Stanford men’s basketball (8-8, 0-4 Pac-12) fell to No. 4 UCLA (16-1, 3-1) 89-75 on Sunday night at Pauley Pavilion, marking the Cardinal’s fourth consecutive loss in the Pac-12.
UCLA dominated play throughout the game. The Bruins led the Cardinal 48-30 at halftime. While the Cardinal came back to outscore UCLA 45-41 in the second half, the late comeback was not enough to offset UCLA’s strong initial push. Stanford’s closest chance at closing the margin happened at the 13:12 mark of the second half, when Cameron Walker’s two free throws brought the score to 61-50.
Even though Stanford was ultimately unable to offset UCLA’s momentum, Stanford’s veteran offense continued to push personal records at Pauley Pavilion. Junior forward Michael Humphrey totaled a career-high 27 points and added 14 rebounds for his sixth career double double. Humphrey’s performance eclipsed his game-winning statistics against UCLA last year, when he totaled 24 points and nine rebounds. Junior guard Robert Cartwright had a career high of 18 points and 9 assists. Meanwhile, junior guard Dorian Pickens notched his fifth straight game in double figures by putting 12 points on the board.
The Cardinal were missing junior forward Reid Travis, who is out of play indefinitely due to a right shoulder injury sustained during practice. Travis was a leader for both Stanford and the larger Pac-12, accounting for over 25 percent of the Cardinal’s scoring and 27 percent of Cardinal rebounds. The four juniors — Travis, Pickens, Humphrey and Cartwright — have accounted for about 62 percent of the scoring this season.
The matchup with UCLA concluded Stanford’s five-day trip to SoCal, following a loss to USC on Jan. 5. Returning home, the Cardinal stands at .500 overall and winless in the Pac-12. Sunday marked the end of a daunting three-game stretch against ranked opponents — Arizona, USC and UCLA — in which the Cardinal ultimately came up empty-handed.
Overall, the Cardinal finished having shot 37.8 percent from the field. However, Stanford succeeded in connecting on 14-of-18 from the foul line and forced the Bruins into 16 turnovers.
Stanford will try to reverse their four-game losing streak on Thursday when the team faces Washington State at home at Maples Pavilion at 8 p.m.
Contact Kit Ramgopal at kramgopa ‘at’ stanford.edu.