Nowell, No. 25 Washington hold off Stanford 62-61

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Jaylen Nowell scored 13 points but missed the front end of a 1-and-1 during a nervous finish for No. 25 Washington, which still held off Stanford 62-61 on Sunday for a weekend split in the Bay Area.

Stanford star KZ Okpala missed an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer and the Huskies secured the loose ball.

Noah Dickerson added 12 points for the Huskies (23-6, 14-2 Pac-12), who lost 76-73 at California on Thursday night as the Golden Bears earned their first conference win.

Josh Sharma scored 16 for Stanford on a day when leading scorer Okpala was limited to six points with more than two dozen scouts in attendance. The Cardinal committed a pair of turnovers in the final 2:37 after the teams had traded baskets down the stretch.

Oscar da Silva added 15 for the Cardinal (15-14, 8-9), who had won the last four meetings at home in the series and three of four overall.

Marcus Sheffield hit a tying 3 with 5:09 to play to make it 54-all, and then Matisse Thybulle answered for Washington moments later before Sheffield made another jumper at 3:27.

Cormac Ryan hit a go-ahead 3 with 12:14 left to put Stanford ahead 41-40 and finished with 13 points. He made three 3s, but the Cardinal shot 6 of 17 from deep.

Washington had won 15 of 16 games before the loss in Berkeley but still wound up the outright Pac-12 regular-season champion when both Oregon State and Arizona State lost.

Washington’s David Crisp scored seven points on 2-of-8 shooting after a career-high 32 points at Cal, his second career 30-point performance, in which he matched his career best with five 3s.

Okpala picked up two quick fouls in the opening 10 minutes with a charge.

The Cardinal missed their first eight 3-point attempts before Sheffield connected with 16:20 left in the game.

Both teams went cold late in the first half — each team going 1 for 10 during a spurt — and the Cardinal didn’t score over the final 5:15 of the first half in a game that attracted some 30 NBA scouts to see the 6-foot-9 sophomore Okpala and Washington’s Thybulle and Nowell.

Washington, which missed its initial five field-goal tries, led 29-23 at the break.

Sharma received a flagrant foul with 6:27 left in the first half. Dickerson made a pair of free throws and then was hit with a technical at 6:21.

DAVIS OUT

Stanford starter Daejon Davis, the Cardinal’s second-leading scorer at 11.8 points per game, sat out with a right foot injury sustained during Thursday’s 98-50 win over Washington State.

BIG PICTURE

Washington: Washington also struggled from beyond the arc, going 6 of 17. … The Huskies had allowed 100 total points the previous two games combined before giving up 76 to Cal but got defensive late against Stanford. … Washington had been forcing 16.1 turnovers per game and pushed Stanford into 18.

Stanford: Okpala missed two early free throws and wound up just 2 of 8 from the line. … Stanford is 1-17 vs. AP ranked opponents under third-year coach Jerod Haase — beating No. 16 Arizona State on Jan. 17 last year — and Haase is 3-25 all-time against ranked teams in seven seasons as a head coach overall. … The Cardinal dropped to 10-3 at home. … Stanford’s new “Tree” mascot shook her branches after being crowned following the final buzzer after a rigorous two-week tryout.

UP NEXT

Washington: Hosts Oregon State on Wednesday before wrapping up Pac-12 play at home against Oregon on Saturday.

Stanford: Hosts Cal on Thursday night as the Cardinal conclude the regular season at home for the first time in five years.