On Thursday, Stanford men’s basketball fell to #2 Arizona on the road by a final score of 81-69. Arizona sophomore guard Bennedict Mathurin (24 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists) and junior center Christian Koloko (21 points, 10 rebounds, & 2 blocks) led the way for the Wildcats while Stanford junior forward Spencer Jones (22 points & 5 rebounds) and sophomore guard Michael O’Connell (16 points on 4-6 3PT) paced the Cardinal. Arizona improves to 27-3 overall and 17-2 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 15-14 overall and 8-11 in the Pac-12.
Arizona led 8-7 with 15:07 to go in the first half. Spencer Jones had a triple for the Cardinal while Max Murrell had a nice slam inside. Stanford would then take the lead to go up 17-15 with 10:54 to go in the half. Jones was up to 5 points for the Cardinal, leading the way. Stanford was shooting 7-13 (53.8%) from the field and 3-3 from 3-point range. Arizona was shooting 4-13 (30.8%) from the field and 1-4 from 3-point range.
Stanford would go up 22-15 with 7:56 to go in the half. Stanford continued to play well. Michael O’Connell was starting to come alive with 8 points on 3-4 shooting from the field and 2-2 shooting from 3-point range. It was a very surprising start.
With 3:49 to go in the half, it was a 31-25 Stanford lead. O’Connell was balling out with 14 points on 5-7 shooting from the field and 4-4 shooting from 3-point range. He was on fire. Jones was up to 7 points.
At halftime, Stanford led 39-37 as Arizona closed the gap. O’Connell (16 points on 6-8 FG & 4-4 3PT) and Spencer Jones (10 points on 4-5 FG) were leading the way for the Cardinal. Mathurin (12 points) was leading Arizona.
Arizona would lead 47-43 with 17:45 to go as they were on a 6-0 run over the last 32 seconds. Kerr Kriisa got a huge 4-point play for Arizona. Stanford called for time, hoping to calm the waters.
Stanford wouldn’t go away as Arizona led 51-50 with 14:19 to go. To Stanford’s credit, they were battling tough and not backing down. Koloko (15 points & 7 rebounds) led the Wildcats. Jones (17 points) and O’Connell (16 points) led Stanford.
Stanford would take the lead 54-53 with 11:38 to go. Stanford was back in front. Jones was getting some tough buckets inside. He was up to 19 points. Both teams were shooting 7-15 from the field so far in the second half.
Thanks to back-to-back threes from Justin Kier, Arizona led 59-54 with 10:46 to go. Stanford needed to find a way to respond. Mathurin would be up to 15 points for Arizona after a transition slam. Lukas Kisunas was set to go the foul line for Stanford after an offensive rebound and put back attempt. 62-58 Arizona was up with 7:41 to go.
With 3:38 to go, it was now a 73-64 Arizona lead. Stanford had the ball. Maxime Raynaud was having one of his better games for Stanford with 10 points and 6 rebounds. Arizona was starting to gain separation, but Stanford wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
In the end, Arizona won by a final score of 81-69. It was a very spirited effort from Stanford. The best they had looked since the Oregon road trip. Arizona was simply too good in the end.
For Stanford, this game was a good example of what they are capable of if they play up to their max potential. Guys were making clutch shots, there was effort on defense, and Stanford just made Arizona work to win this game. If Stanford had looked like this the past three games, they would have likely won at least two of those three games, if not all three.
Up next for Stanford is a road game at Arizona State on Saturday. That game will tip-off at 12:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and Cardinal Sports Network radio.
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