Daniel E. Lupin – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Sat, 28 Jun 2014 06:44:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://stanforddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-DailyIcon-CardinalRed.png?w=32 Daniel E. Lupin – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Lupin: Sweet Sixteen run shouldn’t leave Card satisfied https://stanforddaily.com/2014/04/17/lupin-sweet-sixteen-run-shouldnt-leave-card-satisfied/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/04/17/lupin-sweet-sixteen-run-shouldnt-leave-card-satisfied/#comments Thu, 17 Apr 2014 08:54:22 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1084543 For the Stanford men’s basketball team, the 2013-14 season was supposed to mark a definitive moment in the direction of the program. Athletic director Bernard Muir placed the onus on head coach Johnny Dawkins and his staff at the end of last season, making it publicly known that the Cardinal want to be “playing for a conference championship” and should “play well into March on the grand stage of March Madness.” Or else.

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For the Stanford men’s basketball team, the 2013-14 season was supposed to mark a definitive moment in the direction of the program. Athletic director Bernard Muir placed the onus on head coach Johnny Dawkins and his staff at the end of last season, making it publicly known that the Cardinal want to be “playing for a conference championship” and should “play well into March on the grand stage of March Madness.” Or else.

Head coach Johnny Dawkins (above) may have saved his job in 2013-14, but should Stanford fans be satisfied just yet? (Stanford Daily File Photo)
Head coach Johnny Dawkins (above) may have saved his job in 2013-14, but should Stanford fans be satisfied just yet? (Stanford Daily File Photo)

At the end of this season, we were supposed to know exactly what the state of the program was; we would know whether or not Dawkins was the man for the future, whether this senior class would finally live up to the potential it had flashed at times in the past or whether the program would finally head in a different direction after six seasons under Dawkins.

But perhaps we were fools to expect such clarity given the circumstances, because the 2013-14 Stanford men’s basketball season was decidedly a mixed bag, although the run to the final sixteen certainly was sweet.

If nothing else, the Men of Maples always kept us on our toes; just when we thought we had them figured out, they came back and surprised us in one way or another. While the maddening inconsistency that had permeated the team’s results under Dawkins’ guidance in previous seasons persisted once more throughout the 2013-14 campaign, it could also be argued that for the first time, the end result finished closer to “meeting expectations” than “disappointment” on the scale of possible outcomes.

The problem with the assessment that this team met expectations is that it relies on an exceedingly small sample size. While it’s not fair to entirely discount the team’s regular-season successes, without which there would have been no postseason magic, it’s also fair to say that this season was deemed a “success” only because the Cardinal won two consecutive games in the tournament.

Without that, Stanford failed to reach any of the goals the team had set for itself before the beginning of the season — prime among them, contention in the conference championship race. The Cardinal may have finished tied for third, but that standing was shared with four other teams. Stanford also never came close to challenging Arizona for the conference crown, and it ended with the same Pac-12 record, 10-8, that it finished with two seasons ago, when it was seventh in the league.

Thus, we are faced with the age-old conundrum in college basketball. When you can’t have both, what’s more important: sustained regular season results, or a deep run into March?

Undeniably, the thrill of playing into the second weekend of this year’s NCAA Tournament erased a lot of the heartburn the team caused during the regular season, perhaps enough to mitigate some of the more forgivable defeats the team endured this season. I, for one, had certainly forgotten to some extent the undeniable thrill of having a proverbial horse in the race that late into the Madness, and spent much of my senior spring break in a tizzy of unexpected excitement.

The thrill of March and its undeniable importance in measuring a season aside, the 2013-14 Stanford men’s basketball season was, in sum, a wholly uneven experience. Two things of particular note, then, are important in evaluating how we should view this season as a fan base, and more specifically, the way in which we should evaluate Dawkins moving forward.

The most recent edition of Stanford basketball unquestionably reached greater heights than it ever had during Dawkins’ tenure, but the problem remains that these highs were once again mitigated in part by inexplicable lows.

To further illustrate my observations, let me provide some examples. Stanford won two NCAA Tournament games for the first time since 2008, and for just the sixth time in program history. Given that 76 NCAA Tournaments have been played, that is no insignificant accomplishment.

The Cardinal also defeated a top-10 team — on the road, no less — for the first time since 2008, in national-champions-to-be Connecticut. Counting their two tournament wins, Stanford defeated four other ranked teams during the course of the season, and finished with nine wins over NCAA Tournament squads. They pushed top-ranked Arizona to the brink, beat UCLA for just the third time since 2008 and dismantled Arizona State in a game that was crucial to the team’s tournament hopes.

Stanford placed two players on the Pac-12 First Team, one on the All-Defensive Team, had the conference’s Most Improved Player of the Year and the Scholar-Athlete of the Year and dominated the league’s All-Academic team. In other words, there is a lot this team can be proud of when it looks back on the season that was.

But once again, the results on the court were uneven.

Stanford did not register a winning streak longer than four games, and still has not won four consecutive conference games with Dawkins as head coach. The team surrendered 112 points to BYU at home, was thumped by Pittsburgh on national television, lost at Maples to a Cal team that missed the tournament and suffered poor road losses to mediocre conference foes Oregon State and Washington.

The Cardinal were embarrassed by UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals, failed to come away with a win at home against Colorado in a crucial game down the stretch and failed to capitalize on the opportunity of playing No. 11-seed Dayton in the Sweet Sixteen. While Dayton unquestionably played well, the Cardinal certainly did not bring their A-game for the most important contest of the season.

With what then, are we left, given the overall outcome of the season?

It depends on where your expectations for Stanford basketball lie. If you evaluate a season based solely on the team’s success in March, then undoubtedly you are satisfied with the way the season ended. If, like Muir and others, you expect the team to be able to compete for conference championships on a regular basis, and that runs in March are to be expected and not marveled at, you are probably left wanting more.

I, for one, find myself in the latter camp of Stanford basketball observers, if only because of the sustained successes of virtually every other athletic program on campus. Given the resources that Stanford has and its tradition of excellence, expecting anything but the highest level of play is extremely un-Stanford-like at its very core. So while the 2013-14 Stanford men’s basketball season was certainly a compelling one, I was left wanting more. Until Maples is sold out on a nightly basis, and until the Cardinal is battling for the Pac-12 crown, we as fans of the team have a responsibility to accept nothing less.

I think Dawkins, his staff and his players would be the first ones to agree with that assessment. Stay tuned.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford basketball’s magic run ends in Sweet 16 https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/28/stanford-basketballs-magic-run-ends-in-sweet-16/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/28/stanford-basketballs-magic-run-ends-in-sweet-16/#comments Fri, 28 Mar 2014 08:17:07 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1083792 No. 10 seed Stanford was overcome by No. 11 seed Dayton’s superior depth and quickness, falling 82-72 in a game in which the Cardinal just could never put it all together.

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As is often the case in March, Cinderella’s slipper fits. Unfortunately for the upstart Stanford men’s basketball team, it just fits the Dayton Flyers a little bit better.

After surprising everyone by making the Sweet 16, the Stanford men's basketball team fell to Dayton 82-72 on Thursday night. It now loses six seniors, including Dwight Powell and Josh Huestis, who are first and second respectively in the Stanford record books for games played. (Courtesy of Stanford Athletics)
After surprising everyone by making the Sweet 16, the Stanford men’s basketball team fell to Dayton 82-72 on Thursday night. It now loses six seniors, including Dwight Powell and Josh Huestis, who are first and second respectively in the Stanford record books for games played. (Courtesy of Stanford Athletics)

A case of the Delta blues caught up to Stanford in Memphis, Tenn., on Thursday night, as the Cardinal’s dream run through the field of 68 finally came to an end in the Sweet 16. No. 10 seed Stanford (23-13, 10-8 Pac-12) was overcome by No. 11 seed Dayton’s (26-10, 10-6 Atlantic 10) superior depth and quickness, falling 82-72 in a game in which the Cardinal just could never put it all together.

Though Stanford kept the game within a few points for the first 11 minutes of the first half, cold shooting and an inability to contain the plethora of Dayton’s offensive weapons turned a close battle into a 10-point advantage for the Flyers at halftime. Despite some terrific first-half play from senior Josh Huestis and redshirt junior Stefan Nastic in the post, Stanford struggled to contain Dayton’s perimeter shooting, surrendering six first-half 3-pointers at a 46.2 percent clip.

“I thought Dayton did a really good job of executing their offense, especially in the first half,” said Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins. “Those kids also did a very good job of being very — they were relentless, is the best way I could put it.”

Freshman Kendall Pollard and Ohio State transfer Jordan Sibert led the charge for head coach Archie Miller’s Dayton team, which reached its first Elite Eight since 1984. Pollard finished with 12 points, the first double-digit scoring performance of his collegiate career, while Sibert tallied 18 points and a team-high four 3-pointers.

Despite the halftime deficit, the Cardinal came out strong in the second half behind the terrific play of interior duo Nastic and Dwight Powell. Powell’s spinning layup cut the Flyers’ lead to four with 15:53 left to play, and Nastic’s two free throws a minute later, already his sixth and seventh points of the half, once again trimmed Dayton’s lead back to four. The Cardinal faithful was primed for the comeback.

Yet it was not to be for Stanford on that night, as Pollard and Sibert quickly responded with a layup and a 3-pointer to push the lead back to nine.

Powell’s 3-point play with 8:10 remaining closed the gap to six, but as was seemingly the case every time on Thursday night, Dayton had answers for everything Stanford threw at it. The Flyers responded with a 3-point play of their own on the ensuing possession, and any momentum the Cardinal might have had after a Huestis 3-pointer with 6:03 to play was effectively sucked out of FedEx Forum when Nastic was charged with his fifth foul. Stanford would never again trail by single digits.

Dayton’s 34-2 advantage in bench scoring was too much to overcome, as it seemed as though some members of Stanford’s heavily relied-upon starting lineup, particularly the backcourt, finally ran out of gas. And even though the Cardinal was finally able to establish their dominance down low late in the game on the offensive end of the court, the smaller Flyers came away with 10 offensive rebounds and, with them, far too many second chances for the Cardinal to overcome.

“We thought our advantage was our inside play,” Dawkins said. “No matter what defense we played, we wanted to make sure the emphasis was to keep them out front and out of our paint. And that’s where we fell short.”

Junior Chasson Randle tallied 21 points for Stanford to cap the fourth-best scoring season (675 points) in Stanford history, but he wasn’t pleased with his overall performance after shooting just 5-of-21 from the floor and committing 5 turnovers. His backcourt mate Anthony Brown was unusually quiet, scoring just 4 points on 1-of-5 shooting.

The defeat ended Stanford’s deepest run in the tournament since 2008, when the Cardinal also bowed out in the Sweet 16.

Valiant efforts by senior co-captains Dwight Powell and Josh Huestis were not enough to prevent the loss and, accordingly, the ends of two brilliant careers. The duo will finish 1-2 as the all-time leaders in games played in a Stanford uniform.

Powell had 17 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in his final outing as a member of the Cardinal, while Huestis added 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals as the anchor of the defense.

“First and foremost, this is very tough for us,” Powell said. “We fell short of all of our goals, and that’s always disappointing, especially when we’re done, seniors are done. We don’t have any more games.”

While all that may be true, Powell and company will have nothing to hang their heads about going into this offseason. A few years from now, it is easily conceivable that this group of players will be remembered as the ones who brought Stanford basketball back to relevance.

Nerd Nation, riding the emotion of a pair of defensive-minded upsets and the cowbell-toting magic of a senior band member, hasn’t been this strong in a while. It has one of the best starting lineups in school history — one that started every game except one this year — to thank for that.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford opens NCAA Tournament against New Mexico https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/20/stanford-earns-no-10-seed-in-ncaa-tournament/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/20/stanford-earns-no-10-seed-in-ncaa-tournament/#comments Fri, 21 Mar 2014 06:30:29 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1083507 The Stanford men’s basketball team learned that it had earned its first NCAA Tournament bid since the 2007-08 season when the official 2014 bracket was released as part of Selection Sunday on CBS. The Cardinal (21-12, 10-8 Pac-12) received a No. 10 seed in the South Region and are slated to play the seventh-seeded New Mexico Lobos (27-6, 15-3 Mountain West) in St. Louis this Friday, March 21, in the teams’ tournament opener. The winner will advance to play on March 23 against the winner of the game between No. 2 seed Kansas and No. 15 seed Eastern Kentucky.

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The Stanford men’s basketball team learned that it had earned its first NCAA Tournament bid since the 2007-08 season when the official 2014 bracket was released as part of Selection Sunday on CBS. The Cardinal (21-12, 10-8 Pac-12) received a No. 10 seed in the South Region and are slated to play the seventh-seeded New Mexico Lobos (27-6, 15-3 Mountain West) in St. Louis this Friday, March 21, in the teams’ tournament opener. The winner will advance to play on March 23 against the winner of the game between No. 2 seed Kansas and No. 15 seed Eastern Kentucky.

(JIM SHORIN/stanfordphoto.com)
Head coach Johnny Dawkins (above) earned the first NCAA Tournament berth of his Stanford career after coaching the team to a 21-12 season and a share of third place in the Pac-12. (JIM SHORIN/stanfordphoto.com)

The bid will mark the Cardinal’s 17th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in school history. Stanford has a 21-15 all-time record in the tournament, which includes a national championship in 1942 and a Final Four appearance in 1998.

“Well I think for my staff, my team, we were all very excited, of course,” said head coach Johnny Dawkins. “It’s been a long time coming for us. I thought our kids really responded, especially our senior class. We talked about leaving our legacy and we wanted to be the team to get us back to the tournament. And they’ve done that, and that’s what it’s about. It’s about accomplishing, it’s about lasting memories, and they’ll have this for the rest of their lives.”

The Cardinal earned the bid by way of five victories against RPI top-50 opponents, a shared third-place finish in the Pac-12 standings and a semifinal appearance in the Pac-12 tournament. Stanford tallied a 6-9 record against teams in the NCAA Tournament field, including road wins over Connecticut and Oregon and home wins over UCLA and Arizona State. The Cardinal also pushed top-seeded Arizona and No. 2 seed Michigan to the brink in a pair of 3-point losses earlier this season.

The invitation to the tournament may have saved Dawkins’ job, given that this will be the team’s first tournament appearance during his six-year tenure as head coach. When asked about the talk that has surrounded him this season, Dawkins was flatly candid about his approach to his job security.

“You have to have your own expectations, your own beliefs, stay true to the course,” said Dawkins. “And so I’ve always done that. I always laugh when people say, ‘Did you hear that so-and-so said…’ I’m like, ‘No,’ because I really haven’t, because I don’t keep up with it at all.’ I’ve been very fortunate in that way, and I learned it a long time ago.”

