LAS VEGAS – Capping a 17-point comeback in style, James Keefe scored the final two of his 16 points at the buzzer to guide Stanford past Arizona State, 71-70, in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament.
Spencer Jones pitched in a career-high 26 points, while Keefe tallied his first-career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Brandon Angel scored 15 points for Stanford, which scored 16 of the game's final 17 points.
The win was the largest comeback win since Jan. 27, 2015, when the Cardinal trailed by 20 against Arkansas.
Stanford trailed by four at the half, 31-27, with Jones scoring 11 points with three triples in the first half.
Arizona State unleashed a barrage of 3-pointers to open the second-half, opening up a 50-33 advantage with 13:35 to play. Angel scored nine points in a stretch of four minutes to help cut the gap to seven, 53-46, but the Sun Devils rebuild a 14-point lead with 3:01 to go.
An 11-0 Stanford run started with 2:45 remaining, as Keefe and Angel scored twice and Spencer Jones and Harrison Ingram knocked down free throws. Ingram finished the afternoon with six points and a co-team-leading 10 rebounds.
A three from Jones pulled Stanford within one with 42 seconds to go, and following a defensive stop, Keefe picked up a loose ball in the middle of the key and banked home the game-winner.
Ninth-seeded Stanford advances to the quarterfinal to face top-seeded Arizona on Thursday, March 10 at noon on Pac-12 Network.