Jones, Angel help Cardinal reach title game
HONOLULU — Spencer Jones scored a career-high 25 points, Brandon Angel scored 10 of his 17 points in the final nine minutes and Stanford overcame a 13-point deficit to beat Liberty 79-76 on Thursday in the Diamond Head Classic, spoiling Darius McGhee’s 41-point performance.
Jones, averaging 7.7 points per game, was 8-for-11 from the field with five 3-pointers to top his previous high of 18 points for the Cardinal (8-4).
On Saturday, Stanford will face the winner of Thursday’s late game between BYU and Vanderbilt for the tournament title.
Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said West Coast fans might not know how good of a team Liberty is, but he does.
“For us, honestly, it’s a statement win in some ways,” Haase said.
McGhee tied the tournament scoring record set by BYU’s Chase Fischer in the 2015-16 season. McGhee entered ranked 28th in the nation by averaging 19.8 points per game, and he was 13-for-28 shooting with seven 3-pointers against Stanford. No other player for Liberty (8-5) scored more than six points.
“McGhee’s a fantastic player,” Haase said. “I thought we played great defensively and he still had 41, so that shows you what kind of impact he has on the game.”
Stanford was ahead 76-67 with 41 seconds left before McGhee scored eight of the final 12 points. Angel made 1 of 2 foul shots to give Stanford a three-point lead with 6.8 seconds left. After a timeout, Stanford fouled McGhee near midcourt and he made two free throws at 4.3.
Stanford freshman Harrison Ingram made two free throws to regain a three-point advantage. Liberty wasn’t able to get the ball to McGhee, and Keegan McDowell committed a turnover near midcourt just before the final buzzer.
McGhee and Jones were the only two in double figures until 8:18 remaining in the game when Angel sank a 3pointer to give Stanford a 57-55 lead.
In the first half, the Cardinal trailed 28-15 with just less than six minutes to go. Stanford was down 30-18 with just less than four minutes remaining in the half before closing on an 18-6 run.
Michael O’Connell put an exclamation mark on the end of that run as he nailed a shot from just beyond midcourt to beat the halftime buzzer and tie the game 36-36.
“We were resilient to get back in the game,” Haase said, “and then really resilient to keep fighting in the second half.”
Stanford finished 12-for-20 from beyond the arc.
Briefly: O’Connell contributed eight points and a game-high eight assists. The assist total tied his career high . ... The Cardinal outrebounded the Flames 38-22. Stanford has owned the rebounding edge in all 12 of its games this season. ... Saturday’s game will be Stanford’s last before it opens Pac-12 play by hosting Cal on Jan. 2.