Dawkins and his team will now turn their attention to New Mexico, against which Stanford maintains a 2-1 all-time record, with the Cardinal having won the most recent meeting between the two teams on Nov. 17, 2001 in Albuquerque, N.M. The two programs have never matched up in postseason play.

The Lobos, led by first-year head coach Craig Neal, earned an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the Mountain West Conference tournament. New Mexico entered the week ranked No. 20 in both the AP and Coaches’ Polls, and has a 4-4 record this season against teams in the tournament field. Those wins include two triumphs over Mountain West Conference regular season champion San Diego State and a home victory over Cincinnati.

Stanford returns to the state of Missouri for the fourth time in the program’s tournament history, a good omen for Cardinal fans everywhere. Stanford is 6-1 in seven NCAA Tournament games in the Show Me State, including all three of its victories to capture the national championship in Kansas City in 1942, and regional semifinal and final victories in St. Louis en route to the Final Four in 1998. The Cardinal’s lone loss postseason loss in Missouri was a second-round defeat to top seed Kansas in 2002.

Stanford and New Mexico will tip off at 10:40 a.m. on Friday in St. Louis.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford upended by UCLA to end Pac-12 Tournament run https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/15/stanford-upended-by-ucla-to-end-pac-12-tournament-run/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/15/stanford-upended-by-ucla-to-end-pac-12-tournament-run/#respond Sat, 15 Mar 2014 23:04:40 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1083505 For as well as the Stanford men’s basketball team played on Thursday night in dominating Arizona State in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals, the Cardinal failed to remotely resemble that same squad on Friday. The second-seeded UCLA Bruins (26-8, 12-6 Pac-12) outplayed Stanford (21-12, 10-8) from the outset in Friday night’s Pac-12 semifinal, defeating the Cardinal 84-59 in a one-sided rout.

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For as well as the Stanford men’s basketball team played on Thursday night in dominating Arizona State in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals, the Cardinal failed to remotely resemble that same squad on Friday. The second-seeded UCLA Bruins (26-8, 12-6 Pac-12) outplayed Stanford (21-12, 10-8) from the outset in Friday night’s Pac-12 semifinal, defeating the Cardinal 84-59 in a one-sided rout.

(BOB DREBIN/stanfordphoto.com)
Junior guard Chasson Randle (center) was held to his lowest scoring output since a Jan. 15 contest against Washington State with his 11 points against UCLA in the Cardinal’s lopsided loss to end their Pac-12 Tournament run. (BOB DREBIN/stanfordphoto.com)

Sophomore guard Kyle Anderson led the charge for the Bruins, scoring 13 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out seven assists, while his backcourt mate Norman Powell was a night-long terror to Stanford in the open court. Powell finished with 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor and was 8-of-9 from the free-throw line.

Using the formula that has been successful for them throughout the season, the Bruins used a stifling, aggressive defense that forced Stanford turnovers and allowed one of the nation’s best offenses to get out into transition early and often. UCLA forced four Stanford turnovers during the first 3:35 of the game to jump out to a 14-2 lead and never looked back, pushing the lead all the way to 24-5 before the Cardinal finally began to push back.

Stanford whittled the lead to 15 by halftime and scored the first points of the second half on a driving runner by Chasson Randle to trim the margin to 44-31, but the Cardinal would get no closer. Turnovers on the team’s next three possessions doomed any thoughts of a possible Stanford comeback, and before Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins had a chance to call a timeout, UCLA’s lead stood at 20. The Bruins were able to coast to the finish line from there, stopping short the Card’s deepest conference tournament run since 2010.

Stanford did little to slow down UCLA’s top-ten ranked offense, allowing the Bruins to shoot an astonishing 65.2 percent from the field. The Cardinal were handily outrebounded 35-22, and for the sixth time in seven games, Stanford had more turnovers than assists.

Senior forward Dwight Powell finished with 16 points in the final conference action of his collegiate career. Randle was the only other Stanford player in double figures with 11 points, but it was his lowest scoring output since a 6-point effort against Washington State on Jan. 15. It was also the first time in five games that the junior guard had failed to score at least 21 points.

It was a disappointing end to a promising start to the tournament for the Cardinal, which saw witness to Stanford’s most lopsided win over a projected NCAA Tournament team this season in its victory against Arizona State. Unfortunately, it also was the scene of Stanford’s worst defeat of the season. UCLA has now handed Stanford two of its three worst losses by margin of defeat this season.

The end of Stanford’s three-game winning streak cements the fact that for the sixth consecutive season, the Cardinal failed to register to a four-game winning streak against Pac-12 opponents. The loss also means that Stanford still hasn’t beaten UCLA in consecutive games since the 2003-04 season, the last time the Cardinal won the conference championship.

Despite the poor performance against the Bruins, it seems that unlike in each of the previous five seasons, Stanford will have an opportunity to redeem itself in the NCAA Tournament. With five wins against RPI top-50 opponents, the Cardinal seem likely to receive an at-large bid to the Big Dance for the first time since 2008. ESPN “Bracketologist” Joe Lunardi currently projects Stanford as a ninth-seed, meaning that any first-round victory would mean a date with a number-one seed in the round of 32.

If Stanford wants to be able to hang with the Floridas and the Wichita States of the world next weekend, it simply cannot afford to start slowly like it has in its most recent poor performances. In three of Stanford’s last four defeats, the Cardinal have fallen behind by double digits early in the first half and have never been able to recover. Taking care of the ball early against the tough defenses of March will be a key point of emphasis for the Cardinal moving forward.

Stanford will discover its seeding fate on Sunday at 3:30 p.m., when the brackets are released by CBS as part of Selection Sunday.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Powell’s second half surges Cardinal past ASU https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/14/powells-second-half-surges-cardinal-past-asu/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/14/powells-second-half-surges-cardinal-past-asu/#comments Fri, 14 Mar 2014 08:44:17 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1083437 The Stanford men’s basketball team, in all likelihood, can finally punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament. With an emphatic 79-58 blowout victory over Arizona State (21-11, 10-8 Pac-12) in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night, the Cardinal (21-11, 10-8) appear to be secure in their bid for their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008. It was the Cardinal’s second victory over the Sun Devils in three tries this season, and the victory now sets up a showdown with UCLA in the semifinals of the conference tournament on Friday.

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The Stanford men’s basketball team, in all likelihood, can finally punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament. With an emphatic 79-58 blowout victory over Arizona State (21-11, 10-8 Pac-12) in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night, the Cardinal (21-11, 10-8) appear to be secure in their bid for their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008. It was the Cardinal’s second victory over the Sun Devils in three tries this season, and the victory now sets up a showdown with UCLA in the semifinals of the conference tournament on Friday.

Junior guard Chasson Randle was again stellar for Stanford, tallying 21 points and four assists, while senior forward Dwight Powell scored all 15 of his points in the second half to help the Cardinal pull away from ASU.

Stanford’s effort was markedly improved from that in Wednesday night’s opening-round win over Washington State, when the Cardinal struggled to pull away from the 11th-seeded Cougars until the final five minutes of the game.

The Daily outlined three keys to the game against ASU — turnovers, rebounding and perimeter defense — in its preview of the Pac-12 Tournament on Tuesday, and head coach Johnny Dawkins’ crew successfully hit on all three criteria in the blowout win on Thursday.

The victory over Arizona State marked the first time in six games that the Cardinal registered more assists than turnovers, a statistic that will undoubtedly make Dawkins, a former point guard, quite happy. Stanford finished with 13 assists against 10 turnovers. All five starters registered at least one assist for the Cardinal, and no player turned it over more than twice.

The Cardinal also did well to dominate ASU on the glass, as the Sun Devils entered the game with the worst rebounding margin in the conference. Stanford outrebounded Arizona State 34-23 and held ASU to just two offensive rebounds for the entire game, a dramatic turnaround from the last matchup between these two teams. During ASU’s 76-64 victory in Tempe on Feb. 26, the Cardinal were outrebounded by 3 and allowed ASU 14 offensive rebounds.

(JIM SHORIN/stanfordphoto.com)
Senior forward Dwight Powell (right) scored all 15 of his points against the Sun Devils in the second half to propel the Card’s post-halftime run to a date with UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals. The Cardinal and Bruins have split their two regular-season meetings. (JIM SHORIN/stanfordphoto.com)

To the casual observer, the most notable takeaway from this game would be the job Stanford did defensively on Arizona State’s star guard tandem of Jahii Carson and Jermaine Marshall. The Cardinal held the highest-scoring duo in the Pac-12 to just 14 points on a combined 6-of-21 shooting effort, another extreme contrast from the most recent matchup between these two teams, when ASU’s backcourt exploded for 42 points on 61 percent shooting.

“Well, I tell our guys this all the time,” said Dawkins. “It’s hard to stop a great player. You want to contain them. I thought our guys did a great job focusing on what we needed to do to slow them down.”

Concerted defensive efforts like this one will be crucial for the Cardinal moving forward, as it will continue to play teams with comparable or even better offensive talent than ASU as they move deeper into March.

While the Cardinal seemed to be in control from the opening tip, the game was not in hand until late in the second half. Stanford started the game on a 9-0 run, but allowed ASU to claw its way back into the game thanks to a series of fruitless offensive possessions midway through the first half. A 3-pointer by the Sun Devils’ Bo Barnes evened the score at 27 with 58 seconds remaining in the first half, and it was only senior John Gage’s 3-pointer on Stanford’s next possession that allowed the Cardinal to enter halftime with a lead.

Stanford was able to open up more of a lead during the first ten minutes of the second half, pushing the lead to 13 at one point after an Anthony Brown steal and layup on the other end. The Sun Devils did not quit, however, drawing back within six at the 8:55 mark after a pair of free throws by Shaquielle McKissic.

From there on out, it was all Dwight Powell and the Cardinal, as Stanford ended the game on a 28-13 run to put away any doubt. The win marked the first time since 2008 that the Cardinal have won consecutive Pac-12 tournament games, and it is also just the fifth time in Dawkins’ six seasons at the helm that Stanford has won three straight against Pac-12 competition.

To make it four straight, something Dawkins and company have never accomplished, the Cardinal will have to take out the UCLA Bruins on Friday night. It appeared on Thursday that UCLA was able to solve whatever was ailing it when the Bruins were so resoundingly defeated by Washington State last Saturday, as Steve Alford’s squad blew out the upstart Oregon Ducks, 82-63.

For Stanford to have success against the Bruins, the Cardinal must again do a good job of taking care of the ball and playing solid perimeter defense. The difference in the two games between the teams this season is striking — in UCLA’s blowout victory in Westwood, Calif. on Jan. 23, the Bruins forced 19 Cardinal turnovers in a 91-74 rout. When the Cardinal got revenge at Maples Pavilion on Feb. 22, Stanford still turned it over 15 times, but was able to overcome the turnovers by dishing out 17 assists and holding UCLA to 44.8 percent shooting.

If the Cardinal want to beat UCLA in consecutive games for the first time since the 2003-04 season, they cannot afford to allow the Bruins the points off of turnovers that UCLA is accustomed to. UCLA ranks third in the country with 307 steals this season, and if the Cardinal let the Bruins approach anything close to their 9.6 steals per game average, it could be a long Friday night for the Cardinal. A consistent effort and a victory, however, could mean a bump up in seeding for Stanford heading into the Big Dance.

Tipoff is set once more for 8:30 p.m. on Friday, and the game will be televised on Fox Sports 1.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Randle leads Card to first-round Pac-12 triumph https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/13/randle-leads-card-to-first-round-pac-12-triumph/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/13/randle-leads-card-to-first-round-pac-12-triumph/#respond Thu, 13 Mar 2014 07:24:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1083373 Head coach Johnny Dawkins and the Stanford men’s basketball team lived to see another day on Wednesday night, as the Card defeated the Washington State Cougars 74-63 in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. With the win, the Cardinal (20-11, 10-8 Pac-12) advanced to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament, where they will face the Arizona State Sun Devils on Thursday night. The win not only moved Stanford closer to a Pac-12 tournament title, but also was crucial in ensuring that the Cardinal avoided the type of disastrous loss that would swing the NCAA Tournament committee in favor of keeping Stanford out of the Big Dance.

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Head coach Johnny Dawkins and the Stanford men’s basketball team lived to see another day on Wednesday night, as the Card defeated the Washington State Cougars 74-63 in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. With the win, the Cardinal (20-11, 10-8 Pac-12) advanced to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament, where they will face the Arizona State Sun Devils on Thursday night. The win not only moved Stanford closer to a Pac-12 tournament title, but also was crucial in ensuring that the Cardinal avoided the type of disastrous loss that would swing the NCAA Tournament committee in favor of keeping Stanford out of the Big Dance.

(BOB DREBIN/stanfordphoto.com)
Junior guard Chasson Randle (center) scored 22 points to lead the Cardinal in a first-round victory over a Washington State team coming off of a big upset of UCLA. The Cardinal will face Arizona State in the second round tonight. (BOB DREBIN/stanfordphoto.com)

Junior guard Chasson Randle had yet another solid outing in leading the Cardinal to victory, posting 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting. He scored 14 of those points in the first half, including a 3-pointer before the halftime buzzer that pushed the Stanford lead to seven, 35-28, entering intermission.

Senior forward Dwight Powell had his best game in weeks for Stanford after having been bitten by the turnover bug as of late. Powell finished with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including going 2-of-2 from 3-point range, while committing just one turnover.

In the losing effort for the Cougars (10-21, 3-15), junior guard DaVonte Lacy was again terrific in his team’s final game of the season. Lacy tallied 25 points on 8-of-18 shooting, proving once more that he is one of the Pac-12’s premier scoring threats. His eight-point burst during the first 4:28 of the second half helped draw the Cougars within one, and the 15 total points he scored in the final frame kept the game in doubt until the closing minutes of the contest.

Senior forward D.J. Shelton added 15 points, 11 rebounds and two rim-rattling putback dunks that helped energize the Cougars just when it seemed as if the Cardinal were on the verge of pulling away.

Despite a first half that saw Stanford register seven turnovers versus just two assists, the Cardinal were able to enter halftime with a comfortable lead thanks to the aforementioned strong individual offensive performance by Randle and a 2-for-9 cold stretch by the Cougars over the final 6:32 of the period, which saw Stanford’s lead increase from one to seven.

Yet the troubling trend of slow second-half starts that plagued the Cardinal against Colorado and Utah last week was again an issue on Wednesday night, as the Lacy-led Cougars were able to draw within one by the 15:32 mark. WSU even took the lead on a driving and-one by Royce Woolridge with 9:25 remaining, and for a moment, it seemed as though the fate of the Cardinal’s season was hanging in the balance.

