LAS VEGAS (AP) – Stanford stormed back from as many as 14 points down to Arizona State to tie the game on a Michael Humphrey jumper with 3.3 seconds remaining in regulation and force overtime. The Sun Devils scored 11 of the first 14 points in overtime to outlast the Cardinal, 98-88, in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament Wednesday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena.
Reid Travis led ninth-seeded Stanford (14-17) with 23 points and nine rebounds and Humphrey finished with 18 for the Cardinal.
Obinna Oleka had 27 points and 13 rebounds to guide eighth-seeded Arizona State (15-17), who will move on to face top-seeded Oregon on Thursday in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament.
Arizona State shot 56 percent and made 10-of-22 from three-point range, yet couldn't shake the Cardinal in regulation.
"A big part of our deficiencies was our inability to guard the basketball, and certainly the three-point shooting was good, but our inability to guard dribble penetration, that caused a lot of breakdowns, their efficiency on the offensive end, and I thought we were much more competitive and maybe a step quicker in the second half," Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said. "I thought the guys' look before the game was great, but for whatever reason, we were just a step slow in the first half.
"But when they're playing a very potent offensive team like that, it gets difficult at times, and, again, the
inability to guard the basketball is a key, key problem. Haase added."
Travis led Stanford back, scoring 15 points to pull the Cardinal within 50-42 at halftime.
The Sun Devils maintained their cushion for most of the second half before Stanford used a 9-0 run to trim a 10-point deficit to just one point (76-75) with five minutes remaining.
Dorian Pickens added 14 points, including four three-pointers, and Marcus Allen contributed 12 to round out the Cardinal in double figures.
