Field Level Media
Jan 10, 2019
Arizona reserve forward Ira Lee scored four points in the last 41 seconds, leading the Wildcats to a 75-70 win at Stanford in a Pac-12 game Wednesday night.
It was the 18th consecutive head-to-head win for Arizona (12-4, 3-0 Pac-12) over Stanford (7-8, 0-3) and the Wildcats' ninth straight victory at Maples Pavilion.
Lee, who finished with a season-high 12 points in 18 minutes, made a layup off a dive-and-dish by Justin Coleman with 41 seconds left to put Arizona ahead 71-68.
After Stanford's Daejon Davis missed a jump shot, Coleman was fouled by Josh Sharma while dribbling fast up court. Coleman tumbled to the floor favoring his left arm.
Lee, an 81 percent free-throw shooter, replaced Coleman at the free-throw line with 17.1 seconds left and made both to give Arizona a 73-68 lead.
Sharma picked up a loose ball on the other end and made a layup to cut the deficit to 73-70 with nine seconds left.
Brandon Randolph, who led Arizona with 17 points, made two free throws with two seconds remaining to seal the Wildcats' win.
Arizona was up 61-54 with seven minutes left and the opportunity to build the lead with Coleman at the free-throw line, but Coleman (shooting 82.9 percent from the line) missed the front end of a one-and-one situation.
Stanford then scored six unanswered points, including four from KZ Okpala on strong drives to the basket, to cut the difference to 61-60 with 3:46 left. Okpala finished with a career-high 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field.
Arizona ran into foul trouble early with starting post player Chase Jeter picking up his second foul with 13:46 left in the first half. Jeter did not return in the half, which ended with the Wildcats holding a 40-38 lead. Jeter eventually fouled out with 2:22 left in the game after scoring 10 points.
Forward Ryan Luther and Lee also had three fouls each in the first half, but they were able to combine for 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. The Wildcats were also boosted in the half despite the foul trouble with Randolph, Brandon Williams and Coleman combining to shoot 5-of-6 from 3-point range.
Williams wound up with 12 points while Luther had 10.
Davis and Okpala combined for 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting in the half for the Cardinal. The rest of the Cardinal were 3 of 10.
David finished with 15 points.
--Field Level Media