No. 7 Arizona gets 89-82 win at No. 25 Stanford

Doug Haller | USA TODAY Sports

STANFORD, Calif. – Chasson Randle is a gifted scorer. There's no disputing this. The Stanford senior on Thursday night buried a 3-pointer late in the first half to become only the 15th player in Pac-12 history – and the first since 2003 – to score 2,000 career points.

But in a conference showdown at Maples Pavilion, Arizona's ability to slow Randle for most of the second half was the biggest key in the Wildcats' foul-plagued 89-82 victory, a gritty effort that kept them atop the Pac-12.

With the win, No. 7 UA improved to 17-2 and 5-1 in the Pac-12. No. 25 Stanford dropped to 13-5 and 4-2.

"These sometimes can be the games that you can recall upon because there was a lot of resiliency,'' UA coach Sean Miller said. "A lot of teams under the circumstances would've folded."

Throughout his career, Randle has been nearly an equal-opportunity scorer. He had torched Arizona State for 30 as a freshman and lit up Washington for 33 as a junior. Already this season, Randle had scored 32 against UCLA and 25 against California. But over four years, the 6-foot-2 guard from Illinois never has had a scoring outburst against UA.

Entering Thursday's contest, Randle had averaged just 11.3 points in four career games against the Wildcats, shooting 35 percent from the field, hitting 5 of 17 from 3-point range. He scored 26 in Thursday's clash, but don't be fooled. Fourteen of Randle's points came in the first half, three on a banked 3-pointer. Ten more came in the final 1:41 of the contest, with Stanford in desperation mode and UA trying not to foul.

That means the Stanford guard scored just two points during the bulk of the second half, when the Wildcats turned a five-point deficit into a 14-point lead.

"No matter what, we knew he was going to score," junior guard Gabe York said. "He took like 18 shots and when he's taking that many shots, he's going to at least make some."

Sophomore forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and senior point guard T.J. McConnell alternated defending Randle, but mostly this was Hollis-Jefferson's task. The 6-foot-6 forward fought through screens. He slowed Randle's penetration. He contested shots. In the first half, Randle's scoring came on 3-of-6 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 accuracy from the foul line. In the second half, Randle missed six of his first seven shots, allowing UA to overcome foul trouble and build a lead.

"The analogy I use for Rondae is he's kind of like a versatile defensive back,'' Miller said. "He's not just a cover guy. He's somebody that can blitz, somebody that can defend a myriad of different type of players. In the same game, he can guard the other team's (point guard) and power forward. His effort was exceptional."

With their star handcuffed for 18 minutes, the Cardinal struggled to keep pace. UA freshman Stanley Johnson made a short jumper. Hollis-Jefferson dunked.

UA kept leaning on Stanford until with 4:27 to go, junior forward Brandon Ashley scored inside to push the margin to 73-62, symbolically pushing the Cardinal into the ropes. The home team kept fighting – and fouling – pulling to within six with 38 seconds left, but they lacked the firepower to recover.

"Arizona plays together," Randle said. "The pack-line defense makes it hard for you to see gaps to get into the lane and then they contest every jump shot. They make it tough."

Johnson led UA with 19 points and seven rebounds. Ashley overcame foul trouble to score 17. In addition to his defense, Hollis-Jefferson contributed 12 points and three steals, and York scored 13.

Most of the contest bounced along to the soundtrack of an official's whistle. It was rocky and disruptive and at times, difficult to watch. Overall, both teams combined to commit 51 personal fouls that led to 67 foul shots. UA nearly ran out of post players. With 8:40 left, Miller had lost freshman Dusan Ristic, who had fouled out in 11 minutes. Ashley and junior center Kaleb Tarczewski each sat beside him, handcuffed with four apiece. Miller turned to little-used Matt Korcheck, who scored four points in five minutes.

"We brought him out of the bullpen and I don't know if I've been happier for a kid than him," Miller said. "He works tirelessly."

For different reasons Thursday, so did Hollis-Jefferson.

Doug Haller writes for azcentral sports.