By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Stanford’s men’s basketball squad came up with its biggest road win in nearly six years Wednesday, traveling to Hartford and emerging with a 53-51 upset over No. 10-ranked Connecticut.
Chasson Randle led the Cardinal (8-2) with 22 points as Stanford scored its first win against a Top 25 team away from home since the 2008 NCAA tournament. Stanford’s seven other wins this season came against teams with a combined 32-41 record.
Josh Huestis added 13 points for Stanford, with Dwight Powell contributing 10 points and 15 boards. DeAndre Daniels led UConn (9-1) with 15 points, while Shabazz Napier had 12 points and eight assists for the Huskies.
The Huskies were 6 of 10 on 3-point shooting in the first half while building a 10-point halftime lead. But UConn cooled off in the second half, going 0-for-12 behind the arc and 5 of 31 overall while the Cardinal fought back.
UConn led 43-30 before consecutive 3-pointers by Anthony Brown and Randle ignited a 14-0 run by the Cardinal, who held the Huskies without a hoop for just over six minutes.
Stanford took its first lead at 44-43 on a three-point play by Randle midway through the second half. Shabazz Napier put the Huskies back ahead 45-44 with a jumper in the lane, and the lead then see-sawed the rest of the way.
Randle sank a jumper with 3:30 to play, putting Stanford up 52-49, and the Cardinal hung on for the win. Daniels scored on a put-back to pull the Huskies to within 52-51, but Napier missed two 3-point attempts in the final minute, and Omar Calhoun missed a 3-pointer on the Huskies’ final possession.
Stanford got a loose ball with 26 seconds left, and Huestis hit 1 of 2 free throws to account for the final margin of victory.
The loss snapped a 54-game home winning streak for UConn against nonconference teams going back to 2007. Connecticut was coming off its annual break for final exams and had not played in 12 days. Stanford ended a 13-day break last Saturday with a win over UC-Davis.
The Cardinal continue their road trip Saturday, traveling to Barclays Center in Brooklyn to face Michigan.
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