By STEVE RIVERA
The (Tucson, Ariz.) Citizen

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Going into Saturday's nationally televised game with No. 6 Kansas, coach Lute Olson of No. 1 Arizona said he feels he and Kansas' Roy Williams are in no-lose situations.

The only place the loser might take a hit in is their spot in the polls.

And both coaches don't put much stock in them at this time of year, anyway.

All week, Olson has said this type of game will measure just how good his team is with six weeks of the regular season remaining.

"We're going to know a lot more about our ballclub when the game is over than we would have if we played Podunk Center and won big," Olson said.

Instead, the two coaches will look at this as a game between two of this year's top programs who continue to strive for improvement.

"We could not play in a tougher place nor probably against a better team," Olson said as he prepared his 14-1 Wildcats for the 13-4 Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse. "They lost a close one the other night (60-59 at Colorado), although that had to do more with their inability to shoot the ball more than anything else. Normally they are a very good shooting team."

Kansas, which hasn't lost a non-conference home game here in four-plus seasons, goes into the game shooting 51.2 percent. It has won 10 of its past 11 games and has played relatively well without 6-foot-9 sophomore Wayne Simien, who has been out three weeks with a shoulder injury.

Simien's replacement, junior Jeff Graves, is averaging 4.6 points and 5.8 rebounds a game. Simien's absence brings up one major problem for Kansas. The Jayhawks' already thin bench is even thinner now.

Kansas goes just two players deep, if that, in big games. When the season started, Graves was the first player off the bench. Now he's logging significant minutes.

"If you tell me we're not going to get into foul trouble, then depth is not a big issue because how long the timeouts are," Williams said. "But in a game against Arizona, in an up-and-down game, there's going to be so many more possessions and there's a chance for more fouls. But conditioning isn't a problem."

On Wednesday in Boulder, four Jayhawks logged more than 30 minutes each.

But Olson said depth won't be a factor for Kansas.

"Generally when a team plays at home, the crowd keeps the adrenaline going," Olson said. "It's different than when you're on the road. I wouldn't perceive them to be running out of gas."

Olson joked earlier this week he didn't mind the game being played, just not here, where the temperature has been in the single digits. And Williams welcomes the matchup, just not the timing of it.

"If I had my druthers, I'd play these non-conference opponents before conference season starts," said Williams, who won in Tucson last year, 105-97. "But as we know, some of these games are made for TV and you've got to fall in where they want you to be.

"I'd rather play Arizona when they're not any good, but as long as Lute Olson's been there, and he always will be, they're going to be good."