National Basketball Association
Arizona 79, Stanford 66
When: 8:00 PM ET, Sunday, March 2, 2014
Where: McKale Center, Tucson, Arizona
Officials:
# Verne Harris, # John Higgings, # Mike Scyphers
Attendance:
14545
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 3 Arizona 79, Stanford 66: Freshman forward Aaron Gordon had 19 points and a season-high 15 rebounds as the host Wildcats clinched the outright Pac-12 regular-season title for the first time since 2010-11.
T.J. McConnell added 14 points and Gabe York shot 3-for-5 from 3-point range and scored 12 off the bench for Arizona (27-2, 14-2 Pac-12), which won its ninth straight in the series. Nick Johnson added 11 points, but the team’s leading scorer (16.2) shot 3-for-13, and Kaleb Tarczewski added 10 points and six rebounds while helping foul out opposing center Stefan Nastic.
Josh Huestis matched his career high with 22 points and grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds for Stanford (18-10, 9-7), which fell into a tie for fourth in the conference standings with Colorado, its opponent Wednesday, and California. Anthony Brown contributed 14 points and Chasson Randle and Dwight Powell scored 12 apiece for the Cardinal.
Gordon got the Wildcats off to solid start by scoring 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds in the opening half as Arizona built a 41-28 lead. Nastic missed a jumper on Stanford’s opening possession and things only got worse for the 6-11 center as he committed two fouls in the opening five minutes and was whistled for No. 3 with just under six minutes remaining.
Brown scored the last five points of the first half to keep the deficit at 13 but the Cardinal were never able to get back within single digits. Complicating matters, Nastic picked up his fourth foul in the first three minutes of the second half and Randle, who came in averaging a team-high 18.7 points, picked up his second, third and fourth fouls in the first 6 ½ minutes.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Arizona G Jordin Mayes, the only member of the Wildcats to win a conference title, made his first start of the season on senior night and the 17th of his career with the previous 16 coming during his sophomore season. Mayes missed both field-goal tries and finished scoreless. … Verne Harris, of the three officials working the game, left with an apparent hamstring injury with about 16 ½ minutes left. … Huestis produced his third straight double-double against Arizona.
Top Game Performances
Stanford |
|
Arizona |
Josh Huestis 22 |
Scoring |
Aaron Gordon 19 |
Anthony Brown 4 |
Assists |
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 4 |
Josh Huestis 12 |
Rebounds |
Aaron Gordon 15 |
Dwight Powell 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 4 |
Marcus Allen 1 |
Steals |
T.J. McConnell 2 |
John Gage 1 |
Blocks |
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Stanford
|
66 |
41.5 |
4-10 |
18-21 |
8 |
30 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
Arizona
|
79 |
44.1 |
6-14 |
21-29 |
15 |
37 |
6 |
4 |
8 |