Being on the wrong side of the scoreboard seemed to resurrect the Cardinal almost immediately, and Powell quickly retaliated with a rare 3-pointer to even the score at 50 just nine seconds later. Led by Powell, Anthony Brown and Stefan Nastic, the senior-laden Cardinal squad responded to the Cougars’ run with one of their own, outscoring WSU 20-7 over the next 7:13 of the game to put the game out of reach.

Looking ahead, the Cardinal must play better in all facets of the game if it hopes to contend with the third-seeded Sun Devils on Thursday. Stanford’s defense was at best inconsistent against the Cougars on Wednesday, as evidenced by WSU’s second-half surge, and the Cardinal’s offense was more of a stop-and-start outfit than a well-oiled machine.

Dawkins’ squad once again struggled to generate consistent ball movement, and the team only managed six assists in comparison to its 11 turnovers. The performance marked the fifth straight game in which the Cardinal had failed to register more assists than turnovers, and the team’s offense has unsurprisingly struggled during that stretch. Wednesday night’s victory marked the first time during that streak that the Cardinal had managed more than 70 points.

Tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 8:30 p.m. tonight to see if Stanford can continue to improve its tournament case or if Dawkins and company will be sweating it out come Selection Sunday.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Sixth-seeded Cardinal embark on quest for tourney crown https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/12/sixth-seeded-cardinal-embark-on-quest-for-tourney-crown/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/12/sixth-seeded-cardinal-embark-on-quest-for-tourney-crown/#respond Wed, 12 Mar 2014 13:47:42 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1083298 With the win on Saturday against Utah, the Stanford men’s basketball team avoided ending the regular season on a sour note and, in the process, prevented further doubt from creeping into its NCAA tournament profile. The Cardinal (19-11, 10-8 Pac-12) escaped the Utes (20-10, 9-9) with a 61-60 victory on a late free throw by senior Dwight Powell, thus ensuring that the Cardinal would register their second winning conference season of the Johnny Dawkins era, and as a result, finish in a five-way tie for third place in the Pac-12.

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With the win on Saturday against Utah, the Stanford men’s basketball team avoided ending the regular season on a sour note and, in the process, prevented further doubt from creeping into its NCAA tournament profile. The Cardinal (19-11, 10-8 Pac-12) escaped the Utes (20-10, 9-9) with a 61-60 victory on a late free throw by senior Dwight Powell, thus ensuring that the Cardinal would register their second winning conference season of the Johnny Dawkins era, and as a result, finish in a five-way tie for third place in the Pac-12.

(MIKE KHEIR/The Stanford Daily)
Senior center Stefan Nastic (above) finished a perfect 6-of-6 from the field against Utah and will look to make his presence in the paint felt throughout the Pac-12 Tournament. (MIKE KHEIR/The Stanford Daily)

The Cardinal enter the Pac-12 tournament this week in Las Vegas as the sixth seed due to the Pac-12’s multi-team tiebreak rules. Tied with Arizona State, Cal, Colorado and Oregon at 10-8, the Cardinal were placed sixth thanks to their performances against the other four teams.

ASU’s 5-3 record against the cluster of 10-8 schools meant that it would grab the third seed in the conference behind first-place Arizona and second-place UCLA. Cal was next, sporting a 3-1 record against the likes of Colorado, Oregon and Stanford. Colorado was seeded fifth due to its season sweep of the Ducks and the Cardinal, while Stanford was placed sixth and Oregon seventh because of Stanford’s 82-80 win over the Ducks on Jan. 12.

The rest of the seeds for the conference tournament include Utah being seeded eighth, Washington ninth, Oregon State 10th, Washington State 11th and USC 12th.

The tournament will commence on Wednesday, when the bottom eight teams open tournament play. As the top four seeds, Arizona, UCLA, ASU and Cal were given byes into the quarterfinals of the tournament.

As the sixth seed, Stanford will begin its quest for the Pac-12 tournament title during the final game scheduled on Wednesday, an 8:30 p.m. tipoff against 11th seed Washington State (10-20, 3-15).

Given that it received the sixth seed in the tournament, Coach Dawkins’ team probably could not have been more pleased with the draw.

The Cardinal will open up play against a WSU team that they have already defeated twice this season by an average of 22.5 points per game. Although the Cougars proved they are not to be taken lightly with an emphatic 73-55 rout of UCLA on Saturday, they have struggled for the majority of the conference season, and do not seem to match up well with Stanford. The Cardinal defeated WSU 80-48 at Maples Pavilion on Jan. 15 before taking care of business once more a month later during a 69-56 triumph in Pullman, Wash.

The Cougars failed to score consistently in both games against Stanford this season, a strong reflection of the struggling offense the team has put on the floor all season long. WSU averages just 62.4 points per game, a number that has dropped to 56.8 points per game during its conference slate. Even if the Cardinal fail to defend particularly well against Washington State, it seems unlikely that the Cougars have the offensive weapons to compete with Stanford’s potent starting lineup.

That’s not to say that WSU is devoid of any scoring threats on its roster. To the contrary, head coach Ken Bone and company are led by one of the best in the conference in junior guard DaVonte Lacy. Lacy’s 19.1 points-per-game scoring average is the second-best in the conference, and he has a propensity for scoring outbursts that have at times given superior teams plenty to be nervous about. His 39-point effort against Cal on Feb. 12 helped the Cougars push the Bears to overtime, while a 34-point performance against Colorado on Feb. 5 had the Cougars within three points of the Buffaloes with fewer than 10 seconds to play.

Washington State’s problem is that none of its next five leading scorers average double figures or shoot greater than 40 percent from the field. The Cougars have been simply unable to find secondary scorers during the course of the season. Expect that trend to continue on Wednesday, when the Cougars are confronted by a pair of the best individual defenders in the conference in Stanford’s Josh Huestis and Anthony Brown.

Assuming the Cardinal can get past the Cougars, they would match up with Arizona State in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament during the 8:30 p.m. time slot on Thursday. Stanford prevailed against ASU 76-70 at Maples on Feb. 1 before dooming itself with a poor start in a 76-64 defeat in Tempe, Ariz., on Feb. 26.

The single largest difference between Stanford’s performances against Arizona State on Feb. 1 and Feb. 26 was Stanford’s offensive execution, particularly in the turnover department. The Cardinal turned the ball over six more times in the loss to ASU than they did in the win, and the difference of effectiveness between the two games can easily be seen in the varied success of Powell, a player who relies on others to get him the ball during the flow of the offense.

In Stanford’s win, Powell was the most dominant player on the court, scoring 28 points and handing out five assists while leading a second-half charge that extended the Cardinal’s lead far enough to help stave off the Sun Devils in the end. In the loss, Powell looked out of sorts, scoring just 11 points on 2-of-9 shooting. If Stanford is going to make a run during the postseason, it is imperative that it gets its primary low post scoring threat involved, and that it does not waste possessions like it did during a 10-turnover performance during the first half at Arizona State.

Aside from taking care of the ball, Stanford can make its life easier by crashing the boards. Arizona State is the worst rebounding team in the conference, yet it handily outrebounded the Cardinal in Tempe. Dawkins’ crew would be wise not only to prevent that from happening again, but to take advantage of the Sun Devils’ greatest weakness.

Lastly, if the Cardinal didn’t know it by now, they should keep in mind that Tree-killing lumberjack Jahii Carson must be stopped. ASU’s sophomore guard is averaging 24.8 points per game in four career contests against the Cardinal, and was personally responsible for ousting Stanford from last year’s Pac-12 tournament. Just slowing him down might be enough to help Stanford reach the semifinals.

Should Stanford get that far, a relatively favorable matchup would probably await in the form of second-seed UCLA or seventh-seeded Oregon. The Cardinal has a combined 2-1 record against those two schools this season.

Pac-12 Tournament play for the Cardinal begins Wednesday in Las Vegas at noon.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin@stanford.edu.

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Men’s basketball sinks Utah, looks ahead to Pac-12 Tournament https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/11/mens-basketball-sinks-utah-looks-ahead-to-pac-12-tournament/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/11/mens-basketball-sinks-utah-looks-ahead-to-pac-12-tournament/#comments Tue, 11 Mar 2014 13:46:19 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1083288 It didn’t play its best game, but the Stanford men’s basketball team did just enough on Senior Day to escape the Utah Utes on Saturday, and in the process, put its quest to the NCAA Tournament back on track. A Dwight Powell free throw with 36 seconds left gave Stanford (19-11, 10-8 Pac-12) a 61-60 lead, and a strong defensive possession that saw Chasson Randle force a turnover with less than two seconds remaining sealed the Cardinal victory. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak and clinched Stanford’s second winning conference season in the last three years.

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It didn’t play its best game, but the Stanford men’s basketball team did just enough on Senior Day to escape the Utah Utes on Saturday, and in the process, put its quest to the NCAA Tournament back on track. A Dwight Powell free throw with 36 seconds left gave Stanford (19-11, 10-8 Pac-12) a 61-60 lead, and a strong defensive possession that saw Chasson Randle force a turnover with less than two seconds remaining sealed the Cardinal victory. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak and clinched Stanford’s second winning conference season in the last three years.

(BOB DREBIN/stanfordphoto.com)
Junior guard Chasson Randle (right) was again the focal point of Stanford’s offense, scoring 22 points while leading the team with three assists and three steals as the Cardinal squeaked out a 61-60 win over Utah at home in the regular-season finale. (BOB DREBIN/stanfordphoto.com)

“I knew that [Utah guard Brandon] Taylor wanted the ball back, so I just wanted to deny him the ball, and then they brought a little cluster over there into the corner,” Randle said. “I just tried to get a hand on the ball and got lucky on D.”

The Men of Maples certainly did not make it easy on themselves. Despite holding an 11-point lead with 7:51 remaining in the game, Stanford allowed the Utes (20-10, 9-9) right back into the game, making things far more difficult than they could have been. A Powell turnover sandwiched by two Utah 3-pointers saw the lead cut to five within the span of 1:04, and a parade of missed free throws by the Cardinal invited the road team back into the game. Powell’s make snapped a streak of seven consecutive misses from the charity stripe by Stanford, a three-and-a-half minute stretch during the closing minutes of the game.

“We knew that it was going to come down to the wire, and I thought what prevailed for us, I thought defensively, we got the stops that we needed, and I think it offset some of the free throws we missed,” said head coach Johnny Dawkins. “Our guys didn’t hang their heads, they hung their hats on guarding, and I think we got the win because of that.”

Despite the mostly strong defensive performance, the Cardinal’s recent offensive struggles continued. It marked the fourth consecutive game in which Stanford failed to score at least 70 points and finished with more turnovers (15) than assists (10).

Yet seemingly as always, Randle was there to bail the Cardinal out. The junior finished with 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, and finished with team highs of three assists and three steals.

Playing in his final home game with the class he entered Stanford with, redshirt junior Stefan Nastic contributed one of his best offensive performances of the season, scoring 14 points on a perfect 6-of-6 afternoon from the floor.

Stanford controlled play from the opening tip, racing out to a 16-4 lead behind the strong play by Randle, Powell and Nastic. Utah slowly chipped away, cutting the lead to eight by halftime and to five with 12:22 left to play. Stanford responded with an 8-2 run of its own to extend the lead back out to 11, before the string of missed free throws slowly allowed the Utes back into the game.

After disappointing results down the stretch in the game against Colorado on Wednesday, Dawkins was pleased that his players were able to pull this game out.

“I told our guys yesterday, we stood at center court with the seniors, I said, ‘You know what, the game’s about finding a way,’” said Dawkins. “It’s about finding a way just to win. So whatever that takes.”

“The things I’ve always appreciated the most as a player, as a coach, as a human being, I had to fight and struggle to make something work and make something happen,” he added. “I appreciate that more. And so we had that talk about that, and so it’s only fitting.”

The win meant that Stanford’s senior class of Powell, Josh Huestis, Aaron Bright, John Gage and Robbie Lemons finished its career at Maples Pavilion with a 52-17 record, including a 22-14 mark in conference play. Fifth-year senior Andy Brown’s totals will stand at 62-23 and 27-18, respectively, though the oft-injured forward was only able to suit up for parts of two seasons.

After finishing its career at home, the senior class hopes that its last go-around will bear the fruit of an NCAA Tournament appearance. The Cardinal has more work to do as the team heads to Las Vegas for the conference tournament this week.

Stanford should enter the tournament with wind in its sails, as four players were honored by the conference on Monday due to their outstanding play this season. Randle and Powell were each named to the All-Pac-12 first team, making Stanford just one of three schools in the conference to place two players on the list. Junior guard Anthony Brown was named the conference’s Most Improved Player, marking the second season in a row that a Stanford player was given the award, following Powell’s honor last season. Additionally, Huestis, the school’s all-time blocks leader, was named to the All-Defense team for the second season in a row.

The Cardinal will open play as the sixth seed and face Washington State in the first round. Tipoff is at 8:30 on Wednesday.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford looks to end skid against Utah, reaffirm spot in Big Dance https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/07/stanford-looks-to-end-skid-against-utah-reclaim-spot-in-big-dance/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/07/stanford-looks-to-end-skid-against-utah-reclaim-spot-in-big-dance/#respond Fri, 07 Mar 2014 08:02:42 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1083060 With one regular season game left to play, the 2013-14 rendition of the Stanford men’s basketball team finds itself in an unfamiliar position, as it tries to secure the program’s first NCAA tournament bid since 2008.

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With one regular season game left to play, the 2013-14 rendition of the Stanford men’s basketball team finds itself in an unfamiliar position, as it tries to secure the program’s first NCAA tournament bid since 2008.

The Cardinal (18-11, 9-8 Pac-12) have lost three straight contests for the first time this season, and those defeats could not have come at a worse time. The losses have dropped Stanford from third place in the conference to a four-way tie for fifth, and more importantly, severely jeopardized the team’s NCAA tournament chances. Luckily for the Cardinal, they still have time to make amends for their recent struggles, and that must begin tomorrow when the Utah Utes visit Maples Pavilion for Senior Day.

(JIM SHORIN/stanfordphoto.com)
Senior forward Dwight Powell (right) and the Cardinal have slid into a three-game losing streak at the wrong time. They will be looking to right the ship in their regular-season finale against Utah tomorrow morning. (JIM SHORIN/stanfordphoto.com)

One of the three teams tied with the Cardinal for fifth place in the conference, the Utes (20-9, 9-8) are trending in the opposite direction as Stanford. Utah has won three straight and six of its last eight, overcoming a slow 3-6 start during the first half of the conference season. It posted its best road victory of season on Wednesday night when it defeated Cal 63-59, suggesting that the Cardinal better come prepared if they hope to snap their current three-game losing streak.

