Stanford rides hot start in upset of No. 4 Arizona

Andrej Stojakovic dunks home a posterizer in upset over No. 4 Arizona (0:24)

Andrej Stojakovic drives to the goal and gets up for a tough slam over the defender for two. (0:24)

ESPN News Services

Dec 31, 2023, 06:43 PM ET

STANFORD, Calif. — Freshman guard Kanaan Carlyle scored 25 points, Spencer Jones added 21 points on 8-for-9 shooting and Stanford surprised No. 4 Arizona 100-82 in a Pac-12 matchup Sunday.

Andrej Stojakovic scored 16 points and center Maxime Raynaud had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinal (6-6, 1-1).

Caleb Love led Arizona (10-3, 1-1) with 23 points and center Oumar Ballo added 12 points and seven rebounds.

The victory was Stanford’s first over a ranked opponent since beating Arizona last season and its eighth over a ranked team since 2020.

Stanford raced to an early lead, scoring the first seven points. After Ballo made a layup to bring the Wildcats within a point at the 6:56 mark of the first half, Stanford went on a 21-7 run for a 43-28 lead with under three minutes left in the first half.

The Cardinal got a big boost from both of its freshman guards off the bench in the first half. Carlyle scored 13 of his 25 points in the first half while making all four of his 3-point shots. Stojakovic scored nine points and grabbed two rebounds.

Arizona struggled to find its rhythm in the first half, shooting 41.2% from the field and 25% from long distance.

Stanford led 44-35 at halftime.

Stanford’s hot shooting continued in the second half. Jones scored 11 of the Cardinal’s first 16 points after halftime.

Arizona closed to within 11 points at 80-69 when Ballo made a second-chance layup with just over seven minutes left in the game.

A layup by Jones gave Stanford a 95-75 lead with 2:57 left in the second half for its largest advantage of the game.

Next up for Stanford is a home game against UCLA on Wednesday. Arizona hosts Colorado on Thursday.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.