Stanford men’s basketball (18-12, 9-9) ended yet another a promising season with a whimper as they fell 91-69 to No. 5 Arizona on Saturday afternoon in Tuscon.
Coming off disappointing losses in six of their previous nine games, Stanford seemed to lack energy as it faced the conference’s top squad. The Cardinal were competitive for part of the first half, but Arizona ultimately ended the period with a 13-0 that Stanford could never counteract. The Wildcats have now won 38 straight games at home, the longest streak in the nation.
T.J. McConnell led Arizona at both ends of the floor, scoring 10 points and landing 11 assists while also coming up with three turnovers and assisting in his team’s tough defense of star Stanford senior Chasson Randle. Brandon Ashley once again proved a difficult threat for the Cardinal contain as he dropped a team-high 15 for Arizona, and the Wildcat bench stepped up big to outscore Stanford’s by an incredible 41-15 margin.
A heavily guarded Randle still managed to lead Stanford’s scoring efforts with 16, but he shot just 4-for-13 as he struggled to find good looks before fouling out with five minutes to go. Senior Stefan Nastic played efficiently and went 10-for-10 from the free-throw line to boost his own scoring total to 14, but also had his minutes limited because of foul trouble.
“We need to be more disciplined defensively with our guys that are playing extended minutes,” head coach Johnny Dawkins said. “We need to make sure they can stay on the court. We need to shore up and be better defensively.
“Three of our five starters are out of the game. That means we had a lot of young players coming in the game trying to make plays and it was tough. Those kids gave us what they had, but in this type of environment and under these circumstances, it’s a little bit difficult.”
Stanford’s foul-heavy squad was further shorthanded by the absence of freshman Michael Humphrey, who sprained his ankle a few minutes into the Arizona State matchup last Thursday. Humphrey had been a rare highlight in the Cardinal’s late-season skid, and his rebounding abilities were missed as Stanford pulled in just 27 boards, its lowest total of the season.
The loss dropped Stanford into a tie for fifth in the Pac-12 as it prepares to enter the conference tournament this Wednesday. Stanford will tip off against Nigel Williams-Goss and the Washington Huskies at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday night in Las Vegas as it makes one last attempt to grab the eyes of the tournament selection committee.
Contact Andrew Mather at amather ‘at’ stanford.edu.