, has its ninth straight tournament berth all but wrapped up, a remarkable feat considering the program went 46 years without a postseason appearance before Montgomery's arrival in 1986.

Seventeen years later, the bar has been raised so high that the past few seasons were somewhat of a disappointment to Stanford fans anticipating a repeat of their '98 Final Four run.

With expectations diminished coming into this season, Montgomery says he's had fun coaching this particular group, and they've reciprocated. Exhibiting a chemistry that dates to last summer when the entire team stayed on campus to work out together, the players seem to thrive at making hustle plays -- beating larger opponents to rebounds, taking charges, wreaking havoc on opposing shooters.

"He [Montgomery] really seems a lot more comfortable this year," said Childress. "He knows we're going to go out there and play hard every day, every game. He always has a positive mindset."

Now the team picked to finish seventh is talking seriously about capturing the Pac-10 championship. Lest you think the Cardinal developing a big head, though, two puzzling December losses to Montana and Richmond in the Stanford Invitational serve as constant reminders that this is a young team with limitations.

"I don't want to say we're really good, because our being humble has helped us tremendously," said Childress. "We just continue to show people we can play with the top teams, although all of us knew that all along."

Sad days in Storrs

A season that began with such promise for the Connecticut Huskies -- a 9-0 start, a top-five ranking -- has morphed into their worst imaginable nightmare.

There was a time a few weeks back when consecutive last-second losses to North Carolina and Miami a few weeks back seemed as cruel as it gets. But for the Huskies, they were nothing compared to seeing their coach Jim Calhoun go through a battle with prostate cancer, for which he underwent surgery Thursday and will take a month-long leave of absence.

"He's like a father to me," junior point guard Taliek Brown said Monday. "Whatever I asked him for he tried to help me out with it. This is just a confusing and sad situation."

Two days later, playing in their first game under the direction of assistant George Blaney, Brown broke his left index finger as 9-11 Virginia Tech handed the 13-5 Huskies an embarrassing 95-74 defeat. This coming on the heels of a 95-71 loss to Boston College, producing UConn's first back-to-back 20-point losses since Calhoun's first season, 1986-87.

While admitting they missed Calhoun profoundly against the Hokies, the players insist their problems aren't coming from the sideline.

"When Coach was here we played terrible, too," said star Ben Gordon. "Guys have to make up their mind and put everything behind them and work harder."

Atlantic adrift

A huge showdown in the Atlantic 10 West Division takes place Saturday when Dayton (16-3, 8-0 A-10) visits rival Xavier (16-4, 7-1).

Xavier, the league's only tourney entrant last season and overriding favorite coming into this one, hasn't disappointed. Stars David West (19.0 points per game, 12.1 rebounds) and Romain Sato (16.7, 7.5) are still the heart and soul of the Musketeers, but the key to their current seven-game winning streak has been the added contributions of big man Anthony Myles and swingman Keith Jackson.

Yet it's Dayton sitting as the only remaining unbeaten team in league play and the last team to beat torrid Marquette, back on Jan. 4. The Flyers' rise isn't altogether surprising -- four of coach Oliver Purnell's last five teams have won at least 21 games, but only one made the NCAAs. This season's Flyers, led by the fierce frontcourt of senior Brooks Hall and junior Keith Waleskowski, shouldn't have that problem what with an RPI ranking in the low 20s.

How big is the game for the Flyers? The school is both taking reservations for a private viewing party at UD Arena and is already selling "Beat Xavier" T-shirts in anticipation of their Feb. 22 rematch.

Worth noting

Kentucky, which made its own case for No. 1 Tuesday with a not-nearly-as-close-as-the-score-indicates 70-55 thumping of current No. 1 Florida, is the talk of college basketball for its suffocating defense. During their current 11-game win streak, the Wildcats are holding opponents to 36 percent shooting while averaging 7.5 steals and 5.6 blocks per game... As hot as Kentucky is, Louisville is hotter, having won 16 in a row, including handing the Wildcats their last defeat. The Bluegrass State could be looking at two No. 1 seeds come March. ... Colorado, 13-7, is suddenly on course for its first NCAA berth since 1996-97 following consecutive home upsets of top 10 opponents, Kansas and Texas. ... UCLA's losing streak is at nine, and the last three have been especially painful, falling to Oregon in overtime, Oregon State by four and USC by one, 86-85, when two last-second free throws by Errick Craven completed the Trojans' first season sweep of their rivals since 1992. ... Northwestern's 74-61 victory over Indiana on Wednesday was not only its first Big Ten win of the season but the school's first over the Hoosiers since Jan. 11, 1988. ... Following its 81-70 loss at Arkansas, Alabama is now 4-6 since gaining the No. 1 ranking on Dec. 30.

Stewart Mandel covers college sports for CNNSI.com.

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