By Jeremy Harness

For the rest of the Pac-12, it is time to recognize that it’s not all about Arizona and Utah, that Stanford looks like it will be right in the thick of things for quite some time.

The Cardinal are making a bigger case for themselves with seemingly each game, as they followed up their victory against Cal with a resounding 72-59 victory over defending NCAA champion Connecticut Saturday night at Maples Pavilion.

With the win, Stanford has not won seven of their last eight games, including three straight contests, and are currently 13-4 overall and 4-1 in Pac-12 play.

Chasson Randle continued his stellar play this year by scoring 23 points, including hitting four of his eight 3-point attempts, to go along with five assists.

The Cardinal moved the ball well throughout the night, and as a result, they got plenty of open looks and were rewarded with 10 made shots from behind the 3-point arc.

In the process, Stanford held Ryan Boatwright, who is currently on the list of potential Wooden Award finalists in the preseason, to only seven points on 3-of-12 shooting

However, it wasn’t all pretty for Stanford. Late in the second half, Stefan Nastic took an elbow to the face while defending a driving layup, and although he was immediately bleeding from his nose and mouth, he quickly returned to the game.

Stanford will soon find out where they are really at in relation to the top of the conference. The Cardinal’s next opponent is none other than No. 10 Arizona at Maples this Thursday.

For the meantime, the Wildcats have established themselves as the best team in the Pac-12, doing so with a convincing home win over No. 8 Utah, a game which saw them roar back after being down in the first half.