Oleka and ASU's other four starters – Tra Holder (21 points), Torian Graham (17 points), Shannon Evans II (16 points), Kodi Justice (15 points) – all scored in double figures as they combined for 96 points for the Sun Devils (15-17), who will face fifth-ranked and top seed Oregon (27-4) at noon PT/1 p.m. MT on Thursday in the first of four quarterfinal games.
Wednesday's win was the first Pac-12 Tournament triumph for second-year ASU head coach Bobby Hurley, who saw his team fight back from the disappointment of losing a double-digit lead in the final eight minutes of regulation to dominate the Cardinal in overtime. ASU made all five its shots in overtime, including three three-pointers, to outscore the Cardinal 17-7.
"It was a gut-check game again," Hurley said. "The last three minutes we were stuck on 81. We didn't play as well as we had played through most of the game on offense. And (Stanford) made some big plays to get it to overtime. But that's -- you know, it shows the character and the determination of my team and the heart of my team to rebound from being tied at the end… It was a tribute to how they've been competing and battling this whole Pac-12 season."
The Sun Devils came through with one of their best offensive performances of the season as they shot a season-high 56 percent for the game, including 46 percent (10-22) from long range, and knocked down 88 percent of their free throws (22-25).
Oleka (8-13), Holder (8-12), Graham (7-12) and Justice (4-6) Oleka combined to shoot 63 percent (27-43) for the Sun Devils, who outrebounded Stanford 35-30. Oleka added a team-high 13 rebounds for his 16th career double-double, the most of any Sun Devil in the Pac-12/Pac-12 era.
ASU led by as many as 14 in the first half, 12 in the second half and went up 76-66 after a dunk by Oleka with 8:16 remaining.
Stanford would not go away, however, as the Cardinal (14-17) scored nine straight points in a span of just under three minutes to cut ASU's lead to one, 76-75, after Marcus Sheffield's triple with five minutes remaining.Well done Sun Devils. @Pac12Network @TheSunDevils @942Crew @K_Dodd3 @sundevilclub @SunDevilSource @DevilsDigest pic.twitter.com/4zUB7nDb9x
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) March 9, 2017
Holder would personally account for the next five points to put ASU back up by six, 81-75. As it would turn out, Holder's free throw to cap a three-point play with 3:47 remaining would be the last points ASU would score until the eventual overtime period.
Stanford would take advantage of ASU's offensive dry spell as it accounted for the final three baskets of regulation – the last of which by Michael Humphrey as the shot clock buzzer went off with four seconds remaining – to tie the game at 81-81 and force overtime.
What they were not able to do offensively in the final minutes of regulation the Sun Devils more than made up for in overtime as they connected on all five of their field goal attempts and were nearly perfect at the line (4-5). The decisive sequence of overtime came over a 72-second stretch as Justice, Evans II and Graham buried triples on successive possessions to put the Sun Devils up 92-84 at the midpoint of the extra session. The second of those 3-pointers started a 10-0 ASU run as the Sun Devils led by as many as 12 after Evans II hit two free throws with 58 seconds remaining.
"To recover (from losing the lead), and to, again, step up the way the guys did in overtime was great," Hurley said. "Obi got us going right away with a basket in overtime, and Tra was getting to the rim with regularity and making plays all night. Shannon hit a big three, I believe, after they hit a three, which is always an important thing. I think he pushed the lead back to five. So, like, everyone was making plays.
"I just trust my team. I believe in them. They've given me every reason to believe in them just the way we've won some dramatic games down the stretch… So even though it was overtime I trusted that we were going to get it done, and I know that they would find another gear."
ASU started the game on fire offensively as it hit 60 percent of its shots in the first 20 minutes. A 3-pointer by Evans II gave ASU its largest lead of the game, 36-22, with 6:23 remaining in the first half. The Sun Devils would eventually take a 50-42 lead into the locker room. Oleka (13 points) and Justice (10 points) both reached double figures in scoring by the half with Holder and Evans II nearly duplicating the feat with nine points each.
