Chasson Randle helps Stanford men outlast Loyola Marymount 67-58

STANFORD — Chasson Randle was happy he had another chance to make a free throw. He didn't want his first miss of the season to hang over his head.

Randle scored 31 points, two off his career high, and Stefan Nastic added 15 points to help Stanford down Loyola Marymount 67-58 Wednesday night.

The Cardinal (6-2) won for the third time in four games despite Randle having his consecutive free throw streak end at 39 — the school's third longest, and the longest since Ryan Mendez's school record 49 in 2001.

'He had a nice streak going,' Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. 'I'm proud of the way he bounced back. He takes a lot of free throws. I never had a run like that from the line.'

Randle, coming off a season-low nine-point effort, was 9 of 19 from the field and 10 of 12 from the foul line. Nastic was 7 of 10 from the field.

'I think the game was won when we started turning them over,' Randle said. 'That leads to easy baskets.'

His first miss came on the front end of a two-shot foul.

'That's the nice thing about two shots: you miss one and you still get another,' he said.

Evan Payne, who scored 32 points in his last outing against Northern Arizona, was limited to 14 points for the Lions (3-6), who lost their fourth straight.

Stanford and LMU were playing for the first time in 30 years and the sixth time overall. The Cardinal have won all six.

Simon Krajcovic converted a conventional three-point play to give Loyola Marymount a 48-47 advantage with 7:51 left, the ninth lead change of the game.

'We had some untimely turnovers,' LMU coach Mike Dunlap said. 'You also have to give No. 5 (Randle) full credit for doing some things that we didn't do. He just played a great game.'

Stanford took the lead for good with an 11-2 run over the next three minutes, highlighted by 3-pointers from Randle and freshman Dorian Pickens.

Payne's dunk at 17:50 of the second half put the Lions ahead 39-32 but the Cardinal proceeded to score seven in a row, including a 3-pointer from Pickens, to take their first lead since early in the game.

The Lions held a 31-19 lead after Ayodeji Egbeyemi hit a free throw with 3:41 remaining in the first half.

'Where they might have stole the momentum back was inside of 3 minutes left in the first half, because we had four turnovers inside of that time frame that gave them some life,' Dunlap said. 'The tempo of the game was one we like, but turnovers kill you.'

Stanford scored the final eight points of the half to draw within 31-27 heading into the intermission.

TIP INS

Loyola Marymount: Payne entered the game ranked seventh nationally in scoring (22.6). He became the first LMU player to score at least 22 points in the first two games of the season in 25 years.

Stanford: Center Grant Verhoeven returned following his recovery from a hip injury and finished with four points and two rebounds. Schuyler Rimmer appeared in two games but is no longer with the team. Malcolm Allen, the twin brother of sophomore guard Marcus Allen, will redshirt the season.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

'We certainly haven't avoided any difficulty of schedule. We play tough people, and we're going on the road. So for a young team — we often play four freshmen and a sophomore on the floor — it can't do anything but help us, as long as our morale stays high. Our job as a coaching staff is to teach, be assertive, and not get down in the mouth.' — LMU coach Mike Dunlap.

UP NEXT

Loyola Marymount opens the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic against Wichita State on Monday.

Stanford plays at BYU Saturday, its second consecutive West Coast Conference opponent.