On Wednesday, Stanford men’s basketball defeated the Utah Runnin’ Utes 73-62 in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. Stanford junior forward Brandon Angel (16 points & 12 rebounds) and sophomore forward Harrison Ingram (15 points & 6 rebounds) led the way for the Cardinal while Utah senior center Branden Carlson led all scorers with 27 points & 10 rebounds.
Video: Stanford MBB Postgame Press Conference: Utah | Pac-12 Tournament
BOX SCORE: #10 Stanford vs. #7 Utah | Pac-12 Tournament
“An exciting start to the tournament for us,” Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said after the game. “I thought as the game wore on we got a little bit smarter in terms of defending personnel and defending actions. Branden Carlson's a heck of a player and we weren't able to limit his numbers, but I thought defensively we stayed locked in throughout the whole game.
“Offensively we were pretty efficient and we when only have four turnovers that's a heck of a sign that good things are going to happen. So I thought the guys valued the basketball, shared the basketball. I really feel like we've continued to improve throughout the season and I think guys have a lot of confidence for good reason and with an understanding if we play for each other and share the basketball and play our hearts out on the defensive end you never know.”
Stanford got off to a strong start in this game, leading 9-5 with 15:07 to go in the first half. Ingram was up to 4 points for the Cardinal on 2-3 shooting from the field while Angel had a 3-pointer. Stanford was shooting 4-9 from the field while Utah was shooting 2-6.
Stanford continued to stay in front, leading 20-12 with 10:26 to go in the half. Maxime Raynaud, Harrison Ingram, and Max Murrell each had 4 points for the Cardinal. Carlson was up to 7 points for the Utes. He was doing his part to keep his team in the game.
With 6:44 to go in the half, Stanford led 22-20 as Utah was starting to find their footing. Stanford had gone cold, making 1 of their last 7 field goal attempts. Gabe Madsen in turn was starting to heat up for the Utes with 8 points on 3-4 shooting from the field.
Spencer Jones then went on a 7-0 run all by himself for the Cardinal to give them a 29-20 lead with 4:48 to go in the half. Jones was up to 10 points and was really in the zone during that stretch.
With 3:40 to go in the half, Stanford led 29-22. Carlson was up to 9 points for the Utes after knocking down a pair of foul shots. Stanford needed to finish the half strong.
With 1:17 to go in the half, Stanford led 31-24. Michael O’Connell and Brandon Angel both found ways to keep the possession alive on the offensive glass as Haase called for time, looking to draw something up. Out of the time out, Michael Jones would go to the foul line for the Cardinal and go 1-2 thanks to a flagrant foul call while Raynaud also went to the foul line a bit later with 13 seconds to go, knocking down both of his foul shots. Carlson would respond with a 3-pointer for Utah with 4 seconds left on the clock. 34-27 halftime lead for the Cardinal. Spencer Jones’ 10 points was leading the Cardinal while Branden Carlson’s 14 points was leading the Utes.
Stanford got out to a strong start in the second half, leading 42-33 with 14:57 to go. Marco Anthony picked up his 4th foul after getting called for a charge. That was a major bummer for the Utes. Raynaud and Ingram each had 8 points for the Cardinal. Carlson had 16 points and 4 rebounds for the Utes.
With 11:30 to go, things continued to look good for the Cardinal as Stanford led 47-36. Michael Jones had a huge 3-pointer in transition while Harrison Ingram was up to 10 points and 4 rebounds. Stanford was doing an insanely good job taking care of the ball with only one turnover.
With 7:53 to go, Stanford led 53-42. Angel was up to 11 points for the Cardinal. All things were going well for the Cardinal aside from the fact that Spencer Jones was heading to the locker room with a finger issue. Stanford was getting a more balanced scoring attack with four players with 8+ points. Utah had only two guys: Madsen (11 points) and Carlson (20 points).
Stanford continued to move the ball well and get good looks to fall. Michael Jones got a friendly bounce off the rim for a three-pointer before finding a cutting Michael O’Connell for a pretty layup. It was now a 63-48 lead for Stanford with 4:58 to go.
Stanford would then lead 65-51 with 3:36 to go. Ingram had a huge bucket inside plus the foul, making the foul shot. He was up to 12 points and 4 rebounds.
With 2:02 to go, Stanford led 68-56. Utah was trying to speed up/press Stanford, forcing Stanford to call for time. Time was not on Utah’s side, but they were doing their best to keep the game alive.
