Stanford men’s basketball (14-16, 6-12 Pac-12) ended the regular season on a down note, losing 67-59 on the road against Utah (20-10, 11-7) on Saturday. With the loss, the Cardinal will be the No. 9 seed heading into the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.
Stanford looked ready to get over its most recent loss to Colorado (18-13, 8-10) as it built an 11-point lead on the Utes after a couple of made free throws by senior guard Marcus Allen with seven minutes remaining in the first half. However, the Utah defense settled into the game in the final minutes of the first period, allowing the Utes to outscore Stanford 14-5 to close the gap to 28-26 heading into the break.
Stanford started the second half as it did the first, as it went on a 13-7 run to take a six-point lead. But Utah again rallied to tie the game at 43-43 with 10 minutes remaining.
Junior guard Dorian Pickens countered the Utah run with a three. A few free throws by Allen gave Stanford a four-point lead with 5:40 left in the game.
The Utes rallied again quickly to take a two-point lead a minute later after back-to-back triples, and they never relinquished that lead.
Pickens, who led Stanford in scoring with 20 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc, helped Stanford shrink the lead down to four, but he fouled out of the game with 40 seconds left. Utah ultimately scored the final four points of the game to stretch its win to 67-59.
Despite shooting 44 percent from the field and 53 percent from three, the Cardinal could not stifle Utah’s 3-point shooting. The Utes finished with 10 3-point shots in the game. The Cardinal also turned over the ball 15 times, which limited its opportunities to regain the lead.
Junior forward Reid Travis had an off night, as he scored just nine points on 4-of-8 shooting, well under his season averages. Allen produced offensively, finishing another good game with 11 points, five assists and two steals.
Stanford will next face eighth-seeded Arizona State (14-17, 7-11) in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. The Sun Devils swept the season series, as the Cardinal lost 98-93 on Dec. 30 and lost 75-69 on Feb. 11. Stanford will have a chance at redemption on Wednesday at noon in Las Vegas.
Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.