LAS VEGAS β Arizona will face Stanford in a Pac-12 quarterfinal game Thursday after the Cardinal pulled off a stunning comeback to beat ASU 71-70 in the tournament's first game Wednesday.
James Keefe hit a six-foot bank shot as time expired to win it for Stanford, capping the Cardinal's 16-1 run to finish the game. Stanford improved to 16-15 overall after going 8-12 in Pac-12 play.
ASU, which had won seven of eight games entering the tournament, held a 69-59 lead with 2:15 to go but melted down. Jalen Graham missed an eight-foot hook shot with nine seconds left, and Stanford's Harrison Ingram rebounded.
Ingram drove the ball inside but lost the ball as he reached the paint, but Keefe picked it up and threw it quickly off the glass, with time expiring just as the ball dropped in.
"Honestly, I don't know how I ended up with the ball," Keefe said.
Spencer Jones led Stanford with 26 points on 8-for-17 shooting.
DJ Horne led ASU with 21 points while making 5 of 12 3-pointers while Marreon Jackson scored 14 and Jay Heath had 12, but it wasn't enough to end the Sun Devils' season on a sour note.
"We were a total mess for the last three minutes," ASU coach Bobby Hurley said. "That's why we're sitting here in disappointment."
Leading 31-27 at halftime, ASU raced to a 17-point lead early in the second half. They went on a 14-4 run to take a 50-33 lead by the time Alonzo Gaffney hit a 3-pointer with 13:35 to go.
Stanford scored seven straight points to cut ASUβs lead to 10 with 9:01 left, just after ASU forward Jalen Graham picked up his fourth foul, but the Sun Devils still led most of the final 10 minutes by double digits.
In the first half, both teams shot 41% fro the field and less than 50% from the line in the first half. But ASU took the lead by hitting 7 of 15 3-pointers while Stanford was just 3 of 10 from long range.
Stanford finished its season at 15-16 overall after going 8-12 in Pac-12 regular-season play. ASU improved to 15-16 after going 10-10 in league play.
