By Jeremy Harness

 

It wasn’t a huge blowout like the game played earlier this season at Maples Pavilion, but the Stanford basketball team is still moving on in the Pac-12 tournament nonetheless.

 

The Cardinal began their push to attempt to get into the NCAA Tournament Wednesday night, as they used a big second half to ward off Washington State, 74-63, at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

 

Even though the score a little tighter than when these two teams last met, but the script was pretty much the same. Stanford had much more balanced scoring than did the Cougars, who again mainly relied on two players to keep them close.

 

For Stanford, Chasson Randle led with 22 points while Dwight Powell chipped in with 16. Meanwhile, Anthony Brown and Josh Huestis each added 12 points to help the Cardinal move to the second round, during which they will face Arizona State Thursday night.

 

DaVonte’ Lacy led all scorers with 25 for Washington State, while D.J Shelton had 15 points while pulling down 11 rebounds.

 

Both teams started each half shooting the ball very well, but the difference was that Stanford was able to sustain the attack while the Cougars were not.

 

The Cardinal split their season series with Arizona State, winning at Maples Pavilion while faltering when they made their annual trip to Arizona two weeks ago.

 

Obviously, the work isn’t close to being done for the Cardinal. Having lost three of their last four games of the regular season, they need to make a big run in the Pac-12 tournament to get a serious look at an NCAA berth.

 

If Stanford beats Arizona State Thursday night, the No. 3 seed would likely draw No. 2 UCLA, a team that they have also beaten at Maples this season before they have a chance of a rematch with Arizona in the tournament final.