By Jeremy Harness

STANFORD – After having to rally from behind to down a lesser opponent four days prior, Stanford had to do it again Wednesday night.

The Cardinal (6-2 overall) had a slightly better first half this time around than the 17-point half they experienced against Denver on Sunday, but they came back to win in the same fashion, coming back with a flourish in a 67-58 win over Loyola Marymount at Maples Pavilion.

This time, it was senior guard Chasson Randle, who had been stuck in a shooting slump that was highlighted by a nine-point game against Denver that saw him go 2-for-14 from the field, who led the Stanford resurgence.

He got it back together on Wednesday, scoring 20 of his 31 points in the second half by primarily attacking the basket. In the process, he was 9-for-19 from the field and made three of his eight 3-point shots.

It didn’t look good early on, though. Stanford fell behind by as many as 12 points in the first half, thanks in large part to a Loyola Marymount (3-6 overall) team that shot 50 percent from the field in the half, including making four of their nine shots from behind the 3-point arc.

Meanwhile, coach Johnny Dawkins was so in need to find a combination that would work for his team that 11 guys saw the court for the Cardinal.

It certainly didn’t help matters when center Stefan Nastic found himself in foul trouble, picking up two infractions in the first five minutes of the game that forced him to the bench early.

Despite all of that, the Cardinal were able to rally and found themselves with a very-reasonable four-point halftime deficit.

Stanford had been waiting for Randle to break out of his slump, and after scoring 11 first-half points, he really came alive in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring eight points in the first seven-plus minutes to put Stanford ahead by a pair.

Nastic also sprung back to life in the second half, after being held down by his foul trouble in the early going. After scoring only four first-half points, he scored 11 in the closing stanza to go along with five rebounds and a pair of assists.

However, the Lions did not go away quietly, as they continued to shoot the ball well and twice took the lead back.

After Simon Krajcovic converted a three-point play with 7:51 remaining, LMU led by a single point. After Randle knocked down a pair of free throws, the Lions never saw the lead again.

The Cardinal turned up the intensity on defense and, after committing six first-half turnovers, only turned it over twice in the second to maintain the lead.

It won’t get any easier for Stanford, as they hit the road to face BYU (8-3 overall), a team that has won four of its last five games, on Saturday before moving on to Austin to face No. 9 Texas, which will be by far its toughest challenge before heading into Pac-12 play in two weeks.

NOTES: A 38 percent free-throw shooter entering Wednesday night, it’s pretty safe to say that foul shooting isn’t quite freshman Reid Travis’ forte right now. That was on display in the second half, as one of his free throws ended up as an airball. To his credit, he made sure to catch some rim on the next one, as he hit the front rim.