Angel helps Stanford beat Utah in first round of Pac-12 Tournament

LAS VEGAS — Brandon Angel’s double-double, 16 points and 12 rebounds, led a balanced attack that lifted 10th-seeded Stanford to a 73-62 win over seventh-seeded Utah in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday night.

Angel followed up two free throws with a jumper that gave the Cardinal a 53-40 lead and they stayed ahead by double figures the rest of the way.

Harrison Ingram added 15 points for Stanford (14-18), which advances to face second-seeded and eighth-ranked Arizona on Thursday at 6 p.m. Maxime Raynaud and Spencer Jones both scored 12.

Branden Carlson scored 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead Utah (17-15), which has lost six straight. Gabe Madsen scored 13 and Lazar Stefanovic 10.

Utah made three-straight shots, pulling within 58-48 on a Stefanovic 3-pointer with six minutes left That was the first time in the second half the Utes made consecutive shots, but Jones quickly responded with a 3-pointer.

The next time Utah made consecutive shots, Carlson made it 70-60 at the 1:20 mark, but Angel made two foul shots and Ingram one.

Stanford had an 11-point lead on two possessions in the middle of the first half but the Utes answered with an 11-2 run, starting and ending with a Madsen 3-pointer, to cut it to 22-20. Jones then had a three-point play and 3-pointer in scoring seven-straight points and the Cardinal got it back to 10 until Carlson hit a 3-pointer to in the close seconds to pull Utah within 34-27.

The teams split close games during the regular season with the road team winning.