LAS VEGAS β The top-seeded Arizona Wildcats needed all 40 minutes against Stanford, but pulled away in the last few possessions to win 84-80 and advance to the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals.
The down-to-the-wire battle was Arizonaβs first game decided by four points or less since Feb. 19 vs. Oregon.
These stats tell the story of Arizonaβs victory to open Pac-12 Tournament play:
10-5: Trailing 75-74 with 3:17 to play, the Cats outscored Stanford 10-5 the rest of the way. Arizona knocked down its final three field goal attempts: a layup by Christian Koloko (1:59), a floater by Justin Kier (1:10) and a dunk by Koloko (:27) to give UA a five-point lead.
24: Koloko scored a career-high 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting, including a perfect 6 for 6 in the second half with 16 points. The 7-foot-1-inch center scored eight points in the final six minutes to help the Cats edge Stanford down the stretch. He was also one rebound shy from recording a double-double and finished second on the team with four assists.
38: Stanfordβs Spencer Jones was a one-man-wrecking crew against Arizona, scoring a career-high 28 points and adding eight rebounds and two steals. Jonesβ performance kept Arizona from pulling away as several of UAβs perimeter defenders couldnβt slow down the junior.
Jones knocked down 12 of his 18 shots and four 3-point attempts, one day after scoring 26 points in a win over ASU.
54%: Stanford shot 54%, the best performance against the UA this season and the Cardinalβs third-best showing of the season. Stanford also hit 11 3-pointers β its second-highest single-game total this year.
4-1: Only five Arizona games this season have been decided by four points or less; the Cats are 4-1 in those contests.
10: Point guard Kerr Kriisa joined an elite group of Wildcats company by knocking down three 3-pointers to give him 78 on the season. By doing so, he moved into the UA top 10 single-season 3-point shooting list, passing Jason Gardner (76 in 2000-01), Jason Terry (76 in 1998-99) and Mike Bibby (77 in 1997-98). Kriisa is now tied for eighth in single-season history with Salim Stoudamire (2003-04).
4: Bennedict Mathurin made four 3-pointers against Stanford, his first game with at least four triples since Feb. 19 vs. Oregon and just the fifth time this season.