McKissic leads Sun Devils to 67-62 win over Cardinal

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) His face turning crimson, Arizona State coach Herb Sendek charged in front of the scorer's table, raised his arms and screamed at the crowd to make more noise.

A few minutes later, he leaped off the bench to high-five a player who had just taken a charge under the basket, the color again filling his face.

With a loud crowd and a gutty effort in a late-night start, Sendek had every reason to shout.

Shaquielle McKissic scored a career-high 23 points and Arizona State overcame second-half foul trouble by its two big men to hold off Stanford 67-62 Thursday night.

''By them responding like they did, that's as good as it gets,'' Sendek said. ''Now I need a shower.''

Arizona State (16-14, 8-9 Pac-12) led by 14 at halftime after closing with a 16-2 run, but allowed the Cardinal back in it after big men Eric Jacobsen and Savon Goodman ran into foul trouble.

Even without the two big guys, the Sun Devils outscored the Cardinal 40-22 inside by taking the ball to the rim against Stanford's zone. Arizona State kept the Cardinal at bay by weathering a second-half comeback and hitting 5 of 7 free throws in the final 31 seconds.

Tra Holder added 15 points and four assists for Arizona State, which won despite shooting 3-of-15 from 3-point range.

''Stanford is a great team and to get up on a team like that and stay there the whole game is hard,'' said McKissic, who had seven rebounds and four steals.

Stanford (18-11, 9-8) has battled injuries all season and took another hit four minutes into the game, when starting forward Michael Humphrey went down with a left ankle injury.

The Cardinal fought their way back after getting the Sun Devils into foul trouble, but ran out of gas, putting another dent in Stanford's NCAA Tournament hopes.

Chasson Randle overcame a quiet first half to finish with 16 points and Stefan Nastic added 16 for Stanford.

''He's been playing so well for us and we've come accustomed to having him have an impact on both ends of the floor,'' Cardinal coach Johnny Dawkins said of Humphrey. ''It's a tough blow and came at an inopportune time for us.''

Stanford's NCAA Tournament chances were in good shape after a solid start to the Pac-12 season, but a string of four losses in five games put the Cardinal on the bubble. A home loss to Oregon on Sunday pushed the Cardinal further away from the bracket and they certainly couldn't afford a loss to the unranked Sun Devils with No. 5 Arizona up next.

Stanford rolled over Arizona State at home in the teams' first meeting, shooting 59 percent in the 89-70 win, but wasn't nearly as efficient in a choppy first half filled with fouls and turnovers.

Stanford missed 11 of its first 15 shots, though kept the Sun Devils within reach in the opening 10 minutes by snaring seven offensive rebounds.

Arizona State started slow, but closed with a flourish, scoring the final 12 points for a 37-23 lead. The Sun Devils hit 14 of 26 shots, highlighted by McKissic's blind, over-the-shoulder toss to the basket for three-point play in transition during the big run. His free throw also got a nice bounce off the rim before going in.

''It was just one of those things where I was lucky, I guess, and the free throw was a tad bit lucky, but it going me going,'' McKissic said.

Stanford failed to score over the final 3:26 and shot 8 of 27 before halftime.

The Cardinal had a better offense flow in the second half and started to chip away as Arizona State got into foul trouble.

Goodman and Jacobsen, Arizona State's two main inside threats, picked up their third fouls in the opening two minutes. They returned about five minutes later and quickly were called for their fourth fouls.

The Cardinal took advantage and tied the game at 47-all on a 3-pointer by Brown in front of their bench.

Randle hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final 80 seconds after Arizona State went up 60-54, but Arizona State hit just enough free throws to keep the Cardinal from coming all the way back.

Now Stanford faces playing Arizona and possibly the Pac-12 tournament without Humphrey, who was on crutches and had his left ankle wrapped after the game.

''After the way he went down, hopefully it's not a severe injury,'' Dawkins said.

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TIP-INS

Stanford: The Cardinal had 16 offensive rebounds that led to 12 second-chance points.

Arizona State: Jacobsen had no points and did not take a shot in 15 minutes. ... Goodman finished with nine points.

UP NEXT

Stanford plays at No. 5 Arizona on Saturday.

Arizona State hosts California on Saturday.