Five takeaways from No. 4 Arizona's streak-ending loss to Stanford

The last time Arizona lost to Stanford at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Russ Pennell was the interim head coach of the Wildcats following Lute Olson’s retirement.

The Wildcats’ 11-game winning streak against the Cardinal at their home arena came to an end on Saturday, when No. 4 Arizona lost to Stanford 88-79, which also put an end to the UA’s seven-game winning streak.

Arizona is the highest-ranked opponent to fall to the Cardinal since Stanford chopped down No. 3 UCLA in 2007.

Here are five takeaways from the Wildcats’ setback:

1. Tubelis’ streak ends

With 2:29 left to play, the ESPN2 cameras showed Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis hunched over on the Wildcats’ bench, with his face buried in his palms out of disappointment.

Tubelis’ streak of double-figure scoring ended at 23 games, after he tallied just four points on 2-for-2 shooting from the field. Tubelis also had three assists, no rebounds and one turnover in 17 minutes; he was one of three Wildcats to have four fouls, along with Kerr Kriisa and Cedric Henderson Jr. Last season, Tubelis had four points in Palo Alto, albeit he only played seven minutes due to an ankle injury.

The last time Tubelis, who’s widely considered the favorite to win Pac-12 Player of the Year, scored fewer than 10 points in a game was last season’s loss to Houston in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Tubelis’ frontcourt counterpart in center Oumar Ballo, who had a breakout 21-point performance at Stanford last season, had eight points, four rebounds, three assists and one block on Saturday.

The Wildcats were outscored by Stanford 42-24 in the paint.

2. Ramey comes alive

A positive development for the Wildcats against Stanford was guard Courtney Ramey, who finished with 26 points on a career-high eight 3-pointers.

The last time Ramey made at least seven 3-pointers in a game, he was in his third season at Texas, Sean Miller was the head coach of the Wildcats and Tommy Lloyd was Mark Few’s right-hand man at Gonzaga.

Ramey ended the first half with 14 points and was 4 for 7 from 3-point range to go along with three rebounds and three assists.

Ramey has made multiple 3s in five straight games; he’s 16 for 41 (39%) from beyond the arc during that stretch.

3. Falling behind

Not only did Arizona lose to Stanford, it was the first time it trailed in a game since the early minutes of the first half against the Wildcats’ home win over Oregon last week.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Ramey’s 3-pointer with 17:22 left in the first half against Oregon tied up the game at 5, then the Wildcats never turned back. Arizona led the Ducks for 36:36, Oregon State for 38:27, Cal for 39:19 and Stanford for 18:51.

Stanford’s Spencer Jones’ layup with just under seven minutes remaining lifted the Cardinal to a 67-66 lead; Jones ended the night with 18 points — all of which came in the second half.

Since that point, Arizona never regained its footing and Stanford went on a 17-3 run and led by as many as 11.

4. Small potatoes

Arizona normally plays both Tubelis and Ballo side-by-side, or one is in the game while the other rests. Very seldom does both of them sit on the bench together, unless the Wildcats are coasting to a victory and the reserves are earning minutes, especially in the shortened seven-man rotation.

Late in the first half, Lloyd rolled out a lineup of Kerr Kriisa, Kylan Boswell, Ramey, Pelle Larsson and Cedric Henderson — three guards and two 6-6 combo forwards.

The Wildcats’ 13-0 run with their small-ball lineup boosted them to a nine-point lead late in the first half, but Stanford went into halftime on a 6-0 run to pull within three.

Larsson is averaging 8.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists since he was moved from Arizona’s starting lineup to the sixth man role in January.

5. Impact of the loss

So, what does this loss ultimately mean for the Wildcats, a team that’s vying for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament?

It doesn’t help the postseason résumé falling to an unranked team, especially one with a losing record, but according to the NET rankings, Stanford is considered a Quad 2 loss for the Wildcats. Arizona was 5-0 against Quad 2 teams heading into Saturday night. The Wildcats’ worst loss of the season, per the NET rankings, is at home to Washington State, a Quad 4 team. Good news for the Cats: Arizona is 6-2 against Quad 1 teams this season.

With No. 7 UCLA knocking off Oregon in Eugene later Saturday night, the Pac-12-leading Bruins have a 12-2 conference record, while Arizona is 11-4.

Arizona was the fourth ranked team to lose to an unranked opponent Saturday, along with No. 6 Tennessee, No. 11 Iowa State and No. 12 Kansas State.

Photos: No. 4 Arizona Wildcats fall to Stanford in Palo Alto

<&rule>