Stanford gave itself a chance to beat Arizona in Tucson, on Wednesday so even the though the Cardinal ended up losing 73-66 to the No. 7 Wildcats, Stanford should feel pretty good about itself.
The Cardinal (14-9, 5-5) had its three-game winning streak halted, but it continued to play well, so it should still carry some momentum into Saturday's game at Arizona State, a game the Cardinal can win if it plays as well as has the past four games.
Stanford was 7-for-19 on three-pointers on Wednesday, which is not quite as good as it shot from long range in last week's sweep of the Oregon schools, but still decent for a team that shot poorly for most of the season.
Aaron Bright seems to be out of his season-long shooting slump. He was 4 of 7 on three-pointers against Arizona (20-2, 8-2), making him 9-for-15 from long range over the past three games. He had 16 points, and Dwight Powell had another strong game with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Josh Huestis had another double double with 10 points and 10 boards, and Chasson Randle gave the Cardinal a fourth player in double figures with 12 points.
Those numbers suggest Stanford was very much in the game, and the Cardinal led the game by five points with 5:44 left.
But Arizona then reeled off nine straight points to take control of the game. Stanford has struggled in close games down the stretch this season, while Arizona has flourished in those situations. Arizona is 8-1 in games decided by eight points or less or in overtime, while Stanford is 3-7 in those games.
The Cardinal shot just 37.9 percent from the floor and could not control Arizona's top two players - Mark Lyons, who had 25 points, and Solomon Hill, who added 23.
Stanford got only five points from its bench.
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