Azoulas Tubelis leaves due to injury in Arizona’s win over Stanford

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Oumar Ballo had 21 points and No. 3 Arizona dominated Stanford in an 85-57 blowout Thursday night.

Bennedict Mathurin and Pelle Larsson each scored 13 for the Wildcats (15-1, 5-0 Pac-12), off to their best start since a 21-0 run to begin the 2013-14 season. They overwhelmed a Cardinal team that beat then-No. 5 USC nine days earlier.

Arizona shot 55.4% and held Stanford to 30% shooting, the 11th time in 16 games that the Wildcats held their opponent below 40%.

Arizona had forward Azuolas Tubelis exit in the first half with an ankle injury and he did not return.

Spencer Jones and Maxime Raynaud each scored nine points to lead Stanford (10-6, 3-3), which lost for the first time in eight games this season at Maples Pavilion. Arizona has won 11 in a row on Stanford’s home floor.

The Cardinal couldn’t find their rhythm offensively and didn’t have an answer for Arizona’s size inside. Stanford was outscored 48-20 in the paint and never got closer than 11 points in the second half.

Mathurin, who entered the night second in the Pac-12 at 18 points per game, scored 13 in the first half as the Wildcats led 42-31 at the break.

Stanford appeared rattled by Arizona’s aggressive half-court defense early on. The Cardinal’s two leading scorers, Harrison Ingram and Jaiden Delaire, combined for just five points in the first half.

BIG PICTURE

Arizona: The Wildcats seem to feed off the energy of their vocal bench, particularly on defense. With Stanford allowing only family members of players to attend home games right now due to COVID-19 guidelines, Arizona’s reserves could be heard loud and clear in the near-empty arena.

Stanford: The Cardinal learned that they can’t dig themselves an early hole and expect to climb out of it against the conference’s elite teams.

UP NEXT

Arizona: Plays at California on Sunday, continuing a stretch of three consecutive games on the road.

Stanford: Plays at home Saturday against Arizona State, which has had three of its past six games canceled or postponed.