Stanford 79, Arizona State 58

[March 14, 2014]  LAS VEGAS — Stanford 79, Arizona State 58: Chasson Randle scored 21 points and Dwight Powell added 15 as the Cardinal led wire-to-wire against the Sun Devils in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas.

Josh Huestis added 12 points and seven rebounds for No. 6 seed Stanford (21-11), which shot 54.9 percent and advanced to face second-seeded UCLA in Friday’s semifinals. Anthony Brown had 11 points and six rebounds to help the Cardinal reach the semifinals for the first time since 2010.

Jonathan Gilling paced No. 3 seed Arizona State (21-11) with 13 points while Shaquielle McKissic and Bo Barnes added 12 apiece. Leading scorer Jahii Carson missed nine of his 13 shots from the field and finished with 10 points for the Sun Devils, who were outrebounded 34-23 and fell to 3-12 in the Pac-12 tournament since 2002.

Arizona State made four consecutive 3-pointers to end the first half and trailed 30-27 at the break, but Stanford quickly regained control and pulled ahead 51-38 on Huestis’ dunk with just over 11 minutes remaining. Carson was held scoreless in the opening stanza for just the second time in two seasons and didn’t record his first field goal until the 13:58 mark in the second half.

The Sun Devils cut the deficit to 55-47 with just over seven minutes left, but Stanford squashed the comeback with 10 quick points and improved to 21-2 when leading with five minutes to play. John Gage chipped in eight points off the bench for the Cardinal, who needed a win to improve their chances of reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time in six years under coach Johnny Dawkins.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Stanford lost 91-74 at UCLA on Jan. 23 before shooting 62.2 percent from the field in an 83-74 home win over the Bruins on Feb. 22. … Powell, who entered the tournament with a total of seven 3-pointers during the regular season, has shot 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in his last two games. … Carson entered the contest averaging 28.8 points on 59.6 percent shooting in five career games in Las Vegas.

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