No. 2 Arizona Basketball hangs on to beat feisty Stanford squad

TUCSON, AZ – Fresh off of clinching the regular-season Pac-12 title, No. 2 Arizona Basketball (27-3, 17-2) faced a battle as they held off a feisty Stanford squad.

No. 2 Arizona Basketball returned to action last night against Stanford, just days after clinching the Pac-12 regular-season title against USC in Los Angeles.

Fresh off a dominant win over the No. 16 Trojans, it seemed a given that the Wildcats would likely dominate this game, especially as Arizona crushed Stanford in Palo Alto nearly two months ago, winning 85-57.

Unlike their last meeting, Stanford brought the fight at the ‘Tribute to Lute Olson Game’. Luckily, Arizona would just outlast Stanford at the end, winning 81-69.

Led behind the play of sophomore wing Benn Mathurin, the Canadian native led all scorers with 24 points, five rebounds, and four assists, meanwhile, Christian Koloko had a big day, registering yet another double-double on the season, totaling 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Arizona would also get big contributions from Azuolas Tubelis who finished his evening with 11 points, while senior Justin Kier was electric off the bench, scoring eight points.

Unfortunately, unlike Tuesday evening, Arizona would come out a bit flat in this one as Stanford jumped out to a 22-15 with 9:41 to play, and even pushed their lead to as many as nine, leading 35-26 with 2:58 to play in the first half.

Luckily, Arizona would end the half on an 11-4 run, cutting Stanford’s lead to just two points at halftime to make it 39-37.

Coming out with more energy in the second half, No. 2 Arizona Basketball would hang on to beat a feisty Stanford squad.

Arizona would begin the second half by outscoring USC 14-7 over the three-plus minutes of play, giving the Wildcats a five-point lead, their largest of the game at that point.

However, Stanford would not go away, climbing back in this one, regaining the lead at 52-51 with 13:47 to play. Luckily for us, that is the last time that the Cardinal would lead as Arizona would close out the game by outscoring Stanford 30-17, eventually going on to win by an 81-69 final!

Where does Arizona Basketball go from here?

With the win, Arizona improves to 27-3 (17-2) on the year and improves their standing in the Pac-12 as well as strengthens their NCAA Tournament resume.

The Wildcats will return to action on Saturday afternoon when they take on Cal to close out the regular season and cap off a great 2021-22 season.

Watch head coach Tommy Lloyd, Pelle Larsson, and Koloko address the media following the teams’ win!