With the Utes’ strong performance during the second half of the conference season, Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak has certainly entered into the conversation for Pac-12 Coach of the Year. Despite featuring just one senior on the roster — and no academic seniors amongst the team’s top six scorers — the Utes have surged back into the NCAA tournament conversation with their outstanding play down the stretch.

Since a Jan. 12 defeat to Washington State, Utah is 8-5 in conference play, and none of its losses have come to any team currently lower than third in the conference standings. The Utes have wins against the likes of UCLA, Arizona State, Colorado and Cal during that time period, and pushed Arizona to the brink in an overtime loss.

During its hot stretch, Utah has been powered by all-everything Delon Wright, the younger brother of current Portland Trail Blazer Dorrell Wright. The junior college transfer is one of the most well rounded players in the conference, as his averages of 16.2 points, 5.3 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.4 blocks lead the Utes, while his 59.3 percent shooting and 6.8 rebounds per game each rank second on the team.

Despite Wright’s excellent play thus far this season, the Utes are not a one-man show. Sophomore forward Jordan Loveridge figures to draw the attention of Stanford’s Josh Huestis when Utah is on offense. A Utah native, Loveridge ranks second on the team in scoring 15.4 points per game and is first in rebounding at 7.4 boards per game.

Sophomore guard Brandon Taylor is Utah’s third and final double-digit scorer at 10.8 points per game.

If the Cardinal are going to salvage their season, Stanford is going to have to do a better job of taking care of the basketball. After 37 turnovers in the team’s past three games, Johnny Dawkins’ crew will be searching for answers on the offensive end of the floor against a Utah squad that ranks second in the conference in scoring defense and third in the conference in steals.

The renewed focus must start with senior forward Dwight Powell, Stanford’s all-conference performer from a season ago. Powell’s struggles over the past three games have been most exemplary of the team’s problems, as he has accounted for 27 percent of Stanford’s turnovers during that stretch.

The second point of emphasis that should help the Cardinal get back on track will be on the interior. Despite having one of the largest front lines in the conference with Powell, Huestis and senior Stefan Nastic, the Cardinal have been outrebounded by 17 total rebounds over its past two games. That led to too many second-chance point opportunities for both Arizona and Colorado, points compounded with Stanford’s turnover problems that it simply could not afford.

Stanford must also produce an offensive threat besides junior guard Chasson Randle, who accounted for 43 percent of Stanford’s points on Wednesday. That extra scoring punch either needs to come from Powell, Nastic or a member of Stanford’s inconsistent bench. No time like the present for seniors Robbie Lemons and John Gage.

Tipoff at Maples is at 11:30 a.m., and the game will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Colorado downs Stanford at Maples, dents Card’s tourney hopes https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/06/colorado-downs-stanford-at-maples-dents-cards-tourney-hopes/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/06/colorado-downs-stanford-at-maples-dents-cards-tourney-hopes/#respond Thu, 06 Mar 2014 08:29:27 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1083006 Even with NFL luminaries Andrew Luck and Richard Sherman in attendance, a back-and-forth affair didn’t go Stanford’s way on Wednesday night, as the Cardinal men’s basketball team dropped a heartbreaker at home to the Colorado Buffaloes, 59-56. For the second time this season, a Chasson Randle 3-point attempt to tie the game bounced off the […]

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Even with NFL luminaries Andrew Luck and Richard Sherman in attendance, a back-and-forth affair didn’t go Stanford’s way on Wednesday night, as the Cardinal men’s basketball team dropped a heartbreaker at home to the Colorado Buffaloes, 59-56.

For the second time this season, a Chasson Randle 3-point attempt to tie the game bounced off the rim at the buzzer, preserving the win for Colorado (21-9, 10-7 Pac-12). The loss was the third in a row for the Cardinal (18-11, 9-8), a serious setback in the team’s quest to obtain an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament later this month. It is likely that the defeat also cost the Cardinal a first-round bye in next week’s Pac-12 tournament.

Junior guard Chasson Randle (right)
Junior guard Chasson Randle (right) scored a team high 24 points Wednesday night against Colorado, but also had more turnovers (4) than assists (0) in the loss. (MIKE KHEIR/The Stanford Daily)

Randle scored 24 points in the losing effort for the Cardinal, and was really the only member of the team who had an offensive impact in the second half. The junior finished 9-of-18 from the field and was 4-of-7 from three. He was the lone Stanford player to reach double figures in the game.

“We need more guys, it can’t just be one guy playing offensively,” said head coach Johnny Dawkins. “Our offense is built around a balanced attack, and we need guys stepping up and making plays there.”

Senior Josh Huestis added 9 points and 13 rebounds for Stanford, but it wasn’t enough, as the Cardinal were repeatedly manhandled on the low block by Colorado sophomore Josh Scott.

Scott finished the night with 17 points and 11 rebounds in leading the charge for the Buffaloes, which outrebounded Stanford 39-31 and grabbed 13 offensive boards. Xavier Johnson added 14 points and 5 rebounds for Colorado, while Xavier Talton provided the clutch shooting. His 3-pointer with 2:10 remaining in the second half gave Colorado a four-point lead, one the Cardinal would not be able to overcome.

Stanford was plagued by poor offensive play throughout, as ice-cold shooting in the first half resulted in a five-point halftime deficit. The Cardinal shot just 10-of-32 from the field in the first half (31.3 percent) and a paltry 1-of-9 from 3-point range. Stanford finished the game having made just 36.8 percent of its field goal attempts and 23.5 percent of its 3-point attempts. The Cardinal were also a disappointing 10-of-17 from the free throw line.

The bad statistics piled up for Stanford in this one, as it marked the third consecutive outing that the Cardinal finished with more turnovers than assists. Stanford now has just 20 assists compared to 37 turnovers in its last three games.

“I think our guys are playing a little too fast,” Dawkins said. “I think we need to slow down and have some poise, some composure. We’re not being pressured. Our turnovers a lot of times have been unforced, and those are the ones that are disappointing to you.”

Senior forward Dwight Powell’s recent struggles continued on Wednesday night, as the Cardinal’s all-conference performer from a season ago fouled out in 28 minutes. Powell finished with just 8 points and 2 rebounds, shooting 3-of-8 from the floor and committing 4 turnovers to just 1 assist. His struggles over the past three games parallel the team’s play during the time period. The Toronto native made just 8 of his 30 shots against ASU, Arizona and Colorado, and he had 10 turnovers to just 3 assists during that span.

John Arrillaga
From left, John Arrillaga ’60, Andrew Luck ’12 and Richard Sherman ’11 take in the Stanford men’s basketball game against Colorado Wednesday evening at Maples Pavilion. (MIKE KHEIR/The Stanford Daily)

Despite all the negatives, Stanford battled back from an eight-point deficit early in the second half behind some strong defensive play. The Cardinal, trailing 46-38 with 14:13 left in the game, held Colorado scoreless over the next eight minutes and 11 seconds of play. Randle scored 10 of Stanford’s 11 points over that stretch, and his 3-pointer with 4:53 left to play gave the Cardinal a one-point lead.

After an Anthony Brown layup gave Stanford a three-point margin, a frenetic sequence of three defensive and two offensive possessions turned the Cardinal lead into a four-point deficit, capped by Talton’s 3-pointer with 2:10 left to play. It was the type of stretch that has haunted Stanford during Coach Dawkins’ tenure, and it reared its ugly head once more on Wednesday.

The Buffaloes gave Stanford some opportunities in the final two minutes by turning it over once and missing a free throw to keep the game a one-possession affair, but the Cardinal were never able to capitalize.

With the final game of the regular season coming up on Saturday against Utah, Stanford hopes it can send off its six seniors — four active, two injured — with a win on Senior Day. Tipoff is scheduled at 11:30 a.m., with the game to be televised on Pac-12 Networks.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford hosts Colorado in penultimate regular-season duel https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/05/stanford-hosts-colorado-in-penultimate-regular-season-duel/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/05/stanford-hosts-colorado-in-penultimate-regular-season-duel/#respond Wed, 05 Mar 2014 10:51:51 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1082965 With the Cardinal currently projected to be somewhere between an 8 seed and a 10 seed in the NCAA tournament, it is crucial that Stanford does not give the tournament committee a reason to bump it out of the field of 68. Holding serve this week at home in the final games of the regular season against Colorado (20-9, 9-7) and Utah (19-9, 8-8) would pretty much guarantee the Cardinal a spot in the Big Dance.

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Despite a sweep at the hands of the Arizona schools last week, the Stanford men’s basketball team still is within reach of its ultimate goal for the season: making the NCAA tournament. With the Cardinal (18-10, 9-7 Pac-12) currently projected to be somewhere between an 8 seed and a 10 seed by the likes of ESPN, CBS, teamrankings.com and USA Today, it is crucial that Stanford does not give the tournament committee a reason to bump it out of the field of 68. Holding serve this week at home in the final games of the regular season against Colorado (20-9, 9-7) and Utah (19-9, 8-8) would pretty much guarantee the Cardinal a spot in the Big Dance.

Josh Huestis (MIKE KHEIR/The Stanford Daily)
Senior Josh Huestis is averaging 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game over his last four games. He’ll look to continue his hot streak tonight against Colorado. (MIKE KHEIR/The Stanford Daily)

If the Cardinal is going to have success tonight against the Buffaloes, it needs to turn itself around quickly. Stanford dropped consecutive games last week for the first time since the first week of January, when the Cardinal reached its low point of the season following a home loss to Cal and a road loss to Oregon State. It was not just that Stanford lost its two games last week, but it was the way in which it lost them.

Stanford was hardly competitive against both Arizona and Arizona State, dooming itself with turnover-plagued starts in each game. As a result, the Cardinal fell behind early against two good teams and never found its way back into the games — a rarity for Stanford this season. The 12-point loss to ASU and the 13-point loss to Arizona were Stanford’s worst margins of defeat since a 17-point loss to UCLA back on Jan. 23. The Cardinal was a far cry from the competitive outlet that came within three points of sweeping the Arizona schools at Maples Pavilion a month ago.

Despite the poor team play, seniors Josh Huestis and Anthony Brown continued their recently strong form this past week with solid outings. Huestis averaged 16.5 points and 10.0 rebounds during the road swing, including a 22-point, 12-rebound outburst against the Wildcats. The Great Falls, Mont., native is averaging 16 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks per game over his last four games, and it is safe to say that he is playing the best basketball of his Stanford career at the right time.

Meanwhile, Brown continues to prove that he is one of the best shooters in the conference, if not the nation, with a road trip that saw him average 17.5 points on 68.8 percent shooting, including 55.6 percent from 3-point range. Brown is now shooting better than 50 percent for the season and ranks 15th in the country in 3-point field goal percentage at 48.5 percent.

A lack of good ball movement on offense was what held Stanford back last week, as the Cardinal managed just a combined 12 assists over the two games, in comparison to 25 turnovers.

If there’s good news for Stanford, it’s that the Cardinal has returned home, a place where the team has recorded an 11-3 record, as opposed to a 6-5 record on the road.

Against the Buffaloes, Stanford will have to do a good job on the glass if it wants to come away with the victory. Colorado ranks as the second-best rebounding team in the conference behind only Arizona, with a plus-6.4 per game margin.

First and foremost, that means boxing out sophomore forward Josh Scott, who has emerged as the team’s best player following the season-ending injury to junior guard and All-Pac-12 performer Spencer Dinwiddie. Scott is averaging 14.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game this season, which means that Stanford’s big-man trio of Huestis and fellow seniors Dwight Powell and Stefan Nastic should have their hands full all night long.

Colorado’s other standout to keep an eye on is junior guard Askia Booker, who is averaging 14 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game this season. As good as those numbers are, Booker has only gotten better in conference play — averaging 15.2 points, 4.8 assists and 1.7 steals during the Pac-12 season.

With players such as Scott and Booker, Colorado is certainly a dangerous team that also happens to be fighting for its postseason life. That said, the Buffaloes are just 6-7 in Dinwiddie’s absence, including a 1-4 mark on the road. Make no bones about it — this is a game that Stanford must have if it is to avoid an NIT fate for the third consecutive season.

Tipoff tonight is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s basketball romped by No. 3 Wildcats https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/02/mens-basketball-romped-by-no-3-wildcats/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/03/02/mens-basketball-romped-by-no-3-wildcats/#comments Mon, 03 Mar 2014 07:39:35 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1082886 The Stanford men’s basketball team (18-10, 9-7 Pac-12) knew that if it was going to come away with a victory on the road against No. 3 Arizona, it was going to have to play its best basketball of the season. Unfortunately, Stanford could not muster its best effort, particularly early on, resulting in a 79-66 loss to the Wildcats (27-2, 14-2) on Sunday night.

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The Stanford men’s basketball team (18-10, 9-7 Pac-12) knew that if it was going to come away with a victory on the road against No. 3 Arizona, it was going to have to play its best basketball of the season. Unfortunately for the Cardinal, Stanford could not muster its best effort, particularly early on, resulting in a 79-66 loss to the Wildcats (27-2, 14-2) on Sunday night.

(MIKE KHEIR/The Stanford Daily)
Senior Josh Huestis (left) had 22 points and 12 rebounds in the loss to follow up his Pac-12 Player of the Week recognition. (MIKE KHEIR/The Stanford Daily)

Arizona clinched a Pac-12 title outright with the victory, giving coach Sean Miller and the Wildcats their second conference crown in four seasons. It was Arizona’s ninth consecutive win against Stanford, a stretch dating back to Jan. 4, 2009, and barring a postseason meeting between these two teams, Arizona will remain the only conference opponent that Stanford’s departing senior class of Josh Huestis, Dwight Powell, John Gage, Aaron Bright, Andy Brown, Anthony Brown and Robbie Lemons has failed to defeat during its time on the Farm.

The same slow start that doomed the Cardinal against Arizona State on Wednesday was again the issue for Stanford on Sunday, as the underdogs fell behind early and never recovered. Arizona jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the first five minutes of the game, thanks in large part to Stanford’s sloppy offensive execution, and never looked back. The Wildcats extended the lead to as much as 18 in the first half before a five-point spurt by Anthony Brown cut the margin to 13 at halftime.

Stanford shot just 36 percent in the first half and turned the ball over eight times, including seven times in the first ten minutes of the game. Against a team, and a defense, of Arizona’s caliber, that simply wasn’t going to do it for the Cardinal.

The Cardinal wasted another terrific effort by Huestis, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week, who finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds in the loss, marking the second time in a week that Huestis has matched his career high in points. It was also the senior forward’s seventh double-double effort of the year, tying him with fellow senior Dwight Powell for most on the team this season.

Brown had yet another solid outing for Stanford, finishing with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting to go with six rebounds and four assists. The problem for Stanford was that outside of its starting wings, few others performed to the level necessary to compete with a top-three team in its home arena.

