Arizona guard Kerr Kriisa (25) reacts after a basket against Stanford during the first half of a quarterfinal matchup at the Pac-12 Tournament on March 9, 2023, in Las Vegas.

 David Becker, Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — Something about the Pac-12 Tournament is spooking Kerr Kriisa. But this time, he just shrugged a little to the left and everything turned out fine.

Playing through a right shoulder injury late in Arizona’s 95-84 win over Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals Thursday, the Wildcats’ point guard missed the first of two free throws with his conventional right-handed form.

Then, before even his coach knew it, Kriisa went up for the second one with his left. And the ball went in.

Kriisa joked he was “made for moments like this” and that he used to be left-handed, while Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd was left with another example of why his point guard is just a different sort of dude.

“Who knows? Maybe he’s being a little dramatic and just wanted to prove he can shoot left-handed free throws,” Lloyd said. “That was a little crazy, but he’s that kind of kid. Pretty cool moment.”

Kriisa’s lefty shot was fitting on a night when Arizona could hardly miss from the field, blitzing through Stanford with its second-best field goal percentage (63.8) of the season to avenge yet another loss.

Arizona (26-6) has now beaten all six of the teams it has lost to this season, with four of those victories coming after a loss in the first meeting. Stanford beat the Wildcats 88-79 on Feb. 11 at Maples Pavilion but did not appear at McKale Center because of the Pac-12’s unbalanced schedule.

Arizona guard Courtney Ramey (0) reacts after a 3-point basket against Stanford during the second half of their game in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Turnament Thursday, March 9, 2023, in Las Vegas.

The win also moved UA into a Pac-12 Tournament semifinal game against Arizona State, which upset USC 77-72 later Thursday night. The Wildcats and Sun Devils split during the regular season, with each winning on the other’s home court.

More important for the Wildcats, possibly, was that the victory also brought back memories of that free-flowing, wildly efficient offense they had for the first half of the season, with less frequent appearances since then.

The Wildcats’ shooting percentage was its best since its season opener against Nicholls, when they shot 71.7% from the field and scored 117 points. Arizona was also notably much more efficient than it was on Feb. 11 at Stanford, when the Wildcats shot 45.9% from the field but were all but forced to loft up 35 3-point attempts in a game in which forward Azuolas Tubelis struggled with foul trouble and the Wildcats couldn’t get the ball inside.

Stanford tried the same tricks Thursday, switching its defenders at every position off UA’s ball screens, but the Wildcats attacked it with more patience and confidence.

Lloyd said it helped this time that coaches made a simpler game plan than they did against Stanford the first time, allowing players to play freer and not get too bogged down in the weeds. Guard Pelle Larsson said it was easier to know what was coming, having seen Stanford’s defense less than a month earlier.

“We were just being more aggressive,” Larsson said. “And obviously playing a team the second time, you know exactly what’s coming. And also we’ve got that revenge game.”

To put it even more simply, let’s turn back to Kriisa.

“Honestly, it was just being smarter,” he said. “At Stanford, we were just launching 3s, but now we fake the ball better, our bigs were better and our passes were more accurate. In general, we just played way better. And it all started from defense.”

Arizona’s percentage defense actually was well below average. Stanford shot 49.1% from the field and hit 14 of 29 3-pointers, scoring 20 points off UA’s 11 turnovers by often taking the ball down quickly and hitting an open 3-pointer on the break.

But Arizona also scored 20 points off turnovers, with Stanford coughing up the ball 17 times, and for the Wildcats the effect was particularly therapeutic. The transition game energized an offensive rhythm that became infectious, with UA taking control of a close game with a 10-0 run midway through the second half, while three players scored 20 or more points.

Oumar Ballo had 24 points and six rebounds to lead UA, while Cedric Henderson had a season-high 23 points and Tubelis had 20.

Arizona guard Cedric Henderson Jr. (45) shoots against Stanford during the first half of the Wildcats' 95-84 win over the Cardinal in the quarterfinal of the 2023 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament, Thursday, March 9, 2023, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Henderson’s previous high scoring game as a Wildcat was 20 against Utah Tech in the Wildcats’ third game of the season, when Henderson was starting in place of the suspended Courtney Ramey. Henderson also scored 19 against ASU on Feb.25.

For Tubelis, it was a third straight game of 20 or more points after the Lithuanian big man had just four at Stanford while playing just 17 foul-plagued minutes — and struggled slightly over the next three games.

“I was too aggressive at Stanford,” Tubelis said. “I got in foul trouble, and it’s hard to sit on the bench and see my team not playing good, you know? We made some 3s there too, but they had like 40 paint points there (actually 42 to Arizona’s 24).

“That’s just not acceptable against Arizona, and we just showed what Arizona basketball is about.”

And, unlike last season, Kriisa plans to be back to help them keep doing so in the semifinals. A year ago, he suffered a severe ankle injury against Stanford in the same quarterfinal round, then sat out the Wildcats’ next three games.

After getting hurt this time in a late first-half collision with Stanford’s Brandon Angel, Kriisa played one more possession but crumpled over in pain, left the floor and didn’t return until the second half.

When he returned, he did so with black tape over his right shoulder and wound up with just one point on that lefty free throw and 0-for-3 field-goal shooting. But Kriisa said he expected to be “100%” for UA’s semifinal game Friday with what Lloyd called “some sort of shoulder contusion injury.”

“I don’t know,” Kriisa said. “This tournament has a very bad aura. Last year, I never had problems with ankles. Then I broke my ankle. Now I come here with perfect shoulders, and now comes a shoulder injury.

“But, you know, we did fine.”

A Pac-12 semifinal invitation says they did too.

Hear what Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd, guard Courtney Ramey and center Oumar Ballo said after the second-seeded Wildcats avenged their loss to Stanford, beating the Cardinal 95-84 in the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Video courtesy Pac-12

Arizona guard Kerr Kriisa exited the Wildcats' win over Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament with a right shoulder injury. Kriisa returned for the second half with tape on his shoulder. Video by Justin Spears/Arizona Daily Star

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Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at bpascoe@tucson.com. On Twitter: @brucepascoe