BROOKLYN- Stanford nearly erased another double-digit second-half deficit before falling to Michigan 68-65 on Saturday night in the nightcap of the Brooklyn Holiday Hoops Invitational at the Barclays Center.
Chasson Randle scored a team-high 18 points, doing the bulk of his damage from the free throw line (10-11) as the Cardinal closed the game to within one possession in the final seconds.
Stefan Nastic matched a career high with 14 points (5-6 FG, 4-5 FT) while Josh Huestis added nine points and 10 rebounds.
Stanford (8-3) shot 45.8 percent overall and was 17-20 from the foul line. The Cardinal was 4-10 from beyond the arc but was hindered by 12 turnovers.
Despite shooting 40.4 percent overall, Michigan (7-4) capitalized by going 18-26 from the foul line while dishing out 16 assists while only committing eight turnovers.
Nik Stauskas scored 19 points to lead the Wolverines, making two crucial free throws with nine seconds left before Randle’s three-pointer at the buzzer fell short.
Stanford took its largest lead at 5-0, with both teams struggling to find their footing through a sloppy first five minutes. But once Michigan took command at 14:42 mark of the opening half, they stayed in front the rest of the way.
The Wolverines, who led 30-27 at intermission, built their largest lead at 56-46 with 7:32 remaining in the contest.
The Cardinal cut the deficit to two points on three different occasions in the final three minutes.
A three-point play from Randle brought Stanford within 66-65 with nine seconds left before Stauskas knocked down two free throws at the other end.
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NOTES: Stanford and Michigan were meeting for the first time since a 59-52 Cardinal victory back on Dec. 29, 1959 in Los Angeles … Josh Huestis chipped in with two blocks, increasing his career total to 149 and ranking third all-time in Cardinal history … For the first time in four games, Stanford notched fewer assists (9) than turnovers (12). Conversely, Michigan totaled 16 assists and eight turnovers … Stanford received only seven points from its bench during the two-game road swing … Chasson Randle is shooting 6-21 from three-point territory in three games at the Barclays Center. He is 14-28 combined in Stanford’s other six games … Chasson Randle has played 40 minutes in back-to-back games … Stanford scored the first five points of the game before Michigan followed with seven in a row … After scoring in double figures for the first nine games, Anthony Brown was held to 12 points on 5-14 shooting this week … The Cardinal returns home to face Cal Poly on Sunday, Dec. 29, at 4 p.m.
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Stanford Head Coach Johnny Dawkins
“I think Coach Beilein and his kids played one heck of a game. I thought from start to finish those kids really competed. I thought our group had its moments. I think towards the end of the game we did a good job of making a run, but we could never get over the hump. Michigan made the plays they needed to make to seal the game.”
“Our kids have the will to win. They have always had that. They are going to compete until the last minute. We are not going to quit. Even when we are down towards the end, we realize that we have been in these situations before and we can make a run. I am proud of our kids. They are going to compete. It’s just a matter of making it consistent.”
“We have to be disciplined on defense. We have to know how the game is being called and adjust. We have to play defense without fouling. That is true anywhere. You need to know where you are and how the game is being called and adjust accordingly.”
“We want the ball going inside. We have length with Dwight Powell and Stefan Nastic. Michigan did a good job on defense. They started fronting the post and bringing help from the back side. It became more difficult as the game went on. I think we were efficient when we got the ball in there, but we just didn’t get it in there enough.”
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Michigan Head Coach John Beilein
“So I usually talk about the other team first and I really think Stanford has a terrific team. It’s something you don’t even see any more with the experience they have. They just played two teams on the East Coast and came here twice. That’s a challenging schedule and to get a win over them is a positive turn in our season, but we have a long way to go. I look forward to watching their team as they go through the Pac-12.”
“We knew it was going to be a very physical game from the beginning. They called it very tight and it was consistent. All that most of us coaches want is consistency. So as a result we just had to scramble.”
“It would have been a difficult holiday season here if we had not won that game. Basically because it is the same scenario we just went through. We had to make shots. Spike made a great baseline pass to get a layup and Glenn made a great play. It is very hard to stop people in full court transition without drawing a foul. You combine that and the charge rule and it’s like we’re giving baskets. So we had to find a way to defend that, but at the same time we had just enough scorers.”