STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — By the time Arizona State registered its first assist Thursday night, the game was well into the second half and Stanford held a 21-point lead.

The Cardinal overcame its own offensive shortcomings in the first half and took advantage of the depleted Sun Devils for a 68-44 victory.

Stanford held Arizona State to 34 percent shooting and just four assists, matching the Sun Devils' lowest total in Herb Sendek's six years as coach.

From the 9:52 mark of the first half to the 12:51 mark of the second half, Arizona State went 1-for-17 with 10 turnovers. The Cardinal (16-6, 6-4 Pac-12) outscored the Sun Devils 30-14 during that stretch to take a 44-23 lead.

"We really did a great job of moving very well on defense," Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. "Everything we were doing, we were very active. We were forcing them to make more plays with the bounce than by passing the basketball."

Arizona State (7-15, 3-7) continues to suffer from the loss of leading scorer and rebounder Trent Lockett, who missed his fifth straight game with an ankle injury. The Sun Devils have failed to reach the 50-point barrier twice during his absence and have scored more than 70 points just once.

"It's hard to get assists unless you make the shot," Sendek said. "Our ball movement wasn't nearly as good tonight as it has been. We're not a team of guys who can break off and create their own shots. We're not built that way. If we don't stay with what we do, with great discipline, it makes it very difficult."

Aaron Bright had 16 points and Chasson Randle added 14 for the Cardinal, which improved to 12-1 at home this season and snapped a three-game losing streak.

Center Jordan Bachynski led the Sun Devils with a career-high 20 points.

The Cardinal had its own offensive deficiencies at the outset, missing 10 straight shots during a 6-minute stretch of the first half. Anthony Brown nailed two 3-pointers, including one as the shot clock expired with 6.5 seconds left in the first half, to help Stanford take a 28-20 halftime lead.

Bright drained three 3-pointers during the first four minutes of the second half, and when Josh Owens came up with a steal and dunk, the Cardinal led 41-22 with 15:09 remaining.

"It's always very important to get off to a good start in the second half," Dawkins said. "Aaron did give us a spark there and Anthony did in the first half. We need players doing that. We were fortunate those kids stepped up and made plays."

Brown finished with 11 points for Stanford, which shot 62 percent from the field in the second half.

The win allowed the Cardinal to keep pace among the crowd packed into the upper half of the Pac-12. Stanford plays four of its next six at home.

"We know we have to make a run at this thing starting now if we want any bid into the (NCAA) tournament," Bright said. "If we keep playing like we did tonight, that goal is attainable. We just have to make a run starting now."

The Sun Devils, who have lost four of five since Lockett's injury, committed 14 turnovers and allowed the Cardinal to haul in 16 offensive rebounds.

''Defense, turnovers, lack of any constitution to stay with our offense cost us," Sendek said. "In general, after about the first seven or eight minutes of the game, we played very poorly."