Arizona extends streak over Stanford, 70-54

Stanford (14-13, 7-8) came into the game having won 5 of 7. Arizona (16-12, 7-8) had lost 7 straight before Thursday’s win over Cal. The teams were trending in opposite directions, but that didn’t matter tonight. Arizona simply owns this series, as they extended their streak over the Cardinal to 19 games, spanning more than 10 years.

Arizona got off to a quick start, taking a 14-3 lead into the under-16 media timeout. The Cardinal were sloppy early, and the Wildcats were hitting everything. Chase Jeter was dominant in the early stages, with 10 points on 5-7 shooting. He was matched up against reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week Josh Sharma inside, and largely got the better of the Stanford senior in the first half.

The Cardinal offense was cold from the perimeter for the second consecutive outing. After a 2-21 outing against the Sun Devils, they went just 4-20 tonight. They shot 30% from the field in the first half, and found no semblance of a rhythm. Even KZ Okpala’s return to the lineup failed to provide a spark, as his first bucket didn’t come until the 6:30 mark in the first half. He was shortly thereafter relegated to the bench with foul trouble. Arizona led 31-23 at the break.

To start the second half, the Cardinal committed turnovers on consecutive possessions. That was the sign of things to come, as they ultimately racked up 11 giveaways in the period. They had 7 offensive fouls on the game.

The offense did manage to get some things going in the second half, but could never get the deficit any closer than 4 points. Arizona made 50% of their shots in the half, and had a timely answer to any mini-run the Cardinal threatened to mount.

Daejon Davis led Stanford with 14 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds. Oscar da Silva was in double figures for the second time this week with 12, but also committed four turnovers. Josh Sharma had 11 and 12 for his third double-double this season. Okpala had a quiet 10 in his return from injury.

Ira Lee had a career day for Arizona, with 16 points off the bench on 6-7 shooting. He killed the Cardinal inside, putting in 12 big second half points. Chase Jeter finished with 14 before being disqualified. Justin Coleman and Brandon Randolph had 14 and 10, respectively.

Stanford is currently sitting in 9th place. Their hopes of a first round bye are dashed, but they can still move up the seed line with a strong finish. They host the Washington schools this week and Cal the week after. They will be favored in two of the three.