Cardinal Fall Short Against Wildcats

Feb 6, 2013; Tucson, AZ, USA; Stanford Cardinal guard Aaron Bright (2) guard Chasson Randle (5) forward Josh Huestis (24) forward Dwight Powell (33) and forward Andy Brown (11) look on during the first half against the Arizona Wildcats at McKale Center. Arizona beat Stanford 73-66. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

The Stanford Cardinal (14-9, 5-5 Pac-12) fell to the # 7 ranked Arizona Wildcats (20-2, 8-2 Pac-12) in a thiller that ultimately did not go their way.  This ends Stanford’s winning streak while extending Arizona’s to four games.  With the win the Wildcats take over first place in the Pac-12 Conference.

For Arizona, it took a a season-high scoring output from Mark Lyons to help secure the win.  He ended the game with 25 points, including 3-6 from behind the arc, and six assists.  He was the key factor for the Wildcats in a second half  that went back and forth before they finally took over the game. He was also the one who hit a key three-pointer when Stanford pulled to within one point to push the game out of reach.

Senior forward Solomon Hill ended with 23 points, seven on which were free throws.  They were the only two who hit the double-digit mark for Arizona.

Dwight Powell ended the game with 24 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks but it was not enough.  He also committed five turnovers throughout the game.  Josh Huestis continued his hot-streak ending the game with 10 points and 10 boards although he was only 4-13 from the field.  Aaron Bright was great, especially in that first half, and finished with 16 points, including 4 of 7 from behind the arc.  Chasson Randle also hit double-digits racking up 11 points.

Stanford resorted to it’s old self again as far as shooting the ball goes.  They only hit 22 of their 58 shots during the game which ended up being a not-so-hot 37.9%.  I guess it was only a matter of time before they cooled off, but it would have been nice to keep the hot shooting for one more game against these Wildcats.  The cooldown could have been foreseen though since Arizona is 17th in the nation in shooting percentage against, allowing opponents to hit only 41.7% of their shots on average.

For Stanford it was a hard-fought game that they should be proud of against a very tough team, but in then end it was a very winable game.  They hung  tough and were only down one point with 3:19 to play, but from that point Arizona was just too much to handle.

Stanford’s next game comes this Saturday in at 7pm as they try to get back on the winning track at Arizona State.