The Stanford Cardinal (15-7, 6-4) nearly overcame a 22 point deficit against the UCLA Bruins (14-9, 6-4). But Chasson Randle’s three-point shot bounced harmlessly to the court as time expired, and UCLA escaped with an upset road victory, 69-67.

(Courtesy of the Daily Bruin)

Stanford in-bounded the ball and quickly got it to Randle who made a three-point shot as time expired. His shot bounced off of the right sight of the rim before bouncing harmlessly to the court. Randle’s shot would have capped off an insane 22 point comeback for the Cardinal, but it was not to be.

Roscoe Allen hit a three-point shot to bring Stanford within one of UCLA with 4.8 seconds left in regulation. Allen’s shot came after UCLA was unable to put the game away on the charity stripe. The Bruins in bounded the ball to Alford and he missed one of his two shots to keep the Cardinal in the game.

Powell missed a crucial free throw, and Stanford rebounded the ball but quickly lost control of it on the other end of the court. The Bruins quickly in-bounded the ball to Powell and he was immediately fouled and sent to the free throw line again, where he hit one of two shots. That’s when Allen hit his three-point shot.

The Cardinal hit a put-back to close within three of UCLA with 21.3 seconds left in regulation. UCLA quickly inbounded the ball to Powell, which is when he was fouled and sent to the line for a shot.

UCLA’s poor free throw shooting down the stretch almost cost them the ball game, as the Bruins went two of five from the charity stripe in the last 20 seconds. Fortunately for head coach Steve Alford’s squad, Randle didn’t take another step (or two) to go for the tie with 1.1 seconds left on the game clock.

Stanford trailed by 22 midway through the second half, and it looked like this game was over. The comeback started when Randle hit a pair of free throws, and it was quickly followed up by a lay-in, and the “and one”, by Allen.

Isaac Hamilton hit a three pointer shortly after halftime to extend UCLA’s lead to nine (34-25) shortly after halftime. The Bruins continued to pad onto their lead throughout the first ten minutes of the second half; as UCLA built a 50-40 lead with the help of a 16-5 run. UCLA’s offensive attack was unstoppable at the beginning of the second half.

For Stanford the loss was their second straight, and continues to show that the team struggles with consistency on the defensive end of the court.

For UCLA, this win is a huge boost to the team’s NCAA tournament hopes. It also completes the season sweep over the Cardinal.

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