Outside of Huestis and Brown, the rest of the Cardinal shot just 27.3 percent. Stanford’s bench was once again invisible, as five reserves combined for just four points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block—plus two turnovers and five fouls—in 55 minutes of play. This lack of production continually places a heavy burden on Stanford’s starting five, and it was on full display on Sunday when three-fifths of Stanford’s first unit struggled.

Powell struggled mightily for most of the game, shooting just 3-of-13 from the floor on his way to 12 points and eight rebounds.

Junior Chasson Randle, the team’s leading scorer at 18.8 points per game, finished well shy of his season average by scoring just 12 points. He also added four turnovers to Stanford’s tally, all of them coming during the Cardinal’s disastrous first half.

Redshirt junior Stefan Nastic fouled out while only playing 13 minutes. He finished with just two points on 1-of-7 shooting.

Star freshman Aaron Gordon, who had 19 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, and junior T.J. McConnell, who added 14 points and four assists, led Arizona on Sunday night. The two anchored a swarming defensive unit that created all kinds of havoc for Stanford’s offense and continues to shut down opposing offenses.

The Cardinal will look to get back on the winning track in its quest for an NCAA tournament berth in its final two games of the regular season next week, when it hosts Colorado and Utah.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu. 

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Cardinal scorched by Sun Devils; No. 3 Arizona next up https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/27/cardinal-scorched-by-sun-devils-arizona-next-up/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/27/cardinal-scorched-by-sun-devils-arizona-next-up/#comments Thu, 27 Feb 2014 10:32:24 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1082773 After a strong stretch of performances that saw the Cardinal win five of its previous six games, including an upset victory over No. 23 UCLA on Saturday, the Stanford men’s basketball team (18-9, 9-6 Pac-12) put forth a forgettable performance in a dreadful road defeat to the Arizona State Sun Devils (20-8, 9-6) on Wednesday night, falling 76-64.

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After a strong stretch of performances that saw the Cardinal win five of its previous six games, including an upset victory over No. 23 UCLA on Saturday, the Stanford men’s basketball team (18-9, 9-6 Pac-12) put forth a forgettable performance in a dreadful road defeat to the Arizona State Sun Devils (20-8, 9-6) on Wednesday night, falling 76-64.

(MIKE KHEIR/The Stanford Daily)
Junior guard Chasson Randle (left) constituted most of the Stanford offense in the first half against ASU, scoring 15 of his 17 points before the break. He fouled out with 7:11 to go in the game, leaving the Cardinal short-handed and unable to pull off a comeback in Tempe. (MIKE KHEIR/The Stanford Daily)

It was trouble from the start for the Cardinal, which failed to remotely resemble the team that had taken care of UCLA from start to finish on Saturday. Stanford opened the game with three consecutive turnovers, a tasty treat for a Sun Devils team that was clearly hungry following a 33-point beatdown at the hands of the Utah Utes on Sunday.

If it weren’t for junior guard Chasson Randle, Stanford would have been run off the court early in the first half. Instead, the Illinois native scored 15 of Stanford’s 29 points in the opening frame to keep his team within contact of the Sun Devils, cutting the deficit to 10 by halftime by nailing a 3-pointer with four seconds left in the period.

The Cardinal got itself into a big hole early thanks to an abysmal offensive performance during the first half. Stanford committed 10 turnovers and totaled just one assist while shooting a pedestrian 41.7 percent from the field during the opening frame. The team looked out of sorts on both ends of the floor, leaving 3-point shooters open on late rotations and repeatedly throwing the ball away on offense.

Credit is due to the Sun Devils, who did a fantastic job of guarding passes to the post and taking away the inside-out formula that has worked so effectively for senior big men Stefan Nastic and Dwight Powell this season. Stanford was unable to make adjustments on the fly, and as a result, the Sun Devils were able to open up the large early lead.

For the first five minutes of the second half, it looked as though the Cardinal might be able to claw its way back into the game. Stanford cut the lead to single digits with 15:31 left to play after an Anthony Brown free throw.

Unfortunately for Stanford, Arizona State’s Jahii Carson took over shortly thereafter, and Stanford helped him plenty along the way to an easy ASU victory.

Carson nailed a jumper on the ensuing ASU possession, and after a bad shot by Powell ended a quick Stanford trip down the floor, Carson found Bo Barnes for a 3-pointer to extend the Sun Devil lead to 16. Stanford turned it over on its next two possessions, and another smooth jumper by Carson pushed the ASU lead even further out of reach. When Randle fouled out with 7:11 remaining and Stanford trailing by 16, it was clear there would be no Cardinal comeback on this night.

Randle finished with 17 points for Stanford on 7-of-14 shooting and was largely responsible for any offensive success the Cardinal managed while he was on the floor.

Brown tallied 21 points and seven rebounds during a too-little-too-late comeback attempt, and was the lone bright spot in the second half for Stanford that Randle was in the first.

Yet it was Carson that was clearly the man of the night, scoring 23 of his 26 points in the second half to guide the Sun Devils to victory, and in the process remind tortured Stanford basketball fans everywhere of his 34-point outburst against the Cardinal in last year’s Pac-12 tournament.

He was aided in victory by fellow backcourt mate Jermaine Marshall, who finished with 16 points after having dropped 22 on the Cardinal the last time out.

Stanford has little time or margin for error to turn things back around, as the Cardinal will head to Tucson on Sunday to take on the conference-leading Arizona Wildcats in a rematch of Stanford’s most heartbreaking defeat to date this season.   After struggling to find their identity for a time after the season-ending injury to starting forward Brandon Ashley, the Wildcats are now arguably playing their best basketball of the season. Arizona has put together consecutive routs of Colorado and Cal, both projected to be NCAA Tournament teams at the moment by all major media prognosticators.

If Stanford wants to have a chance of upsetting the Wildcats on their home floor, the team that showed up against UCLA, and not the one that played against ASU, will have to take the court for the Cardinal.

Tipoff is at 5 p.m. on Sunday and the game will be televised on ESPNU.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu. 

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Huestis leads Cardinal into Sun Devil showdown https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/26/huestis-leads-cardinal-into-sun-devil-showdown/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/26/huestis-leads-cardinal-into-sun-devil-showdown/#respond Thu, 27 Feb 2014 02:21:18 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1082736 Having won five of its last six games, the Stanford men’s basketball team heads to the desert this week with a lot of momentum and even bigger plans. The Cardinal (18-8, 9-5 Pac-12) hopes to become the first team this season to gain a sweep of the Arizona schools — home or away — during […]

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Having won five of its last six games, the Stanford men’s basketball team heads to the desert this week with a lot of momentum and even bigger plans. The Cardinal (18-8, 9-5 Pac-12) hopes to become the first team this season to gain a sweep of the Arizona schools — home or away — during the Pac-12 season. With just four games remaining on the conference schedule, a sweep would certainly cement Stanford’s place in the field of 68 come March. Even a split would go a long way towards locking up the Cardinal’s spot in the NCAA tournament.

(BOB DREBIN/stanfordphoto.com)
Senior forward Josh Huestis (above) was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week after he averaged a double-double against UCLA and USC while becoming Stanford’s all-time leading shot blocker. (BOB DREBIN/stanfordphoto.com)

Given Stanford’s recent play, Cardinal fans should be optimistic about the team’s chances to come away with at least one victory this week. The Men of Maples put together perhaps their most complete performance of the season Saturday, defeating the then-No. 23 UCLA 83-74 thanks to some lights-out shooting from the perimeter and the great all-around play of senior forward Josh Huestis.

It was the biggest week of Huestis’ career, as he was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for his efforts against UCLA and USC, in which he averaged 16.5 points, 12.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game on 50 percent shooting. In the process, he became Stanford’s all-time leading shot blocker against USC and then followed that up with a season-high five blocks against the Bruins.

“You see the best of him now because he’s scoring like he did the other night,” said head coach Johnny Dawkins of Huestis’ performance against UCLA. “He’s always been a presence for us defensively: shot blocking, rebounding. In the paint, he’s a force, and I’m fortunate to have had the opportunity to coach him.”

As dominant as Huestis was in leading his team last week, the co-captain certainly had a lot of help from his friends.

Junior guard Chasson Randle averaged 22 points per game in the wins, adding to his all-conference-caliber season. Highlights of his efforts included a 26-point outburst against the Bruins that featured a career-high seven 3-pointers and a 10-for-10 night from the free-throw line against USC.

Senior Anthony Brown followed up his 30-point explosion against Washington State by averaging 15.5 points per game against the Bruins and Trojans, while senior Dwight Powell provided the highlight material by completing the double alley-oop in the second half against UCLA. Even the bench, much maligned during the course of the season, provided a big moment on Saturday when senior Robbie Lemons, sophomore Grant Verhoeven and freshman Marcus Allen keyed a decisive 12-0 run.

In other words, everything is clicking for the Cardinal at the right time of the season.

“I think, when you look at our lineup, the guys that play the most minutes, they’ve played together a lot,” Dawkins said. “I think with that does come some chemistry and some continuity out there on the floor on both ends, and I think that’s helped us offensively and defensively.”

To maintain the recent success when facing the likes of Arizona and Arizona State, the high level of continuity displayed by the Cardinal must carry forward.

ASU (19-8, 8-6) returns home following a tough road trip last week, when the Sun Devils dropped both games to Colorado and Utah. The letdown was perhaps predictable, given that ASU entered the week coming off of an upset of archrival Arizona. Whether it was the letdown, the altitude in the Rockies or just terrific defense by the Buffs and the Utes, ASU’s offense forgot to travel with the team. The Sun Devils shot a horrific 37-for-119 during the week, or 31 percent, while turning the ball over 24 times.

However, Stanford would be foolish to assume that the Sun Devils will be the same abysmal offensive team within the friendly confines of Wells Fargo Arena. ASU is 6-1 at home during conference play, with wins over Arizona and Colorado, as opposed to just 3-5 on the road.

Instead, Stanford and its fans can expect a game much more similar to the grind-it-out battle that occurred at Maples on the first of this month, when the Cardinal came away with a hard-fought six-point victory.

Success against ASU generally comes when the opponent is able to contain the Sun Devils’ terrific backcourt of Jahii Carson and Jermaine Marshall. The duo ranks as the second-highest scoring tandem in the conference behind Oregon State’s Roberto Nelson and Devon Collier, just ahead of Stanford’s Randle and Powell. When the two get hot, as they did in the upset over Arizona, the Sun Devils are tough to contain.

Tipoff against Arizona State tonight will be at 8 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin@stanford.edu.

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Cardinal solidifies NCAA tourney hopes with home upset of UCLA https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/24/cardinal-solidifies-ncaa-tourney-hopes-with-home-upset-of-ucla/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/24/cardinal-solidifies-ncaa-tourney-hopes-with-home-upset-of-ucla/#comments Mon, 24 Feb 2014 08:42:13 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1082603 According to junior guard Chasson Randle, backcourt mate Anthony Brown has a motto: “It only takes one to get hot.” Randle took the slogan to heart and then some on Saturday afternoon, connecting on a career-high seven 3-pointers en route to scoring 26 points, leading the Stanford men’s basketball team to an 83-74 upset victory […]

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According to junior guard Chasson Randle, backcourt mate Anthony Brown has a motto: “It only takes one to get hot.”

Randle took the slogan to heart and then some on Saturday afternoon, connecting on a career-high seven 3-pointers en route to scoring 26 points, leading the Stanford men’s basketball team to an 83-74 upset victory over No. 23 UCLA (21-6, 10-4 Pac-12) at Maples Pavilion. The win snapped UCLA’s four-game winning streak and moved the Cardinal (18-8, 9-5) into third place in the Pac-12 with just four games left to play in the conference season.

Junior guard Chasson Randle (center)
Junior guard Chasson Randle (center) spurred Stanford’s upset victory over No. 23 UCLA on Saturday by sinking a career-best seven 3-pointers as he scored 26 points on the evening. (MIKE KHEIR/The Stanford Daily)

“I think it was just a very good win for our team, a very good win for our program,” said head coach Johnny Dawkins. “I thought UCLA came in as hot as any team in the country, and I thought our guys came prepared and won a real hard-fought game.”

Stanford followed Randle’s example on its way to its best shooting night of the season, connecting on 62.2 percent of its field goal attempts, including 55 percent (11-20) from beyond the 3-point line. The accurate touch from the field was enough to offset Stanford’s 15 turnovers, which led to 24 UCLA points.

Newly minted as Stanford’s all-time blocks leader, senior forward Josh Huestis turned in perhaps his best performance of the season in support of Randle. The Montana native tied a career high with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting and added six rebounds, five blocks and three assists, all the while spending a large portion of the afternoon shutting down Jordan Adams, UCLA’s leading scorer. Adams was held to just eight points on 2-of-7 shooting, nine points below his season average.

Brown was also superb for the Cardinal, scoring 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting to go with six rebounds and three assists, while also drawing perhaps the toughest defensive assignment of all in UCLA’s Kyle Anderson. Anderson — the team’s second-leading scorer, top rebounder and assists leader — struggled to find the basket. The sophomore finished with just six points on 3-of-8 shooting.

A competitive battle throughout, the game was knotted at 18 with 10:33 remaining in the first half when Stanford, spurred by its bench players, embarked on a 12-0 run to open up a 30-18 lead. After a nifty feed from senior Dwight Powell led to a Huestis dunk, UCLA’s Tony Parker missed a pair of free throws to give Stanford the ball back. Randle promptly nailed his fourth 3-pointer of the first half to push the Cardinal’s lead to five before the bench had its magic Maples moment.

Freshman guard Marcus Allen rebounded a missed jumper by Anderson, leading to a rare Randle miss on Stanford’s next possession. Sophomore Grant Verhoeven corralled the miss that failed to touch iron, and with the shot clock winding down, Allen nimbly maneuvered his way through three UCLA defenders for an acrobatic scoop shot off the glass, sending the home crowd into a tizzy. Stanford came up with another stop on UCLA’s ensuing possession, and 28 seconds later, senior Robbie Lemons connected on a 3 from the left corner that finally forced UCLA coach Steve Alford to call a timeout.

Stanford used the run to take a 38-30 lead into halftime despite a scoreless frame from Powell, the team’s second-leading scorer. Powell had been bloodied to the point of needing stitches during the Cardinal’s victory over USC on Thursday and was sporting a protective headband against the Bruins.

Despite the first-half struggles, Powell responded early and often in the second half, scoring nine of Stanford’s first 14 points in the period. The last of those nine points came on a spectacular double-alley-oop dunk via Randle and Brown that was featured as the No. 1 play on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays, and more importantly, gave Stanford a 52-39 lead with 16:09 left to play.

Coach Dawkins recognized at halftime that if the Cardinal was going to succeed, Powell would have to be more involved in the second half.

