LOS ANGELES — Jeremy Green scored 18 points, Landry Fields added 17 and Stanford surprised second-seeded Arizona State 70-61 in the Pac-10 Conference tournament quarterfinals Thursday night.
The No. 7 Cardinal (14-17) advanced to Friday’s semifinals against the winner of the late game between No. 3 Washington and sixth-seeded Oregon State.
Arizona State (22-10) swept the Cardinal during the regular season for the first time since 2004-05. But on Thursday the Sun Devils led just once — by one point early in the second half. Rihards Kuksiks scored 15 points, all in the first half, before he fouled out in the closing seconds.
Stanford immediately grabbed the lead back for good, running up a 15-point advantage on a 3-pointer by Fields with 11:43 remaining. It capped eight straight points by the first-team All-Pac-10 senior.
The Sun Devils never made a big run, and didn’t get their deficit under double digits until late. Derek Glasser had 14 points and Eric Boateng finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds.
Emmanuel Igbinosa added 12 points for the Cardinal, who are seeking a return to the title game for the first time since losing to UCLA in 2008.
Arizona State was held to 39 percent shooting from the floor. The Cardinal scored 25 points off the Sun Devils’ 17 turnovers.
Arizona State had won eight of 10 coming into its first-ever meeting with Stanford in the tournament. The Sun Devils tied the game twice in the first half, but the Cardinal went ahead by 10 early on a layup by Fields.
Arizona State finished runner-up to Southern California in last year’s tourney. The Trojans didn’t play this season because of self-imposed sanctions involving former star O.J. Mayo’s interactions with an agent.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.