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Stanford's twin towers find strength in numbers

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 24, 2001

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Tonight could be the final game together for the Collins twins, who give Stanford one of the nation's best inside games, when the top-seeded Cardinal meets No. 3 seed Maryland for the region championship and a trip to the Final Four.

Jason, a 7-foot junior, and Jarron, a 6-11 senior, decided long ago they would attend the same college after playing at Harvard Westlake High School in southern California.

"At the beginning of the recruiting process our grandmother told us there was strength in numbers," Jarron said Friday. "We were going to go as a package, we were going to go together no matter what."

Stanford won the recruiting battle in 1997.

"It's special playing with your brother," said Jason, who took a medical redshirt year in 1997-98 after a knee injury.

The brothers played against each other the first time last year in a summer-league game.

"There was a lot of trash-talking, it was fun," Jason said. "His team won, so he got the best of me."

TURNAROUND: Maryland looked like anything but an NCAA Tournament team, much less a team that would advance to the final eight, after losing to visiting Florida State 74-71 on Feb. 14.

It was the Terrapins' fifth loss in six games, dropping them to 15-9. They've since won nine of 10, including three straight.

"The thing the Florida State game made us realize is we were going to have to take care of things ourselves," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "We had to play well, we had no choice. The players made up their minds they were going to play as hard as we could, and here we are."

The Terps are playing in the final eight for the first time since 1975.

HISTORY LESSON: Maryland is trying to follow the same route Utah took three years ago to the Final Four.

The Terps can only hope it continues.

The Utes, seeded third then in the West, won two games in Boise and another pair at the Anaheim Arena, beating top-seeded Arizona for the region title.

The Terps, seeded third this year, won twice in Boise and topped Georgetown on Thursday night to reach the final.

Utah wound up losing to Kentucky in the national championship game, so Maryland would like a slightly different ending.

CHANNEL SURFING: Stanford's Casey Jacobsen likes watching college basketball as much as he loves playing. Even though Maryland is 3,000 miles from Stanford's campus, the Terrapins are no strangers to him.

"I've seen them, Duke and North Carolina more than any team in the country," Jacobsen said. "Just the other day I was watching an interview with Coach Williams, and I feel like I know him, too."

Jacobsen will put the knowledge he gained channel surfing to use today.

Jacobsen eagerly anticipates defending Maryland guard Juan Dixon, who has averaged 18.2 points and should surpass the 1,500-point mark during the game.

"He is one of the best guards moving without the ball. He's always looking for an open seam. He never stands still," said Jacobsen, whose scoring average matches Dixon's. "It's going to be a big-time challenge for me."

Dixon is quick and loves to swipe the ball. His average of 2.7 steals puts him in the top 15 nationally.

"Getting steals allows me to get easy baskets in transition," he said.

INTENSITY: Williams is known for his intensity.

"I always marvel watching on television that he hasn't exploded," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said.

Williams chuckled when informed of Montgomery's observation.

"I've seen Mike go after it a little bit," he said. "Some guys keep it inside; they have operations on their stomachs."

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