“We made an emphasis to try to get [Powell] the ball early to start the second half,” Dawkins said. “I think he had the first nine points or so. He didn’t get very many touches in the first half. We knew we were going to need him if we were going to have a chance to be successful.”

Although Powell’s outburst opened up a big lead for Stanford, the Bruins calmly collected themselves, and within a span of six minutes and 16 seconds, UCLA had closed the gap to three at 60-57.

The second-half struggles that had plagued the Cardinal on the offensive end in its losses to Arizona and Washington had reappeared, and Dawkins was forced to call a timeout.

However, this time around, Stanford had answers to its problems. Brown knocked down a deep 3-pointer on the Cardinal’s next possession with just two seconds remaining on the shot clock to push the lead back to six, and after a UCLA timeout and a stop on the defensive end, Randle knocked down his sixth triple of the afternoon. The lead was nine, and UCLA would never again get closer than four.

“Yeah, [the 3-pointer sequence] was huge,” Huestis said. “Basketball is a game of runs and UCLA went on theirs. And you know, there are games where if you don’t respond, that game could’ve easily changed — the outcome. But with Anthony and Chasson hitting those shots, it was a huge momentum-changer for us. It was a big swing and it got us back on track.”

Stanford has now won five of its last six as it heads down the final stretch. NCAA tournament hopes have never been higher for the Cardinal this season than they are now, and a split of the team’s final four games down the stretch should be enough to get Stanford back to the Big Dance for the first time since 2008.

Contact Daniel Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s hoops to start final NCAA tourney push during homestand https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/19/mens-hoops-to-start-final-ncaa-tourney-push-during-homestand/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/19/mens-hoops-to-start-final-ncaa-tourney-push-during-homestand/#respond Thu, 20 Feb 2014 07:42:52 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1082508 Six games. That’s all that’s left in the regular season for the Stanford men’s basketball team to make its case as a worthy NCAA tournament participant. At 16-8 overall and 7-5 in Pac-12 play, the Cardinal would probably sit on the right side of the bubble if the season ended today. ESPN and CBS currently […]

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Six games. That’s all that’s left in the regular season for the Stanford men’s basketball team to make its case as a worthy NCAA tournament participant. At 16-8 overall and 7-5 in Pac-12 play, the Cardinal would probably sit on the right side of the bubble if the season ended today. ESPN and CBS currently project Stanford as a No. 9 seed, while USA Today sees the Card as a No. 10 seed in March Madness.

Regardless, the Cardinal can hardly afford to rest on its laurels. Four of Stanford’s final six games are against teams currently ahead of it in the Pac-12 standings, a difficult stretch that simultaneously provides a lot of opportunity for the Cardinal. A concerted late-season push could mean the difference between a healthy seed and missing out on the tournament altogether for the sixth consecutive season.

Senior forward Dwight Powell (right)
Senior forward Dwight Powell (right) will look to replicate his performance against USC earlier this season, when the Canadian native filled the box score with 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. (MICHAEL KHEIR/The Stanford Daily)

The crucial stretch of games commences this weekend, as the Cardinal plays host to USC (10-15, 1-11 Pac-12) today before No. 23 UCLA (21-5, 10-3) comes for a visit on Saturday. Stanford split its earlier matchups with the Los Angeles schools this season, losing 91-74 at UCLA while escaping USC 79-71 in overtime back in late January. Although it certainly wasn’t one of the Cardinal’s better road trips of the season, the win over USC managed to give Stanford just its second win in its last 18 road tries against its southern California rivals in Los Angeles.

Simple focus and execution against USC should be enough for the Cardinal to get past the Trojans, who are losers of six straight, a streak that began against Stanford. Although USC has come up short recently, Stanford can ill afford to take them lightly. During the losing streak, the Trojans have certainly been competitive, never losing by more than 12 points. USC has also taken two games to overtime and lost two others by single digits.

A loss at home to the Trojans is the kind of loss that could bump Stanford out of the tournament field and set up a disastrous end to the season. As far as “gimme” games go in the Pac-12 this season, this would be it. Stanford’s final five opponents have a combined record of 101-30 and comprise five of the top seven teams in the Pac-12 standings, along with the Cardinal and Cal.

Assuming that the Cardinal can get past USC, a team it beat on the road despite shooting just 41 percent and turning the ball over 14 times, Stanford will face a much stiffer test on Saturday.

In the last meeting between the two teams, UCLA absolutely took it to Stanford, holding the Cardinal to 38.6 percent shooting while forcing 19 turnovers. Forward Tony Parker scored a career-high 22 points in the rout, and the Card was sent away from Pauley Pavilion with its fourth straight loss to the Bruins.

If Stanford is to make this next meeting between the two teams more competitive, the Cardinal will have to greatly improve its offensive execution. Although a lot of credit must be given to the Bruins’ defense, it is also difficult to envision the Cardinal executing its offense quite as poorly once again, particularly at home. Junior guard Chasson Randle suffered through his worst shooting night of the season in the two teams’ last meeting, and the 19 turnovers by the Cardinal are easily a season-high.

Obviously, Stanford’s objective is not just to keep the game close, but to win. To do that, the Cardinal will have to find a way to solve a terrific UCLA offense that averages 83 points per game and shoots better than 49 percent from the field, both good for second in the conference.

Keep an eye on Stanford senior front-court players Josh Huestis, Stefan Nastic and Dwight Powell, who will each have something to prove after having been bullied on the low block by Parker the last time around. Huestis should also have plenty of motivation to perform. Entering the USC game, the senior is just two blocks away from passing Tim Young ’98 as Stanford’s all-time leader in blocks.

Nastic and Powell also have their bones to pick. Nastic managed just four points and one rebound in 13 minutes in the previous meeting with UCLA, while Powell turned the ball over a season-high six times.

Tipoff against USC is at 8 p.m. on Thursday, which will be aired on Pac-12 Networks. The game against UCLA begins at 3 p.m. on Saturday, and will be nationally televised on ESPN2.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Brown paces Stanford to 69-56 victory against Cougars https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/17/brown-paces-stanford-to-69-56-victory-against-cougars/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/17/brown-paces-stanford-to-69-56-victory-against-cougars/#respond Tue, 18 Feb 2014 06:37:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1082433 Anthony Brown turned the ball over on Stanford’s first possession of the game. After that, the senior guard couldn’t do much wrong.

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Anthony Brown turned the ball over on Stanford’s first possession of the game. After that, the senior guard couldn’t do much wrong.

Senior forward Anthony Brown (above) had 30 points when not much else was going right, as Stanford got a much-needed road win at Washington State. (MIKE KHEIR/The Stanford Daily)
Senior forward Anthony Brown (above) had 30 points when not much else was going right, as Stanford got a much-needed road win at Washington State. (MIKE KHEIR/The Stanford Daily)

Brown torched the Washington State Cougars (9-16, 2-11 Pac-12) on Saturday afternoon en route to a career-high 30 points, leading the Stanford men’s basketball team to a 69-56 road victory. It was the Cardinal’s first win against the Cougars in Pullman since Feb. 10, 2011, and it also marked the first time Stanford swept the season series against WSU since the 2007-08 season. After the defeat to Washington earlier in the week, the Cardinal knew this was a game it had to have.

“We felt like this game meant more than us than it did to them,” Brown said. “We had a sense of urgency today and came away with the ‘W.’”

Deadly early and often for the Cardinal (16-8, 7-5), Brown scored 20 of his 30 points in the first half. He made all six of his field goal attempts during the opening frame, including all four of his 3-point attempts. Stanford opened the game on a 19-8 run, and it was Brown who was responsible for 14 of those points during the first seven minutes.

The Cardinal used Brown’s terrific first-half performance to stake itself out to a 15-point lead at halftime, one that it would use to coast to its conference-leading sixth road victory of the season. Brown’s first-half performance was the first time a Stanford player had scored 20 points in a half since Dwight Powell scored 20 in the second half against UC-Davis on Dec. 15, 2012.

“I just wanted to be aggressive, coming off the loss against Washington,” Brown said. “I just came out, attacked; they left me open, I got my rhythm going, and then from there, once you hit a few, it feels like the basket is wide open.”

Brown finished the game 8-of-10 from the field, 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and 10-of-11 from the free-throw line. It was easily the best game of his Stanford career, considering how much Stanford struggled to score otherwise.

Junior Chasson Randle added 14 points for Stanford, the only other member of the Cardinal to reach double digits on Saturday. Stanford was able to find success despite by a poor shooting night by attacking the rim and stifling the Cougars’ attempts on the other end. The Cardinal shot 36 free throws to WSU’s 18, and held the Cougars to shooting just 31.4 percent.

Particularly notable on the defensive end for Stanford was the Cardinal’s coverage of WSU’s DaVonte Lacy, an effort that was spearheaded by Brown. Lacy has been an explosive scorer at times this season but was quieted by the Card. Coming off of a career-best 39-point performance against Cal, he was held to just 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting on Saturday.

Freshman Que Johnson finished as the leading scorer for the Cougars with 14 points, but he too struggled from the field, finishing just 4-of-11 from the field.

The win marked the third time this season that Stanford won the second game of its two-game road trip after losing the first, marking the first time that has happened since at least 1978, the first season of Pac-10 play.

Stanford hopes that the solid road victory will spur it forward as the team moves towards the end of the conference season. After the Cardinal takes on USC and No. 23 UCLA this Thursday at Maples Pavilion, Stanford will embark on a four-game stretch in which it will play teams ahead of it in the conference standings: Arizona State and No. 4 Arizona. The Cardinal wraps up the regular season by hosting Colorado and Utah before the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.

As it stands today, the Cardinal would probably be an NCAA Tournament team. But clearly, there is much work to be done. If Stanford hopes to see its name on the bracket come March, the Trees will have to grow some more and reach even greater heights.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Cardinal visits lowly Washington State, can’t afford another loss https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/13/cardinal-visits-lowly-washington-state-cant-afford-another-loss/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/13/cardinal-visits-lowly-washington-state-cant-afford-another-loss/#respond Fri, 14 Feb 2014 07:03:20 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1082369 On Wednesday night, victory slipped through the fingers of the Stanford men’s basketball team. A disastrous second half resulted in a 4-point loss to a Washington team that the Cardinal (15-8, 6-5 Pac-12) had already beaten by 12 earlier this season, precisely the type of loss this team cannot afford if it hopes to make a run to the NCAA Tournament.

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On Wednesday night, victory slipped through the fingers of the Stanford men’s basketball team. A disastrous second half resulted in a 4-point loss to a Washington team that the Cardinal (15-8, 6-5 Pac-12) had already beaten by 12 earlier this season, precisely the type of loss this team cannot afford if it hopes to make a run to the NCAA Tournament.

Stanford has struggled with its bench production all year, but it has often turned to senior John Gage (above) off the bench to make up for the team's lack of depth. (ZETONG LI/The Stanford Daily)
Stanford has struggled with its bench production all year, but it has often turned to senior John Gage (above) off the bench to make up for the team’s lack of depth. (ZETONG LI/The Stanford Daily)

The Cardinal will have to do a better job of avoiding that kind of performance Saturday in Pullman, Wash., when it takes on the Washington State Cougars (9-15, 2-10) in a game that it absolutely, unequivocally must win. Despite having given Cal everything it wanted and more in Wednesday’s overtime loss, the Cougars are clearly one of the two worst teams in the Pac-12, the type of team that Big Dance participants are supposed to beat handily, even on the road. If Stanford aspires to be among that group of teams come March, it must do as such on Saturday.

Washington State’s season-long struggles notwithstanding, the complexion of playing the Cougars has certainly changed since last time the Cardinal saw them. WSU’s leading scorer, junior guard DaVonte Lacy, has returned from an injury that sidelined him for seven of the team’s first eight conference games. And indeed, he has returned with a vengeance.

Lacy already has two 30-point games to his credit since his return two weeks ago, and his 39-point outburst against Cal was particularly vicious. Lacy made eight three-pointers on 15 attempts and was a perfect 11-of-11 from the foul line, singlehandedly carrying his team to the brink of victory.

NBA legend Bill Russell, wisest of the basketball wise, once remarked, “This game has always been, and will always be, about buckets.” Lacy clearly ascribes to that philosophy, and the Cardinal coaching staff would be sage to place particular emphasis on stopping him.

Yet even with Lacy’s heroics, it is clear that Washington State does not have enough else on its roster to defeat good teams. The Cougars have lost four of the five games this season in which Lacy has scored more than 25 points, and the sole victory came over lowly Cal State Bakersfield in WSU’s season opener.

As such, Stanford must do a good job of making sure that Washington State’s other offensive players don’t have uncharacteristically good nights. Foremost amongst them is freshman Que Johnson, who at 10.3 points per game is the Cougars’ second-leading scorer and the only other truly dynamic scoring threat that Washington State possesses. Johnson matched his career high with 21 points against Stanford on Jan. 15, and the Cardinal would be sorry to let him score as much this time around.

In the larger scheme of things, it is crucial that Stanford finds some sort of consistent offensive production from its bench. Against Washington on Wednesday, the bench was held to just two points on 1-of-5 shooting, both coming via senior forward John Gage.

Stanford’s depth has been ravaged by injury this season, and the hole it has left was extremely apparent on Wednesday night. When the starters have an off-shooting night like they did against the Huskies, the instances in which Stanford’s bench has stepped up to fill the void the season have been few and far in between. Barring the return of sophomore Rosco Allen, who has been sidelined all season with a stress fracture in his foot, it will be up to the current group of Gage, senior Robbie Lemons, sophomore Grant Verhoeven and freshman Marcus Allen to find some way to provide a little extra punch.

Stanford will seek to reestablish the positive momentum it had gained before Wednesday’s loss at 4 p.m. on Saturday, when it will again attempt to register its first victory in the state of Washington since 2011. The game will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford blows halftime lead, falls to Huskies in Seattle https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/13/stanford-blows-halftime-lead-falls-to-huskies-in-seattle/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/13/stanford-blows-halftime-lead-falls-to-huskies-in-seattle/#comments Thu, 13 Feb 2014 08:16:27 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1082316 For the Stanford men’s basketball team, the nightmares in Seattle just keep on coming. The Cardinal (15-8, 6-5 Pac-12) blew a 7-point halftime lead on Wednesday night, falling to the Washington Huskies (14-11, 6-6) 64-60, marking Stanford’s fifth consecutive loss on the Huskies’ home court. The defeat dropped Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins’ career record […]

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For the Stanford men’s basketball team, the nightmares in Seattle just keep on coming. The Cardinal (15-8, 6-5 Pac-12) blew a 7-point halftime lead on Wednesday night, falling to the Washington Huskies (14-11, 6-6) 64-60, marking Stanford’s fifth consecutive loss on the Huskies’ home court. The defeat dropped Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins’ career record to just 2-10 against his Washington counterpart, Lorenzo Romar.

