ARIZONA'S UPSET HAS A LOCAL FLAVOR; CARDINAL-WILDCATS IS FAMILIAR.

Byline: Karen Crouse

Stanford and Arizona met at Maples Pavilion on Saturday in what was billed as a preliminary bout between Pacific-10 heavyweights, but looked suspiciously to us like a grade-school blacktop at recess.

The Stanford student section taunted the fifth-ranked Wildcats until Loren Woods silenced it with his sparkling play at both ends of the floor.

Arizona freshman Gilbert Arenas razzed the Stanford students by doing a little jig in full view of them to celebrate, albeit a tad prematurely, the Wildcats' 68-65 upset of the top-ranked Cardinal.

And, oh, let's not forget those poor UCLA basketball fans who tuned into the cable telecast of the wonderfully played game because their boys weren't on television. They were the truly tormented, with the affronts coming at them from both sides.

Arenas, a 17-year-old freshman, played the point for the Wildcats with such poise and presence it had to make Bruins fans cry. He matriculated from Grant High in North Hollywood, an errant Earl Watson throw from the UCLA campus.

He grew up in the Bruins' backyard so why shouldn't he grace their backcourt? Because UCLA coach Steve Lavin didn't recruit him, that's why.

Lavin didn't go after Stanford freshman guard Casey Jacobsen, either. Jacobsen, a Glendora High product, had trouble finding his shot against the Wildcats but his passing was spectacular.

Oh, and did we mention ex-UCLA star Bill Walton's son, Luke? He played so well for the Wildcats, they hardly missed injured swingman Richard Jefferson.

To be sure, the Bruins ought to lock up their backyard a little better, to keep coaches like Arizona's Lute Olson and Stanford's Mike Montgomery from stealing valuable recruits.

If it weren't too late to recover the goods, Lavin could file a police report, charging Olson and Montgomery with grand larceny.

It figures Montgomery and Olson would have Southern California cased pretty well. Montgomery, who is in his 14th year at Stanford, was reared in Long Beach and educated at Long Beach State. Olson, who picked up the 600th win of his career Saturday, coached the 49ers before putting down deep roots in Tucson.

UCLA may have the fabled history but, tellingly, Arizona has been the yardstick with which Stanford has measured its rise.

One of the first high points of Montgomery's tenure came at Maples Pavilion in 1988, against an Arizona that was ranked No. 1 in the country. The Cardinal's 82-74 upset of the Wildcats was the basketball team's first win over a top-ranked squad.

In 1989, the Cardinal beat Arizona at home again and finished 13th in the final rankings. Todd Lichti starred as a guard on those two teams. The school's all-time leading scorer, he helped lay down the asphalt for the yellow brick road that the likes of Adam Keefe, Tim Young, Arthur Lee and Mark Madsen went on to pave.

Lichti can remember when the Stanford sixth man described the first player off the bench and not a group of 800 standing, stomping students (with 400 more students on a waiting list).

The practice of camping out in front of Maples Pavilion the night before a game, as students did before Saturday's Pacific-10 showcase event, postdated his collegiate career.

When Lichti played at Stanford, he was surrounded by future entrepreneurs, not future pros. The typical recruit then was a kid with a good head on his shoulders, not one with a great crossover dribble.

Fast forward to this past fall and the arrival of Jacobsen, who trailed the Collins twins, who tailed Lee who shadowed Keefe. Southern Californians and impact players all.

"Whereas before it was smart kids who were pretty good basketball players, now Stanford is getting great basketball players who are very good students," Lichti said the other day from Denver, where he does broadcasting work for the Nuggets. "It's the next step."

Saturday's loss will topple Stanford from its No. 1 perch. But as UCLA fans now know, there are a lot more painful falls.