Jemarl Baker's eight 3-pointers can't save Arizona Wildcats in 78-75 loss to Stanford

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Since Sean Miller pretty much owns Maples Pavilion, maybe Stanford caught a break hosting his Wildcats elsewhere this time.

Despite another stunning 3-point show from Arizona’s Jemarl Baker in the warehouse-like environment of 2,500-seat Kaiser Permanente Arena, the Wildcats lost 78-75 to Stanford on Saturday.

It was the first time a Miller-coached UA team had ever lost to the Cardinal, snapping a 19-game win streak under Miller and a 20-game win streak overall in the series, with the UA's last loss to Stanford in 2008-09.

"We've been in so many games like this" with Stanford, Miller said. "It just bounced our way (but tonight) we lost and they did a great job."

So did Baker. Nearly two weeks after he scored 33 points with 7 for 9 3-point shooting against NAU, Baker had 29 points Saturday while hitting 8 of 13 3s.

The eight 3s were just one shy of Salim Stoudamire's program record nine 3s, with Baker hitting 7 of his long-range shots in the second half to help the Wildcats threaten to win a game they trailed by up to 10 points.

“Offensively he was a monster," Miller said. "He played great, and he's off to a great start. ... in the second half I thought he was really, really good.

“Like everybody, there's certain things maybe defensively he could do better. But if it wasn't for his offense, we wouldn't have had a chance to be in the game tonight.”

The loss dropped Arizona to 5-1 heading into scheduled back-to-back games against San Diego (on Monday) and Montana (Tuesday), while Stanford improved to 4-2.

Trailing 30-23 at halftime while shooting less than 30%, Arizona hit 69.2% in the second half to make a surge, thanks in large part to Baker cramming in seven of his eight threes after halftime.

“Just wanted to win,” Baker said. “Simple as that. Just wanted to win. I didn't play well enough for us to win for sure. And it doesn't really matter at this point, because we didn't get the win. So we just have to learn from this and continue to get better.”

The Wildcats cut Stanford’s lead to just 41-40 when Azuolas Tubelis converted a three-point play with 13:51 left. But the Wildcats couldn’t get much further initially, with Stanford freshman Ziaire Williams answering a three-point play from Jordan Brown with a 3-pointer from the right wing.

Even as Baker’s 3-point shooting came alive in the second half, with the junior guard making 3 of 4 from long range over the first 12 minutes after halftime, the Cardinal still held a 59-53 lead heading into the final eight minutes after a three-pointer from Noah Taitz.

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Another 3 from Baker and a basket from Ira Lee later pulled UA within 68-66 heading into the final four minutes but James Akinjo missed two free throws after picking up a foul with 3:58 left and it wasn’t until Baker hit his sixth 3 that the Wildcats finally took a lead, 69-68 – and even that was erased when Oscar da Silva hit two technical free throws resulting from a foul by Christian Koloko.

Da Silva led Stanford with 21 points and seven rebounds, while the Cardinal shot 52.7% overall.

Then Baker returned for yet another 3, with 3:16 left, and the Wildcats went ahead 72-70. While Stanford’s Spencer Jones hit two 3s to put the Cardinal ahead 76-72, Baker hit an eighth 3 that made it 76-75.

But an offensive foul and two missed free throws by Akinjo over the final seven seconds sealed the Wildcats' fate while Stanford's Oscar da Silva hit two final free throws with five seconds left.

It was a tough ending to a tough afternoon for Akinjo, who shot just 2 of 8 from the field and made only 2 of 9 free throws, though he did dish nine assists.

Ironically, Akinjo hit all 14 free throws he took in the Wildcats' last game, a 69-61 win over UTEP on Dec. 12.

"In no way am I blaming tonight's game on James," Miller said. "James is our heart and soul. He's the engine that really makes us go. He has turnovers, but he also had nine assists and played the entire game (38 ½ minutes).

“He'll bounce back, no doubt. I'm sure he was in his own head. You would think if anyone would have had great confidence from the line tonight, it would have been him, based on what he just did in the last game.”

In the first half, Arizona shooting just 28.6% from the field over the first half of its first road game of the season and the Wildcats trailed Stanford 30-23 at halftime.

The Wildcats made only 2 of 9 3-pointers and just 3 of 9 free throws while Stanford shot 48.0% from the field. UA would have fallen in an even deeper hole had Stanford not missed half of its 10 free throws.

Tubelis led UA with six points and three rebounds in the half while Jordan Brown had four points and four rebounds. For Stanford, forward Oscar da Silva had nine points and two rebounds while guard Daejon Davis, back from a one-game suspension, had seven points and four assists.

Arizona hit just 25% of its shots through the first 12 minutes of the game, falling behind by up to 10 points early but eventually pulling closer partially by picking up their missed shots.

Over the first 16 minutes, Arizona converted six offensive rebounds into seven second-chance points, cutting Stanford’s lead to 21-20 entering the final media timeout of the half with 3:54 remaining. But the Cardinal rattled off six straight points to go ahead 28-21 before Tubelis hit a pair of free throws with 47.2 seconds remaining.

The game was played at the home of the Golden State Warriors’ G League affiliate because of a Santa Clara County health order prohibiting games or practices until at least Monday.