Stanford shocks No. 4 Arizona men's basketball in 100-82 win
STANFORD, Calif. – Any notion that No. 4 Arizona might run the table during its final Pac-12 season ended quickly Sunday.
Stanford, once a heated rival of Arizona’s during the early 2000s, handed the Wildcats a 100-82 loss at the now-mostly empty arena, where UA has lost for the second straight season.
The Wildcats, who lost 88-79 last season at Maples when the Cardinal limited big men Oumar Ballo and Azuolas Tubelis, this time watched their defense get shredded. Stanford shot 58.1% overall and 64.0% (16 for 25) from 3-point range; both were highs for a UA opponent this season.
Reserve guard Kanaan Carlyle led Stanford with 25 points while longtime UA nemesis Spencer Jones added 21 while making 5 of 6 3-pointers.
Caleb Love led UA with 23 points on 9-for-19 shooting but made just 1 of 6 3s. Kylan Boswell was 1 of 7 from 3, adding to the Wildcats’ overall 23.1% shooting from outside.
The loss was Arizona’s third in its past five games, dropping the Wildcats to 10-3. Stanford, which lost 76-73 to ASU on Thursday, improved to 6-6.
Trailing 44-35 at halftime, the Wildcats fell behind 60-43 after Stanford’s Jones hit three 3-pointers over a 70-second span early in the second half, the first coming after UA’s Kylan Boswell turned the ball over with an offensive charge as he drove to the basket with 17:51 left.
A 3-pointer from Boswell cut the Cardinal’s lead to 60-46, the Wildcats couldn’t dig out of the hole. Midway through the second half, Arizona guard KJ Lewis fouled Carlyle from behind the 3-point arc, and Carlyle hit all three ensuing free throws to give the Cardinal a 77-57 lead with 9:46 left.
Arizona cut Stanford’s lead to 80-69 by the time Ballo scored inside with 7:15 left, but the Wildcats never cut it to single digits the rest of the way. Stanford took another 20-point lead, 95-75, when Jones drove in for a layup with 2:57 left and the Cardinal coasted the rest of the way.
In the first half, Arizona shot just 41.2% while trailing Stanford 44-35 at halftime Sunday.
Arizona received six points from Ballo and another five from power forward Keshad Johnson but made just 3 of 12 3-pointers.
Arizona never took the lead, missing 3 of 4 shots to begin the game, but the Wildcats did tie it at 12, while Johnson hit a 3 off a turnover from Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud to cut the Cardinal’s lead to 22-19 midway through the half.
But Stanford pulled ahead toward the end of the half, getting a boost from a four-point play by Carlyle, who drew a foul from Caleb Love on his fallaway 3-point shot, then hit the ensuing free throw to make it 29-21.
Stanford went up by as many as 15 points the rest of the half, taking a 43-28 lead with 2:32 left when James Keefe dunked after Arizona’s KJ Lewis missed a layup.
Carlyle led all scorers with 13 points in the half.
After saying he was considering expanding his rotation -- and possibly because of Stanford's overall size -- UA coach Tommy Lloyd played freshman forward Paulius Murauskas for four minutes in the first half. The Lithuanian freshman responded with six points, hitting 2 of 2 from the field and from the line.
For the game, Murauskas scored eight points in six minutes played.
Arizona is scheduled to return home next weekend to face two top competitors for the Pac-12 title, Colorado (on Thursday) and Utah (Saturday).
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona men's basketball falls to Stanford in 100-82 road loss