To Stanford’s credit, they did a nice job of handling the press coming out of the time out. Earlier in the season, that might have given them real trouble. This time, they were prepared for it and seemed a lot more comfortable handling it.
“We worked on it and the guys have got more and more comfortable,” Haase said of attacking the press. “We practiced it a ton, you know, live situations, not live situations, film, all those kind of things. Our mentality's become a little bit more aggressive as well. Rather than just try and survive and get it across and try and get organized, we're trying to be a little bit more aggressive with it, and as we've had a little bit of success, that's increased confidence and then once the confidence is a little bit higher, I think our guys, when we see the press, we have a plan and I think they have a lot of confidence going.”
In the end, Stanford walked out with a 73-62 victory. Just an all-around great performance by the Cardinal where a lot of different guys got involved and everyone did their part. They certainly looked like a team that was even more comfortable with Utah the third time around.
“They battled through some injuries,” Haase said when asked of their series with the Utes. “They have done a heck of a job staying together and really had a tough schedule coming down the stretch. It's a good basketball team. They have really played well for the entire season. Their backcourt had some injuries, and so trying to put that together and acclimate guys back in is always challenging.
“But all three games it was a learning process. The early January or late December, whenever we played them the first time, we weren't the same team we are now. We struggled in a lot of ways. I think they had us down 15 or 20 points at home and we made it a little closer at the end.
“But we've continued to work and grow, and I've said it many times and I'll continue to say it, I'm very proud of the guys in terms of the way they've stuck together and improved and they're excited to keep going.”
For Stanford, this is obviously a huge win. They’re trying to run the table in Vegas and this was the first step towards doing that. I think with all that they’ve been through, to win this game is a really nice reward for them sticking together and not giving up on the season.
For Utah, this loss stings. They finish the season on a six game losing skid and just didn’t finish the way they wanted to. They had NCAA tournament hopes midway through the season, so to see those hopes slip through their fingers is a bummer. That said, they were picked to finish 10th in the preseason media poll, so for them to finish 7th in the league in and of itself is exceeding expectations. The fact that they backslided into that position after being a team that was talked about as a possible tourney team really has to put things in perspective for the Utes. Still, even so, this is not the way they wanted the season to end.
“Well, when we played, we played 'em on New Years Eve and at that time they were probably playing 11 different guys,” Smith said when asked what changed with Stanford over the season. “They really settled in. They really tightened their rotation. They changed up their scheme defensively. Where they pretty much switch 1 through 5 on all ball screens.
“They were not doing that in December. And then they started shooting. In December they couldn't, they really struggled making shots until about the last seven minutes of our game when we were up 16 and I think they rained in like six or seven in a row.
“So, like I said, I think the three-point shooting is a big thing. And they got veteran guys. That's why you got to give them credit. I'm not in that locker room, but they decided to come together and galvanize and they just kept getting better and better. So those were the changes from game one to two and they have stayed with that same philosophy and they just have gotten better as the season went on.”
Up next for Stanford is the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament. They’ll face #2 Arizona on Thursday at 6:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks.
“We know we're playing a very good great team tomorrow,” Angel said. “I think the thing we saw and everyone else saw last game is how hard we competed in that first Arizona game. We were flying around on defense and we really took the game plan personal to protect the paint.
“We're definitely going to have to do that again. Obviously the stakes are even higher this time. So anything less than a hundred percent is unacceptable tomorrow.”
Since we’re in tourney mode here, I’m not going to do a full preview for the game, but I will quickly share some thoughts on the matchup.
First, Stanford needs to be prepared for Arizona to come out angry and motivated. Arizona will not want to lose to Stanford twice. Stanford defeated them at Maples Pavilion earlier in the season and Arizona is going to be coming in with a chip on their shoulder.
Secondly, Stanford needs to keep the good flow on offense going. They looked great against Utah with lots of different guys getting involved, very few turnovers (4), and nobody forcing anything. If they keep that up, they got a shot.
Finally, Stanford needs to keep the intensity on the glass. If they crash the boards hard and keep their nose to the grindstone inside, they should make this a game.
As far as my prediction is concerned, smart money is on Arizona in this one. It’s tough to beat a team like Arizona once. To beat them twice is really hard. Especially in a row. Arizona 84 Stanford 77 is my prediction. I think Stanford will put up a real fight but in the end, the Wildcats will do enough to get the win.
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