Thursday's game vs. Oregon will be a rematch of a 71-70 contest won by the Ducks on Feb. 2 in Eugene in the only meeting of the season between the two teams. Evans II scored a game-high 28 points in a contest that featured nine ties and 15 lead changes.
Holder added 17 and Graham had 13 for the Sun Devils, who led for more than 41 minutes of the game and were up 60-59 with 3:37 left and were tied at 66-66 with 1:45 left.
TOP CAREER SCORING GAMES FOR OBINNA OLEKA
27 vs. Stanford @Pac-12 Tournament (3/8/17)
22 at #16 Arizona (1/12/17)
20 vs. Citadel (11/23/16)
19 vs. #9 Creighton (12/20/16)
19 vs. Kennesaw State (11/18/15)
OBI OLEKA'S 16 DOUBLE-DOUBLES THIS SEASON
27/13 vs. Stanford (3/8/17)
18/10 vs. USC (2/26/17)
12/11 vs. #5 UCLA (2/23/17)
12/14 vs. California (2/8/17)
15/11 vs. Washington State (1/29/17)
17/14 at USC (1/22/17)
10/12 at #3 UCLA (1/19/17)
15/10 vs. Colorado (1/5/17)
18/17 vs. Central Arkansas (12/22/16)
19/16 vs. #9 Creighton (12/20/16)
15/11 vs. New Mexico State (12/17/16)
15/12 at San Diego State (12/10/16)
14/11 vs. #1 Kentucky (11/28/16)
20/15 vs. Citadel (11/23/16)
11/10 vs. Nothern Iowa (11/17/16)
17/13 vs. Cal Poly (11/13/16)
MOST REBOUNDS IN TWO-YEAR SUN DEVIL CAREER
1. Paul Stovall, 1970-72/647
2. Jerry Hahn, 1960-62/553
3. Bobby Lazor, 1997-99/512
4. Obi Oleka, 2015-17/511
TRA HOLDER 20+ GAMES (20 TOTAL/13 THIS YEAR)
27 vs. Washington State (1/29/17)
26 at UCLA (1/9/16)
25 at Stanford (12/30/16)
24 vs. #9 Creighton (12/20/16)
24 vs. Cal Poly (11/13/16)
24 vs. #8 Arizona (1/3/16)
23 vs. Washintgton (1/25/17)
23 vs. Portland State (11/11/16)
22 at #3 UCLA (1/19/17)
22 vs. Central Arkansas (12/22/16)
22 vs. Citadel (11/23/16)
23 vs. CSU-Bakersfield (12/28/15)
22 vs. North Carolina State (11/23/15)
21 vs. Stanford/Pac-12 (3/8/17)
21 at Washington (2/16/17)
21 at USC (1/7/16)
20 at #16 Arizona (1/12/17)
20 vs. UNLV (12/31/16)
20 vs. #23 USC (2/12/16)
20 vs. Washington State (1/16/16)
72, second half vs. Citadel (Nov. 23, 2016)
57, second half vs. Cal Poly (Nov. 13, 2016)
55, first half vs. Citadel (Nov. 23, 2016)
52, second half vs. Washington (Jan. 25, 2017)
52, first half at Stanford (Dec. 31, 2016)
51, first half vs. Central Arkansas (Dec. 22, 2016)
51, first half vs. UNLV (Dec. 3, 2016)
50, first half vs. Stanford (Mar. 8, 2017)
50, second half at #16 Arizona (Jan. 12, 2017)
PAC-12 MOST 3-POINT FIELD GOALS IN A SEASON
120, Salim Stoudamire, ARIZ, 2005
114, Steve Kerr, ARIZ, 1988
113, Stevin Smith, ASU, 1993
112, Damon Stoudamire, ARIZ, 1995
110, Tajuan Porter, ORE, 2007
106, Jason Gardner, ARIZ, 2002
104, Bryce Alford, UCLA, 2017
101, Torian Graham, ASU, 2017