By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Friday, March 21, 2014

It’s been six years since Stanford last qualified for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, and, at least for the first round, the Cardinal are making the most of the opportunity.

No. 10 Stanford, led by Chasson Randle, held off No. 7-seed New Mexico 58-53 in the South regional at St. Louis. The Cardinal (22-12) will face No. 2-seed Kansas Sunday in the third round.

As for New Mexico, it was another quick exit from the Big Dance. The Lobos (27-7) lost in the opening round last year to Harvard under former coach Steve Alford.

Randle scored 23 points for Stanford, which had the hot hand out of the gate, building a 16-point cushion. The Cardinal hit eight of its first 10 shots, scoring 17 unanswered points while building a 20-4 lead 6 ½ minutes into the game.

The Lobos battled through scoreless stretches and began to fight back, tying the game at 45-45 with an 8-0 run midway through the second half.

Robbie Lemons, a reserve walk-on, and Randle each sank a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds after UNM cut its deficit to two points.

Anthony Brown scored 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds for Stanford, while Stefan Nastic added 10 points and five boards. Dwight Powell, who averages 14.2 points per game, had a rare off-day, scoring three points, missing all eight of his field goal attempts and fouling out.

Cameron Bairstow led the Lobos with 24 points and eight rebounds, but suffered through off-days form Kendall Williams and Alex Kirk, who combined for six points. Williams and Kirk average 30 points together.

Another key was Stanford hitting 8-of-15 3-pointers, while UNM connected on 4-of-21.

(TAGS: Stanford,New Mexico,NCAA men’s basketball tournament)