Lopez twins help Stanford stave off upset
Published 10:00 pm Saturday, February 16, 2008
TUCSON, Ariz. — The Stanford Cardinal thought they were reliving a nightmare.
Two days after blowing a comfortable lead in an overtime loss at Arizona State, the Cardinal watched Arizona erase an eight-point deficit in the final 4:23.
This time the Cardinal recovered.
Brook Lopez scored 23 points, including the winning free throw with 18 seconds to play, as No. 7 Stanford held off the Wildcats 67-66 on Saturday.
“There was a sense of deja vu, but we weren’t going to let that happen,” said Brook Lopez’s twin brother Robin, who added 14 points. “We didn’t want to make the same mistake two games in a row.”
Stanford bounced back from a tough overtime loss at Arizona State.
“Thursday was a tough loss, considering we had a nine-point lead with ‘X’ amount of time on the clock,” Stanford coach Trent Johnson said. “For them to bounce back against a team this talented and this well-coached is really good for us.”
On Saturday, the Cardinal used their size advantage to take command of the game midway through the second half, and the Wildcats seemingly had no answer for the 7-foot Lopez twins after starting center Jordan Hill fouled out with 5:27 to play. Stanford outrebounded Arizona 40-26.
“It’s hard for us to guard them with our frontline guys,” Arizona interim coach Kevin O’Neill said. “They are big, agile and hard to guard. They’re both going to be NBA players.”
Cal 76, Arizona St. 73
TEMPE, Ariz. — Ryan Anderson had 28 points and 11 rebounds and Patrick Christopher added 20 points and five boards as Cal survived Arizona State’s rally in the final minute for a 76-73 victory Saturday.
The win ended a two-game skid and gave coach Ben Braun his 550th career victory. In his 31st season, Braun ranks as the 10th-winningest active coach (550-382).
Ty Abbott, one of ASU’s two standout freshmen, had a big first half before cooling off after the break. He still wound up with a career-high 30 points and eight 3-pointers.
