Arizona downs Stanford to advance to Pac-12 Tournament semis
Arizona is moving on.
A year ago, the Stanford Cardinal gave the top-seeded Wildcats all they could handle in the Pac-12 Tournament. A month ago, Stanford ended a seven-game winning streak. The Cardinal has been a thorn in Arizona’s side recently.
Not on Thursday.
The Wildcats handled their business, constantly answering pushes from Stanford with runs to stretch back out ahead. The newcomers to the Pac-12 Tournament — Courtney Ramey and Cedric Henderson Jr. — were spectacular. Kerr Kriisa even shot (and made!) a free throw left-handed. Arizona is moving on to the semifinals after knocking off Stanford 95-84.
Stanford opened the game with a flurry and a quick eight-point lead. A 15-2 run from the Wildcats over the course of five minutes flipped the scoreboard.
Over the next 10 minutes, Stanford fought back to briefly take the lead again. Spencer Jones hit 3s. Harrison Ingram knocked in a triple. Brandon Angel added one of his own. It was tied up at 35-all with 4:05 to play.
And then Henderson — who said after the game he just got angry — took over. The former Campbell forward dropped in a pair of triples, then started to attack the paint. A 10-0 run fueled exclusively by Henderson pushed the Wildcats back out ahead. He scored 16 of his 23 points in the opening half.
But Stanford kept hanging around. The Cardinal shot 8-for-15 from 3 in the first 20 minutes.
The triples continued to fall in the second half and, with 10:31 to play, Stanford was down by just a point.
Then Ramey hit a triple and the Wildcats were off and running. A 10-0 run pushed Arizona back out ahead.
Stanford had one last push to make it a four-point game and then… Ramey hit a triple and the Wildcats were off and running again. A 12-2 run from Arizona proved to be the final gut punch.
Oumar Ballo led the way offensively with 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting. He and Azuolas Tubelis (20 points) combined to lead a paint barrage for Arizona that saw the Wildcats score 54 points inside the painted area.
The UA was excellent in its selection, going 9-for-19 from beyond the arc and finishing the game at 64% shooting from the field.
Ramey put in 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting from 3, and Pelle Larsson added nine points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
Jones scored 22 to lead the way for the Cardinal, who finished with 14 makes from 3 on 29 attempts.
Arizona (26-6) will await the winner of Arizona State and USC. Friday’s semifinal game is set to tip off at 8:30 p.m. PT on ESPN. The Wildcats split the season series with the Sun Devils — though the loss came on a buzzer-beating 3 from near halfcourt. Arizona took both games against the Trojans.