As with so many occasions this season, Friday’s game between the Arizona Wildcats and Stanford Cardinal has a kind of importance for Arizona that hasn’t been seen since the early 2000s or the late 1990s. In this case, memories of both hang in the air.
In 2004, the Wildcats and the Cardinal met for their second matchup in just under a month. Stanford had been victorious in the teams’ earlier meeting, handling Arizona easily in Maples Pavilion. But the season is long. The Wildcats could put pressure on Stanford for the title race if they could beat the Cardinal in McKale Center on Feb.