Coach Sean Miller put it succinctly: "No one's dead. We can still breathe."
In fact, the Wildcats have never felt better this season than they did after completing a road sweep in the Bay Area with a 78-74 win at Cal last Thursday, then a 56-43 smothering of Stanford on Saturday.
Arizona returns home to face second-place Colorado on Feb. 9 tied for fourth place, just two games back of Pac-12 leader Washington.
The Cats did it with guts at Cal and defense at Stanford. A year after outlasting the Bears 107-105 in triple overtime at Berkeley, Arizona rallied from down 22-9 at the start to overtake Cal again.
"It was as crazy as the triple-overtime game here last year," said senior shooting guard Kyle Fogg, who scored 23 points and helped limit Cal scoring leader Allen Crabbe to 15 points. "A lot of people wouldn't have liked our chances, especially when we got down so bad at the beginning. But we've worked too hard to just disappear. We showed a lot of guts."
Two days later, Arizona blanketed Stanford, limiting the Cardinal to 25.4 percent shooting.
"It's been the toughest defensive team that we've faced," Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. "We didn't shoot it well, (but) give them credit for that. They did a good job in a lot of areas. They were very active, and their perimeter was very strong."
Fogg knows outsiders didn't see this coming, especially after the loss of guards Kevin Parrom and Jordin Mayes to foot injuries.
"The thought with us is you expected us to give up," Fogg said. "But nobody gave up. Coaches. Players. Managers. Nobody. We all believed that we're still in this thing. We had a great week of practice, and we were able to get these two wins."
NOTES, QUOTES
-- Initial X-rays on backup PG Jordin Mayes' injured left foot did not show a break. Mayes hurt his foot against Cal and missed the Stanford game. The Wildcats will take a cautious approach because Mayes has had foot problems in the past.
-- Cal and Stanford had a combined home record of 25-1 entering last week before the Wildcats pulled off their sweep of the Bay Area teams.
-- The Cats beat Cal despite falling behind 22-9, during which time Arizona shot 1 for 8 from the free-throw line. The Wildcats finished 15 for 29 on free throws, and they weren't much better two days later at Stanford, converting 15 of 25.
BY THE NUMBERS: 25.4 percent -- Stanford's shooting percentage (16 for 63) against the Wildcats, the lowest figure by an Arizona opponent this season.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I have great respect for the Pac-12 Conference, the Cal program and Jorge Gutierrez and the competitiveness he brings to the court. ... In no way was I deliberately attempting to engage him." -- Arizona assistant coach (and former Cal assistant) Joe Pasternack, in a statement a day after Cal guard Jorge Gutierrez tumbled into him on the bench and jumped up believing Pasternack had kicked him.
PLAYER NOTES
-- Freshman C Angelo Chol continues to make steady progress. He had eight
points (3 for 5 from the field) and added four rebounds and two blocked shots
in 16 minutes against Cal, then blocked four shots at Stanford. Chol
provides the Wildcats with an athletic big man whose primary talents are on the defensive end. Given the club's lack of size and depth up
front, his development is significant.
-- Senior SG Kyle Fogg was dynamite at Cal last Thursday, going 5 for 6 from 3-point range and scoring 23 points to go with four assists. He led the Wildcats again Saturday at Stanford, scoring 14 points. For the weekend, he went 8 for 13 from beyond the arc.
-- Senior F Jesse Perry had 18 points at Cal, then 11 points and seven rebounds against the Cardinal.
-- Freshman SG Nick Johnson had 11 points and five assists in the win at Cal and 10 points at Stanford.
