Stanford escapes against Utah, secures fifth straight win

After a shaky start to the season, Stanford's basketball team has gotten hot at the right time of the year.

The Cardinal have won five straight, and their most recent win over Utah marked their first true road win of the season. A major test for Stanford who came into the game as eight point underdogs. 

Led by Spencer Jones who finished with 22 points, and junior guard Michael O’Connell who added 11 points, the Cardinal went on a 22-7 in the last six minutes of the first half that saw them go into the second leading 46-31.

Utah started the second half off strong, but thanks to a timely three by Max Murrell, Stanford was able to fend off the Utes for a bit. That was until turnovers and offensive rebounds helped Utah bring the lead down to single digits. O'Connell and Jones were the spark again, as they each hit huge shots to extend the lead to nine. 

Utah guard Lazar Stefanovic was the key reason that the Utes kept getting back into the game providing 26 points with six threes, but him fouling out really took the wind of the Utes' sails and Stanford would go on to win 78-72.

Stanford has a chance to continue their revenge tour, as they are set to take on a Colorado (13-11) team that beat them by three the first meeting. The meeting will take place in Boulder on Sunday.