Spencer Jones scored 22 points to lead Stanford to a 78-72 victory over Utah on Thursday night.
Michael Jones added 15 points for the Cardinal. Michael O’Connell and Brandon Angel chipped in 11 apiece.
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Stanford (10-12, 4-7 Pac-12) won its fifth straight game after shooting 56 percent from 3-point range and earned its first true road victory of the season.
Lazar Stefanovic scored a career-high 26 points — including six 3-pointers — to lead Utah. Branden Carlson added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Utes. Rollie Worster chipped in 10 points and dished out 10 assists.
Utah (15-9, 8-5) lost its second straight game after shooting only 39 percent from the field.
Stanford enjoyed a strong first half on offense. The Cardinal shot 56 percent from the field — including 7 of 10 from 3-point range.
Spencer Jones fueled a 10-0 run with a pair of baskets to give Stanford a 34-24 lead late in the first half. Utah went three minutes without scoring and missed four straight shots, opening the door for the Cardinal to surge ahead.
Stanford extended its lead to 46-31 at halftime behind a 10-2 run capped by a 3-pointer from Spencer Jones and three free throws from Michael Jones in the final minute of the half.
Utah cut the deficit to single digits again behind a 10-0 run early in the second half. Ben Carlson and Branden Carlson each made 3-pointer to fuel the run and trim Stanford’s lead to 50-44.
The Utes got within a basket at 57-54 on back-to-back baskets from Worster and Stefanovic. Utah could not draw any closer. Stanford extended its lead back to double digits, going up 74-64 on Maxime Raynaud’s jumper with 1:17 left.
Stefanovic started for Utah in place of Gabe Madsen after Madsen missed Thursday’s game with a lower leg injury. Madsen is out four to six weeks after suffering his injury early in Utah’s loss to Oregon on Saturday. Through the Utes’ first 23 games, Madsen was the team’s second-leading scorer, averaging 11.7 points per game while shooting 37.3 percent from 3-point range.
–Field Level Media
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