The Cardinal started off strong, seemingly providing an answer for every Washington run. After consecutive dunks by seniors Josh Huestis and Anthony Brown gave Stanford a 4-point lead, 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions by Washington’s leading scorer, senior C.J. Wilcox, gave the Huskies a 23-21 lead 15 minutes into the game. Stanford would respond by closing the first half on a 13-4 run, powered mostly by the play of senior Dwight Powell and junior Chasson Randle, who combined to score 11 of those 13 points.

Senior forward Dwight Powell
Senior forward Dwight Powell (above) led Stanford in points and rebounds in Wednesday night’s loss to Washington, scoring 18 points to go along with 9 boards in the 64-60 defeat. (FRANK CHEN/The Stanford Daily).

The second half began slowly for the Cardinal, which immediately allowed the Huskies to get back into the game. Washington started the second frame on a 12-2 run that briefly gave it a 3-point lead. Yet the Cardinal responded once more, as it had throughout the entire game up to that point. A 3-point play from Powell gave Stanford the lead back with 15:41 left to play, and the Cardinal would push that lead back up to five with 11:07 remaining in the game.

Just when it looked like Stanford was ready to pull away from the Huskies, the Cardinal invited Washington right back into the game. Stanford endured a cold stretch in which it went 0-for-4 from the floor and committed two turnovers, turning a 5-point lead into a 1-point deficit with 5:48 left to play.

The two teams would trade baskets down the stretch until poor free-throw shooting in the final three minutes became Stanford’s undoing. Brown and Randle each missed key freebies from the stripe, allowing Washington a 2-point lead with just 25 seconds left.

On the ensuing possession, it looked for a moment as if the Cardinal had tied things up on a Huestis baseline dunk, but the play was whistled dead beforehand, as Randle was called for a charge before the pass. Stanford fouled with 4.1 seconds remaining, but Wilcox calmly sunk both free throws to clinch the victory for the underdog Huskies, who improved to 5-0 at home during Pac-12 play this season.

Powell was again solid for the Cardinal, tallying 18 points and nine rebounds in the defeat. Randle added 17 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists, but he also finished just 1-of-6 from behind the arc and was a disappointing 4-of-9 from the free-throw line.

Wilcox, who was held to just nine points in the last meeting between these two teams, again struggled from the floor, shooting just 4-of-14 despite scoring 17 points this time around. Freshman point guard Nigel Williams-Goss was again solid against the Cardinal, adding 16 points, five rebounds and five assists in the Husky victory.

A lack of basic offensive execution down the stretch was once again Stanford’s downfall, much in the same mold as the team’s performance against Arizona two weeks ago. The Cardinal shot just 8-of-26 — 30.8 percent — in the second half, which included just a 1-for-7 performance from behind the arc and a 9-for-15 showing from the free-throw line. For the game, Stanford finished at just 40.4 percent from the field, 18.8 percent from 3-point range and 61.1 percent from the free-throw line. Dawkins’ squad had its chances but instead could not capitalize, shooting itself right out of Alaska Airlines Arena.

Stanford will look to rebound in anticipation of the team’s matchup at Washington State on Saturday. The Cardinal will be seeking its first road win against one of the Washington schools since a 75-62 triumph at WSU on Feb. 10, 2011.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Cardinal looks to snap Seattle winless streak https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/12/cardinal-looks-to-snap-seattle-winless-streak/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/12/cardinal-looks-to-snap-seattle-winless-streak/#respond Wed, 12 Feb 2014 10:21:29 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1082275 The Stanford men’s basketball team will attempt to accomplish something tonight it has never done under head coach Johnny Dawkins: defeat the Washington Huskies in Seattle. Even including a 79-67 home victory against the Huskies on Jan. 18, Stanford (15-7, 6-4 Pac-12) owns just a 2-9 record against Washington (13-11, 5-6) with Dawkins as head coach. The losing streak in Seattle spans four games, with the Cardinal’s last win coming back on Jan. 31, 2008, when Brook Lopez’s monster 31-point, 13-rebound performance powered Stanford to a 65-51 victory.

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The Stanford men’s basketball team will attempt to accomplish something tonight it has never done under head coach Johnny Dawkins: defeat the Washington Huskies in Seattle. Even including a 79-67 home victory against the Huskies on Jan. 18, Stanford (15-7, 6-4 Pac-12) owns just a 2-9 record against Washington (13-11, 5-6) with Dawkins as head coach. The losing streak in Seattle spans four games, with the Cardinal’s last win coming back on Jan. 31, 2008, when Brook Lopez’s monster 31-point, 13-rebound performance powered Stanford to a 65-51 victory.

Junior g
Junior guard Chasson Randle (left) matched his career high with 33 points against Washington on Jan. 18. He’ll look to maintain the aggressiveness that earned him 13 free throws in that game  tonight in Seattle. (MIKE KHEIR/The Stanford Daily)

Tonight’s matchup figures to be an excellent opportunity for Stanford to snap the streak, given that the two teams are currently trending in opposite directions. The Cardinal has won six of eight and two straight, including a resounding 80-69 drubbing of archrival Cal in Berkeley last week. It may have been the team’s most complete performance to date this season, as Stanford staked itself out to a big lead early and then successfully shut down any comeback attempts by the feisty Bears, which had just beaten then-No. 1 Arizona in its previous game.

The Cardinal has found its recipe for success by playing solid man-to-man defense, having held its opponents to just 40.3 percent shooting over its past four games. Stanford will look to do more of the same on Wednesday night in Seattle, where the Huskies’ offense has certainly not been kind to the Cardinal in recent trips to the Emerald City. During the last four meetings at Alaska Airlines Arena, the Huskies have averaged 85.3 points per game on 47.9 percent shooting.

The good news for the Cardinal is that the matchup between the two teams appears to be different this year from other recent ones, as evidenced by Stanford’s victory earlier this season against the Huskies. Defense was the catalyst for the Cardinal in that performance, as Husky star senior guard C.J. Wilcox was held to just nine points on 4-of-13 shooting, 10 below his season average. Look for Stanford senior Anthony Brown to again hound Wilcox all night long in an attempt to shut down one of the Pac-12’s most lethal scorers.

Washington, on the other hand, enters Wednesday’s contest searching for answers, having been swept on the road last week by the likes of Utah and Colorado. Sunday’s loss to the Buffaloes was particularly disheartening for Husky fans, as Washington was outplayed in every facet of the game en route to a 26-point blowout loss. The Huskies allowed the Buffaloes to shoot 55 percent from the field in surrendering 91 points, the highest total conceded by Washington since it gave up 102 to Indiana on Nov. 21.

Although the Huskies are certainly not playing their best ball of the season at the moment, the Cardinal would be foolish to take them lightly. Whatever has ailed Washington on the road this season seems to magically cure itself at home. The Huskies are 11-2 this season within the friendly confines of Alaska Airlines Arena, including a 4-0 mark in conference play.

The Cardinal will hope to continue to ride the strong play of senior forward Dwight Powell, who has been particularly assertive of late. In his last two contests, Powell is averaging 25 points, 10 rebounds and 5.5 assists, both Stanford wins over tournament-caliber teams Cal and Arizona State. He certainly poses a matchup problem for the Huskies, who feature just one player in their rotation taller than 6-foot-8.

In addition to Powell, junior guard Chasson Randle will look to duplicate his performance from the last time these two teams met. Randle matched his career high with 33 points against the Huskies on Jan. 18, and he did it by being aggressive attacking the hoop. Randle made just one 3-pointer and shot 13 free throws during his big night. A similar level of confident play by Randle could once more result in a big night for the conference’s third-leading scorer, as Washington’s defense has certainly struggled of late.

Tipoff is set for tonight at 6 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPN2.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Powell powers Cardinal to key Pac-12 road victory over Cal https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/05/powell-powers-cardinal-to-key-pac-12-road-victory-over-cal/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/05/powell-powers-cardinal-to-key-pac-12-road-victory-over-cal/#comments Thu, 06 Feb 2014 07:15:39 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1082085 In the words of the great Bill Walton: “Every time the Bears tried to climb back up, the tree just shook off another layer.” From start to finish, the Stanford men’s basketball team dominated the archrival California Golden Bears (15-8, 6-4 Pac-12), picking up a pivotal 80-69 road victory to start the second half of […]

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In the words of the great Bill Walton: “Every time the Bears tried to climb back up, the tree just shook off another layer.”

From start to finish, the Stanford men’s basketball team dominated the archrival California Golden Bears (15-8, 6-4 Pac-12), picking up a pivotal 80-69 road victory to start the second half of the conference season on a winning note.

Fresh off of an upset victory over then-No. 1 Arizona, Cal simply had no answer for Stanford’s attacking offense and stingy defense. With the win, the Cardinal (15-7, 6-4) moved into a tie with its cross-bay foe for third place in the Pac-12, as Stanford tries to ascend its way out of the middle of the pack during the second half of the conference season. The win avenged Stanford’s 69-62 defeat to Cal at home earlier this season.

Senior forward Dwight Powell (33)
Senior forward Dwight Powell (33) keyed Stanford’s critical conference road victory over Cal Wednesday night, stuffing the stat sheet with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. (FRANK CHEN/The Stanford Daily)

Senior forward Dwight Powell had another banner night for the Cardinal following a 28-point effort on Saturday against Arizona State. Despite shooting just 5-of-17 from the floor, the all-conference performer from a season ago finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, tying his career-high in the final category for the fifth time. It was Powell’s seventh double-double of the season, which is best on the team.

“Dwight didn’t shoot the ball as well as he does, but he provided us with a presence out on the floor. Whether he is on the perimeter or the post, people have to pay so much attention to what he does,” said head coach Johnny Dawkins. “ He is capable of scoring himself, but he has shown that and he is one of the best players in this conference and I think he showed that again tonight.”

Powell certainly wasn’t alone on a night that saw the Cardinal put forth a complete team effort. Junior guard and birthday boy Chasson Randle, the second-leading scorer in the Pac-12, finished with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while fellow senior guard Anthony Brown played a terrific second half that saw him score 11 of his 16 points.

In defeat, Justin Cobbs was again outstanding for Cal, which has now dropped four of its last five games. The senior point guard scored 24 points while adding five rebounds and four assists. Aside from a strong second half by Cobbs’ backcourt mate Tyrone Wallace, who tallied 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting, Cal failed to receive meaningful contributions from most of the rest of its roster. The other nine Golden Bears who entered the game combined to shoot an abysmal 10-of-34 from the floor, a brutal 29.4 percent clip that did not get the job done in a rivalry game of this magnitude.

While much of Cal’s struggles can be attributed to poor shooting, credit is due to the Cardinal, which played intense, stingy defense for large stretches of the game. Stanford held Cal to just 41.3 percent shooting overall, making it the fourth straight game in which the Cardinal held a team to 42.1 percent shooting or worse.

On the strength of its defense, Stanford raced out to an early lead thanks to strong play from Powell and Randle, who combined to outscore Cal 22-20 over the first 14:30 of the game. Stanford’s lead was at its largest — 18 points — when Randle knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Cardinal a 38-20 advantage with 6:36 remaining in the first half.

The Bears made things interesting by dominating the rest of the first half, mostly thanks to a 12-point explosion by Cobbs over the final 5:15 of the period to draw Cal within six at the midway point. His back-to-back 3-pointers on the final two possessions of the half made it seem as if the Bears had awoken from their hibernation, but it was not to be for California on this night.

Stanford’s lead remained in single digits for the first 10 minutes of the second half, until the Cardinal held the Bears scoreless for a four-minute stretch to push its lead to 13. Cal would never again get closer than 11 points, and Brown’s heady play down the stretch for Stanford ensured that the Cardinal would be able to coast to victory.

“They closed the half with two 3-pointers and cut the lead to six,” Dawkins said. “I was like ‘where is my team,’ and I found out a lot about us. I found out that our guys have a lot of substance to weather that storm, come out and regroup. That says a lot about their character.”

It was Stanford’s second consecutive win in Berkeley following an 83-70 triumph in Haas Pavilion last March 6. The win pushed head coach Johnny Dawkins’ career record on the road in conference play to just 15-34, but Stanford has been much tougher away from Maples this season. The Cardinal now stands at 3-2 on the road in the Pac-12 during its current campaign moving into road games at Washington and Washington State next week.

Most importantly, the win over Cal gives Stanford its fourth victory over a team ranked in the top 50 of the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), a pivotal statistic used to determine which teams will make the NCAA tournament. Coach Johnny Dawkins, now in his sixth season at the helm of Cardinal basketball, is still seeking to lead Stanford to the tournament for first time in his career as head coach.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford seeks consistency against confident Cal https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/05/stanford-seeks-consistency-against-confident-cal/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/05/stanford-seeks-consistency-against-confident-cal/#respond Wed, 05 Feb 2014 09:26:40 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1082053 Recent performances by the Stanford men’s basketball team have provided a basis for cautious optimism amongst Cardinal faithful and a possible winning blueprint moving forward. Was the near-miss performance against No. 1 Arizona a sign of good things to come? Does dispatching Arizona State, another hungry bubble team, mean the Cardinal has turned the corner? Is the stingy defense and physical rebounding sustainable?

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Recent performances by the Stanford men’s basketball team have provided a basis for cautious optimism amongst Cardinal faithful and a possible winning blueprint moving forward. Was the near-miss performance against No. 1 Arizona a sign of good things to come? Does dispatching Arizona State, another hungry bubble team, mean the Cardinal has turned the corner? Is the stingy defense and physical rebounding sustainable?

Josh Huestis #24
Senior forward Josh Huestis (24) is averaging 13 points and 8.8 rebounds over his last six games. A win for the Cardinal at Cal will put it in a pole position for a top-four Pac-12 finish. (FRANK CHEN/The Stanford Daily)

A win today over archrival Cal (15-7, 6-3 Pac-12) would provide some more evidence in the affirmative, and in turn, create a few more believers out of the legion of naysayers. More importantly, Stanford’s (14-7, 5-4) NCAA tournament resume could certainly use the boost.

The Cardinal will travel to Berkeley tonight in an attempt to exact revenge on its archrivals after having suffered a 69-62 defeat at the hands of the Bears on Jan. 2 at Maples Pavilion. Cal is also riding high after having accomplished what Stanford could not: an upset of Arizona.

Behind the big-time play of fifth-year senior point guard Justin Cobbs, who hit the game-winning jumper as time wound down, the Bears pulled off the stunner in a game that had a lot of similarities to the one the Cardinal had played against the Wildcats just a few nights earlier. It was a low-scoring, physical battle down to the wire, but as opposed to Stanford’s offensive struggles down the stretch, Cal made just enough plays to come away with the victory. Cobbs was particularly terrific, scoring 16 of his 19 points in the second half, including all 12 of the Bears’ points over the final 11:30 of the game.

