Stanford riding high into clash with struggling UCLA

Field Level Media|published: Tue 2nd January, 18:45 2024

Dec 31, 2023; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal guard Kanaan Carlyle (3) keeps the ball away from Arizona Wildcats guard Kylan Boswell (4) during the second half at Maples Pavilion. credits: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

Stanford will try to build off of its upset rout of Arizona when the Cardinal visit UCLA for a Pac-12 matchup on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Stanford (6-6, 1-1 Pac-12) rebounded from a league-opening loss on Friday to Arizona State with a dominant performance in its 100-82 win on Sunday over then-No. 4 Arizona.

Foul Cardinal players scored in double figures and six recorded at least nine points in Stanford's highest-scoring game vs. a ranked opponent ever. The Cardinal made a program record 16 3-pointers on 25 attempts, led by Kanaan Carlyle's career-best 6-of-8 performance from long range.

Carlyle scored a career-high 28 points in just his fourth game since joining the lineup. The highly-rated 2023 recruit gained eligibility clearance from the NCAA ahead of Stanford's Dec. 17 game vs. Idaho.

"My time was coming," the freshman said in Sunday's postgame press conference. "My team's been supporting me the whole time I was out. ... I felt like it was just building up."

Carlyle and the rest of the Cardinal seek their first win away from home this season when they visit Los Angeles for a pair of conference games. Stanford went 0-3 in nonconference, neutral-site games and lost 74-60 at San Diego State in its lone true road game on Dec. 21.

UCLA (6-7, 1-1), meanwhile, returns home after splitting its Pac-12-opening trip to the state of Oregon.

The Bruins' run of 29 consecutive wins at Pauley Pavilion ended on Dec. 19 in a 76-72 loss to Cal State Northridge, which preceded a 69-60 home defeat to Maryland on Dec. 22.

UCLA opened conference play with a come-from-behind, 69-62 win at Oregon State last Thursday, but the Bruins could not rally on Saturday in a 64-59 loss at Oregon.

In preparation for Stanford, UCLA coach Mick Cronin joked during his Tuesday media availability that the Cardinal "are hopefully out of made shots" after their 3-point deluge vs. Arizona.

"Trying to get over a game (at Oregon) I thought we should have won on the road, I turn (Stanford-Arizona) on and that made my Sunday even tougher," Cronin said. "Almost every (player on Stanford's roster) except maybe one shoots the (3-pointer)."

UCLA, conversely, has shot just 29.9 percent from 3-point range. Will McClendon is 15-of-35 beyond the arc, but the only other Bruins with more than eight made treys — Lazar Stefanovic and Dylan Andrews — are both 16-of-56.

—Field Level Media