Field Level Media
Dec 19, 2020
Oscar da Silva scored 21 points, Ziaire Williams added 16 and Spencer Jones nailed a pair of clutch 3-pointers as Stanford held off Arizona 78-75 in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.
The visiting Wildcats (5-1) spent most of the night chasing the Cardinal and took a brief lead with just over three minutes left in a Stanford home game that was played in Santa Cruz, Calif., due to COVID-19 restrictions in its home Santa Clara County.
Stanford (4-2), which shot 52.7 percent from the floor and even better from behind the arc (53.8 percent), also ended a 20-game losing streak to Arizona, having not won since Jan. 4, 2009.
Jemarl Baker Jr. led Arizona with 29 points, including hitting 8 of 13 from long range and several in the closing minutes, and Azuolas Tubelis finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
The Wildcats shot 48.1 percent from the floor and 47.8 percent from long range.
Baker hit a 3-pointer to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 69-68 with 3:30 left, and after da Silva made a pair of free throws, Baker hit another bomb to give Arizona a 72-70 lead with 3:16 to play.
Jones then hit back-to-back treys to put Stanford up 76-72, but Baker struck again from long range, pulling the Wildcats back within 76-75 with 1:38 left.
Arizona had a chance to take the lead in the closing seconds, but James Akinjo was called for an offensive foul on a drive to the basket with seven seconds left. da Silva hit a pair of free throws with five seconds left to finish the scoring.
Bryce Wills added 13 points and seven rebounds for Stanford, and Daejon Davis finished with 11 points and seven assists before leaving with an apparent left injury.
The Wildcats never led in the first half, although they cut a 10-point deficit to 22-21 on a free throw by Akinjo with 4:22 left before intermission.
Arizona missed a handful of opportunities to tie or take the lead and didn't hit a field goal in the last 4:52 of the half. Instead, Stanford scored eight of the final 10 points, four by Wills, to lead 30-23 at the break.
da Silva, who scored four points in a 9-0 run as Stanford opened a 15-5 lead with 13:51 left in the half, led the team with nine points and added three rebounds, and Davis had seven points and four assists.
Tubelis led the Wildcats with six points at halftime.
--Field Level Media