SALT LAKE CITY – In a see-saw contest that saw eight ties and four lead changes, Utah used a late rally to outlast Stanford, 67-59, at the Huntsman Center Saturday afternoon in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Stanford (14-16, 6-12 Pac-12) finished the regular season tied with Washington State for ninth in the conference, and earned the ninth seed over the Cougars in the Pac-12 Tournament by defeating WSU in the lone regular-season meeting. The Cardinal will face eighth-seeded Arizona State at noon PT this coming Wednesday in the first round of the conference tournament at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Junior Dorian Pickens led the Cardinal with 20 points, thanks in large part to a 5-of-7 performance from three-point range. He also contributed three seals on the defensive end. Senior Marcus Allen added 11 points and five assists.
Stanford surged out of the gates, breaking an early tie as Robert Cartwright capped a 10-3 Cardinal run to put the Stanford up 19-10 midway through the first half. Stanford stretched its lead to as many as 11 (23-12) on a pair of Allen free throws with seven minutes to go in the first half.
A Utah surge over the final minutes of the first half cut into the Cardinal advantage, but Stanford took a 28-26 lead into the break.
After the Utes tied it early in the second half, Pickens responded on the other end with a triple to put the Cardinal back ahead.
Stanford went back up four (52-48) on a pair of Allen free throws with 5:40 remaining, but Utah responded with an 8-0 run that included back-to-back three-pointers from Lorenzo Bonam and Kyle Kuzma to surge ahead by two with 4:19 remaining.
Bonam led all scorers with 26 in the contest.
A Pickens three and an Allen layup pulled Stanford within four (63-59) with 1:48 remaining and the Cardinal re-gained possession.
Pickens was whistled for an offensive foul with 1:18 remaining and the Utes were awarded possession of the ball. Utah scored the final four points of the contest to escape with the 67-59 win.
