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No. 21 Stanford Upends No. 1 Kansas 64-58

Posted on: Saturday, 6 December 2003, 06:00 CST

Kansas' reign as No. 1 will be brief. Matt Lottich scored 18 points, including a key 3-pointer with 2:27 remaining, and No. 21 Stanford beat the top-ranked Jayhawks 64-58 Saturday in the John Wooden Classic.

No. 9 Kentucky beat UCLA 52-50 in the first game of the 10th annual doubleheader at Anaheim Arena.

Thanks to upsets of the top four teams, Kansas moved from sixth to first in this week's Associated Press poll - the biggest jump to the top since 1965.

The Jayhawks are sure to be replaced when the new poll comes out Monday.

Two free throws by Wayne Simien with 4:26 left finished a 6-0 run by Kansas and tied the game 54-all.

But the Jayhawks (3-1) were outscored 10-1 after that before Omar Wilkes made a meaningless 3-pointer in the final seconds.

Lottich made two free throws with 4:05 left to put Stanford (4-0) ahead for good, and hit his big 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired to make it 59-55.

Chris Hernandez made four free throws and Justin Davis added another foul shot to give the Cardinal a nine-point lead.

Hernandez was 0-for-6 from the field, but went 11-of-11 from the foul line and Joe Kirchofer added 10 points to equal his career high.

Aaron Miles led Kansas with 11 points, while Simien and Keith Langford each had 10.

A three-point play by Langford with 8:23 to play capped a 7-0 spurt and put the Jayhawks ahead 46-45 - their only lead of the game.

A 3-pointer by Lottich triggered a 7-0 Stanford spurt that made it 52-46 lead with 6:24 left.

Lottich made three 3-pointers and scored 10 points in the first eight minutes as Stanford took a 16-11 lead, and a basket by Kirchofer with 5:38 left before halftime made it 27-15.

Simien, who averaged 18.3 points in Kansas' first three games, scored only two points in the first half. His two free throws with 3:55 left triggered an 11-3 run by the Jayhawks, but Stanford scored the last four points of the half for a 36-29 lead.

Kansas was the first No. 1 team to play in the Wooden Classic since Massachusetts appeared in the inaugural doubleheader in 1994. UMass was upset by No. 7 Kansas 81-75 in that game.

Kentucky also played that day. Ranked third nationally, the Wildcats were beaten by No. 5 UCLA 82-81.

Kansas and Stanford were both 2-0 in previous Wooden Classics and the Jayhawks are 4-1 at Anaheim Arena, including wins in the NCAA West Regional semifinals and finals last March.

Simien didn't play in the NCAA tournament because of a separated shoulder and missed 22 games in all because of the injury.

The Wooden Classic is named for former UCLA coach John Wooden, who guided the Bruins to 10 NCAA championships in a 12-year span before retiring in 1975.

The 93-year-old Wooden attended the doubleheader, as he usually does, and received a standing ovation from the crowd of 17,816 when introduced during the opener.

The Wildcats played without starting guard Michael Lee, who broke his right collarbone in practice Nov. 28, and is expected to be sidelined until late January.

The Cardinal didn't have starting forward Josh Childress, who hasn't played this season because of a stress reaction in his left foot and isn't expected to until later this month at the earliest.

Stanford is 2-8 Kansas and 4-25 against No. 1 teams in its history.

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