Coming off of the win against USC, Stanford men’s basketball (10-5, 3-2 Pac-12) narrowly lost to Washington (8-7, 3-2 Pac-12) by a score of 64-67. The Cardinal attempted to overcome trailing by 22 late in the first half but ultimately came just short.
The opening minute of the first half marked the only time the Cardinal ever held a lead; a three-pointer from freshman forward Harrison Ingram and a layup from junior forward James Keefe put Stanford up 5-0.
After this initial scoring, the Huskies went on an 11-0 run that was ultimately broken by another Ingram three-pointer. Stanford fell victim to a four-minute drought, with both the offense and defense struggling against the home team.
Senior forward Jaiden Delaire snapped the dry spell and started a run where Stanford outscored the Huskies 7-3. However, this was short-lived, as Washington regained control, scoring 15 of the next 17 points.
With five minutes left before halftime, the Huskies had pushed ahead to a 22-point lead. The Cardinal scored twice, chipping four points off the Washington lead, to end the half down 43-25.
As the score reflected, the first half was a challenge for the Cardinal. Offensively, Stanford committed 13 turnovers and shot 31.8% from the field. Meanwhile, the Huskies were efficient on offense, shooting 46.9% and only committing five turnovers. The Huskies especially outscored Stanford when it came to points off of turnovers, where Washington out-dueled the Cardinal 19-1.
The second half of the game was the entirely opposite story. While Washington started out the half on a 7-4 run, the half was mostly dominated by Stanford. The Cardinal proceeded to go on a 12-5 run, which was only a start to their good fortunes this half.
Stanford kept chipping away at the Husky lead little by little. Efficient shooting from all areas of the court — as reflected by the Cardinal’s 55.56 second-half FG percentage — closed the gap to a one-score difference with 0:43 following a free-throw by senior forward Lukas Kisunas. However, the comeback bid would ultimately end because of Washington’s free-throw shooting.
Stanford’s two leading scorers both came off the bench. Sophomore forward Brandon Angel led the team with 13 points while Kisunas notched 10. Kisunas also led the team with 12 rebounds, three of which were off the offensive glass, en route to his first career double-double.
Up next, Stanford looks to bounce back on Thursday against No. 6 Arizona (14-1, 4-0 Pac-12) in what could be the Cardinal’s second ranked-win this season. Tip-off in Palo Alto is scheduled for 8 p.m. PT.