Top-Ranked Arizona Survives Stanford to Stay Undefeated
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Christian Petersen/Getty Images(STANFORD, Calif.) — Nick Johnson’s 3-pointer with 49 seconds remaining gave Arizona its first lead of the second half and iced the game at the same time, as the top-ranked Wildcats survive Stanford 70-67 Wednesday night.
Johnson also hit two clutch free throws with 5.8 seconds left to force Stanford to shoot a three to try to win.
Arizona keeps pace with Syracuse and Wichita State as the only remaining undefeated teams in Division 1. The victory was also the Wildcats’ university-record 21st straight win.
Stanford (13-7, 4-4, Pac 12) took a 53-49 lead with 9:58 remaining in the game, but Arizona proceeded to hold the Cardinal scoreless for the next 8:36.
“We’re an outstanding defensive team. It isn’t as if we changed any scheme; we just buckled down and had a lot of players playing very hard, and our ability to hold them to what we did is a big reason we won. Our defense won the game tonight,” Arizona head coach Sean Miller said. “No question we have to execute better on offense and we have to be more confident at the line.”
Johnson finished the game with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. T.J. McConnell had 11 points, eight boards and four assists in the win.
Arizona (21-0, 8-0, Pac 12) next plays Saturday at California.
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