STANFORD, Calif. – Freshman guard Kanaan Carlyle scored 25 points, Spencer Jones added 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting and Stanford stunned No. 4 Arizona 100-82 in a Pac-12 matchup on Sunday.
Andrej Stojakovic scored 16 points and center Maxime Raynaud had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinal (6-6, 1-1), who hit a school-record 16 3-pointers in the victory.
The victory was Stanford’s first over a ranked opponent since beating Arizona last season and its eighth over a ranked team since 2020.
“I think this will absolutely be the highlight of this season for 2023,” Stanford coach Jerod Haase said. “By 2024, we are going to start from scratch and see new peaks and new highs. Normally I tell them to enjoy the victory until midnight. This time I told them they could enjoy it for the rest of the year.”
Caleb Love led Arizona (10-3, 1-1) with 23 points. Center Oumar Ballo added 12 points and seven rebounds.
Stanford took an early lead and scored the first seven points. After Ballo made a layup to bring the Wildcats within one point at the 6:56 mark of the first half, Stanford went on a 21-7 run for a 43-28 lead with less than three minutes left in the half. First half.
The Cardinal got a big boost from their two rookie guards off the bench in the first half. Carlyle scored 13 of his 25 points in the first half and made all four of his three-point shots. Stojakovic scored nine points and grabbed two rebounds.
Haase praised his young players and said they were a big part of the victory.
“[Kanaan] “I wasn’t afraid,” Haase said. “With Kanaan and Andre, their eyes are full of wonder and excitement. I think we can all feed off of that.”
Arizona struggled to find its rhythm in the first half, shooting 41.2% from the field and 25% from long range.
Stanford led 44-35 at halftime.
Stanford’s strong shooting continued in the second half. Jones scored 11 of the Cardinal’s first 16 points after halftime.
Arizona pulled within 11 points at 80-69 when Ballo made a second-chance layup with just over seven minutes left in the game.
A Jones layup gave Stanford a 95-75 lead with 2:57 left in the second half for its largest lead of the game.
The win could give Stanford a big confidence boost as it heads on a three-game road trip against UCLA, USC and Oregon State in the coming weeks.
“All the people in the locker room believe in what we can do,” Stojakovic said. “We knew we could get a win like this. We had a couple of games that didn’t go our way, but I think this was finally the game to show that we are one of those teams and that we can make a lot of noise in the Pac-12.”
The Wildcats, who are third in the country in fast break points per game (18.67), were held to just six points in transition by Stanford. Arizona made just 7 of its 26 3-point shots and allowed Stanford to make 58.1% of its shots.
“They outplayed our guys,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “I don’t care who it was, they outplayed us.”
UNTIL NEXT TIME
Stanford: At UCLA on Wednesday.
Arizona: At home against Colorado on Thursday.