The last time Stanford and Cal met, Cobbs was effective, scoring 18 points and tallying five assists in the Bears’ victory. Stanford will certainly focus its defensive game plan on stopping Cobbs, the key cog in an otherwise balanced offensive attack. The Bears feature four starters who average double-digits in points, much like the Cardinal. Unlike Stanford, however, Cal’s bench can pack a punch, thanks to highly touted freshman Jabari Bird and senior Ricky Kreklow. Neither played the last time these two squads met, meaning Stanford will have to deal with a plethora of offensive weapons that it didn’t see the last time out.

If the Cardinal bench can step up and make some substantial contributions similar to those in each of Stanford’s two most recent victories, things could be different this time around. Cal’s bench outscored Stanford’s 7-0 in the earlier meeting between the two teams this season, and those seven points proved to be the final difference in the game.

“We’re going to trust our bench through the remainder of the season, because they’ve earned it,” said head coach Johnny Dawkins. “The one thing I’ve seen for us is that they’ve defended for us every night.”

Today’s contest figures to be a close affair thanks to the implications of the outcome for each team. The winner emerges as a surefire contender for a top-four finish in the Pac-12 as the second half of the conference season begins, while the loser moves back towards the league’s large middle class.

Stanford will seek to control the paint like it did against Arizona and ASU. If it can outrebound the Bears and outscore them in the paint, Stanford’s chances for victory will be greatly improved. Cal won the rebounding battle the last time out and scored more second-chance points, two factors that helped offset Stanford’s 30-20 advantage on points scored in the paint.

The Cardinal must do a better job of capitalizing on all of its scoring opportunities. Blown layups cost Stanford the win against Arizona, and a 10-for-20 performance from the free throw line against the Bears the last time out was a huge contributing factor, if not the difference, in the final outcome.

As always, the Cardinal will look to its senior leaders, forwards Dwight Powell and Josh Huestis, to set the tone for this game and convert the opportunities Stanford is given. There is reason to believe that the duo will perform, considering Powell is coming off of a 28-point outburst against ASU, his best individual performance of the season, while Huestis averaged a double-double in the two games last week.

Tipoff tonight is at 6 p.m. in Berkeley, with the game televised on ESPN2.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Randle, Powell help Cardinal extinguish Sun Devils https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/03/randle-powell-help-cardinal-extinguish-sun-devils/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/03/randle-powell-help-cardinal-extinguish-sun-devils/#comments Mon, 03 Feb 2014 09:02:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1081959 With little room for error left on the schedule following Stanford’s near-miss loss to Arizona on Thursday, the Cardinal men’s basketball team’s two best players came up big when needed most, as the Cardinal defeated the Arizona State Sun Devils 76-70 on Saturday afternoon. After a slow start to the game that saw Stanford (14-7, 5-4 Pac-12) trail the Sun Devils (16-6, 5-4) by as much as 6 points, senior forward Dwight Powell and junior guard Chasson Randle dominated the second half to help Stanford come away with the victory.

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With little room for error left on the schedule following Stanford’s near-miss loss to Arizona on Thursday, the Cardinal men’s basketball team’s two best players came up big when needed most, as the Cardinal defeated the Arizona State Sun Devils 76-70 on Saturday afternoon. After a slow start to the game that saw Stanford (14-7, 5-4 Pac-12) trail the Sun Devils (16-6, 5-4) by as much as 6 points, senior forward Dwight Powell and junior guard Chasson Randle dominated the second half to help Stanford come away with the victory.

(JIM SHORIN/stanfordphoto.com)
Junior guard Chasson Randle (5) scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half as the Cardinal was able to hold on to its lead and bounce back from a tough loss to Arizona with a victory over the Sun Devils. (JIM SHORIN/stanfordphoto.com)

Powell matched a season high with 28 points on 8-of-19 shooting in addition to a 10-of-12 effort from the foul line. Randle added 21 points in the victory, with 15 coming in the second half.

Much like the game against Arizona, a 1-point game at the half turned into a sizable Stanford lead after a large Cardinal run opened the second period. Stanford began the half on a 23-9 run to open up a 13-point lead, 55-42, with 12:14 remaining in the game. Powell and Randle scored 21 of the team’s 23 points during the stretch, and Powell assisted on the only other Stanford basket during the run — a Josh Huestis dunk off of an inbounds pass.

“We were pretty close at half, and we knew we had to come out the first four minutes and create some separation, because they’re obviously a great team and we’re going to fight regardless of what the score was,” Powell said. “We definitely came out with an aggressive mindset to start off the second half.”

Unlike the Arizona game, Stanford was able to hang on to its lead this time around despite the best efforts of Arizona State’s backcourt. Sophomore Jahii Carson, who looks to be a lottery pick in next year’s NBA Draft, and senior Jermaine Marshall, a prolific 3-point shooter, combined for 46 of Arizona State’s 70 points, including 28 in the second half.

Despite picking up his fourth foul with 10:48 remaining, Carson returned to the game with about eight minutes left and rallied the Sun Devils. He scored seven points over the final 5:29 of the game, including a big 3-pointer to draw ASU within five with 3:15 remaining.

“[Carson’s] a great player,” Randle said. “He’s so quick and able to change directions at the drop of a dime.”

“That was definitely a big motivator for me,” said Randle of Carson’s 34-point performance in last year’s Pac-12 Tournament game between Stanford and ASU. “I definitely didn’t play as well as I wanted to, so we definitely wanted to come out tonight and get the win.”

Stanford still held a 70-62 lead with 1:18 remaining after senior Stefan Nastic made one of two free throws, but the Sun Devils, with some assistance from the Cardinal, did their best to make things interesting.

Carson came flying down the court to score a layup just three seconds later. On the inbounds, Powell threw the ball off of senior Anthony Brown’s leg out of bounds, giving ASU possession again with 1:12 remaining. Marshall hit a 3-pointer just three seconds after the turnover, and just like that, ASU was back within a possession with more than a minute left to play.

This time around, however, the Cardinal did not let the opportunity slip out of its hands, as Powell was fouled on Stanford’s next possession after a strong drive to the hoop. After Powell made one free throw, the Cardinal played good defense on the ensuing possession, forcing a tough 3-point attempt by Carson. Huestis made both of his free throws on the next trip down for Stanford, and the threat was successfully stamped out.

Stanford was able to maintain control of this game by dominating the paint, as it outrebounded ASU 40-32 en route to collecting 15 offensive rebounds. The Cardinal also outscored the Sun Devils 28-12 in the paint and recorded five blocks to ASU’s two.

Looking ahead, Stanford begins a crucial stretch on the road when it plays at Cal on Wednesday. This year marks the third straight season that Stanford has reached the halfway point of the conference season with a 5-4 record, and the Cardinal hopes that the outcome will be better this time around.

“To have a really successful conference season, you have to be able to go on the road and have some success,” said head coach Johnny Dawkins. “It’s going to be important for us to go out there focused and compete well. If we do that, we’re going to give ourselves a chance.”

Stanford will travel to Berkeley on Wednesday to take on the Bears at 6 p.m.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford edged by No. 1 Arizona in heartbreaker https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/30/stanford-edged-by-no-1-arizona-in-heartbreaker/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/30/stanford-edged-by-no-1-arizona-in-heartbreaker/#respond Thu, 30 Jan 2014 08:28:28 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1081897 So close, yet so far. The Stanford men’s basketball team battled wire-to-wire with the best team in the country, the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats (21-0, 8-0 Pac-12), on Wednesday night, but fell just short, 60-57. With the win, Arizona extended its school-record winning streak to 21 games.

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So close, yet so far. The Stanford men’s basketball team battled wire-to-wire with the best team in the country, the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats (21-0, 8-0 Pac-12), on Wednesday night, but fell just short, 60-57. With the win, Arizona extended its school-record winning streak to 21 games.

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Senior forward Dwight Powell (33) was limited to just 23 minutes in Wednesday’s game due to early foul trouble. He still finished with 13 points and 6 rebounds as Stanford fell to Arizona 60-57. (SAM GIRVIN/The Stanford Daily)

“That was a heck of a basketball game by both teams,” said Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins. “I thought our young men came out and gave a heck of an effort. For 38 minutes, I thought we were right there.”

In perhaps the most electric basketball atmosphere inside of Maples Pavilion in a half-decade, the Cardinal (13-7, 4-4) matched the physicality of the Wildcats for all 40 minutes in front of 7,233 roaring fans—the largest crowd at Maples since March 2010, a span of 63 home games. It was Stanford’s offensive execution that doomed it down the stretch, as the Cardinal scored just one field goal in the final 10 minutes of the game.

“They’re one of the best defenses in our conference and in the nation,” Dawkins said. “I thought our guys did a good job of trying to take it to them, and also in the post, as well as drives, but you have to finish.”

Stanford started quickly, spurred by energy from the Sixth Man Club and strong interior post play by senior center Stefan Nastic, who scored four quick points in the opening minutes of the game to give Stanford an immediate 9-2 advantage. Arizona clawed its way back after holding Stanford scoreless over the next four minutes to gain a 10-9 advantage with 11:59 remaining in the first half.

The Wildcats gained their largest lead of the game, 21-16, on an and-one by center Kaleb Tarczewski with 8:09 left in the half, before the Cardinal came roaring back. The awakening of Stanford’s leading scorer, junior Chasson Randle, gave Stanford the offensive boost it needed towards the end of the half, and his 3-pointer with 54 seconds to play in the frame drew Stanford within one. After another defensive stop, senior Anthony Brown hit a magnificent running bank shot over a pair of defenders to give Stanford the lead and the momentum going into halftime.

The Cardinal came out with guns blazing to start the second half. Arizona junior guard Nick Johnson, the Pac-12 Player of the Year candidate who was repeatedly the thorn in the Cardinal’s side, hit a three on the first possession of the half for the Wildcats. After that, Stanford embarked on an 18-9 run over a six-minute stretch to put the nation’s top team on the ropes. The Cardinal led 49-42 with 13:15 left to play, and the magic in Maples was alive and well.

But from there, Stanford’s offense went ice-cold. After senior forward Josh Huestis hit a jumper to push the Stanford lead back to four with 10:03 remaining, the Cardinal went scoreless until the 1:21 mark. Still, the Cardinal was down just two when senior forward Dwight Powell swooped in from the left baseline for a reverse layup that proved to be the prettiest offensive play of the evening.

Stanford again defended well on the next possession, until a long rebound to Tarczweski provided the dagger for Arizona. The sophomore center kicked it out to Johnson, who nailed a three from the top of the key with 51 seconds remaining to give Arizona a 3-point lead.

“Give the young man credit,” said Dawkins. “As I said earlier, you still have to make the shot, and he stepped up and he did that.”

The Cardinal couldn’t answer on its next possession and was forced to foul Johnson with 28 seconds left. He missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Huestis missed a 3-point attempt for the tie. Stanford fouled again, this time sending freshman Aaron Gordon to the line, and unbelievably, he too missed his first free throw. Arizona elected to foul Stanford rather than allow the Cardinal a 3-point attempt, and Randle calmly sunk both of his free throws to pull the home team back within one.

Johnson was fouled again and this time made both of his attempts with 5.8 seconds remaining. Randle got a decent look at a 3-point attempt as time wound down, but the ball clanked off the rim to preserve the victory for Arizona.

“I thought I got a good look at it, but you know, it was just one of those nights,” Randle said.

In the loss for Stanford, Huestis finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Powell added 13 and 6, respectively. Randle struggled to the tune of 3-for-15 shooting and was just 5-for-8 from the line.

Johnson led all scorers for Arizona with 16 points while fellow backcourt mate T.J. McConnell added 11.

In many ways, the Cardinal played uncharacteristically well, particularly on the defensive end. Arizona was held to just 36 percent shooting, its lowest shooting percentage of the season, and Gordon, a projected lottery pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, was held to just five points on 2-for-10 shooting. Stanford showed toughness on the boards, outrebounding the Wildcats 38-36, just the third time this season that any opponent had outrebounded the No. 1 team in the land.

But as has often been characteristic of the Dawkins era, Stanford did just enough to lose. The scoring drought over the final 10 minutes of the game showed a lack of execution by the players, but it also meant that the coaching staff was unable to find a solution to a problem that lasted for much of a half.

“It’s just a matter of getting our spots on the court quickly and just moving the ball and making sharp cuts,” Randle said.

“We let them move us off our spots where we wanted to go offensively,” Huestis remarked.

This tough loss echoes a troubling trend evident throughout the Cardinal’s season: On off-shooting nights, Dawkins and his staff have rarely found a way to provide their players with a go-to offensive strategy.

Stanford will hope to bounce back quickly in anticipation of Arizona State’s visit on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Lupin: Cardinal has a chance to make Stanford-Arizona meaningful again https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/28/lupin-cardinal-has-a-chance-to-make-stanford-arizona-meaningful-again/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/28/lupin-cardinal-has-a-chance-to-make-stanford-arizona-meaningful-again/#comments Wed, 29 Jan 2014 06:31:22 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1081847 When the Stanford men’s basketball team hosts the top-ranked and undefeated Arizona Wildcats tonight at 6 p.m. at Maples Pavilion, the Cardinal (13-6, 4-3 Pac-12) will do all it can to make life difficult for the heavily favored Wildcats (20-0, 7-0), who enter the matchup riding the longest win streak in school history. To understand […]

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When the Stanford men’s basketball team hosts the top-ranked and undefeated Arizona Wildcats tonight at 6 p.m. at Maples Pavilion, the Cardinal (13-6, 4-3 Pac-12) will do all it can to make life difficult for the heavily favored Wildcats (20-0, 7-0), who enter the matchup riding the longest win streak in school history.

To understand the gravity of a game in which Arizona will put its school-best win streak on the line, some background on both the history of the Stanford-Arizona matchup, and on a more personal level, my attachment to the rivalry as a lifelong Stanford basketball fan, is in order.

For those who are perhaps a bit unfamiliar with the basketball history between these two schools, a quick refresher might be useful.

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If Stanford wants to knock off No. 1 Arizona, junior guard Chasson Randle (5) will have to perform at his best. (FRANK CHEN/The Stanford Daily)

Between 1998 and 2005, Stanford and Arizona were the dominant basketball powers on the West Coast. During the formative years of my basketball fandom, back when the floor at Maples visibly bounced at the mercy of the stomping Sixth Man Club, the Cardinal and the Wildcats combined to win seven of eight Pac-10 titles. The only year one of these two teams didn’t win the conference championship, 2002, they tied for second.

The two schools combined to finish first and second together in the conference standings six times during that stretch, with the only exceptions coming during the aforementioned 2002 season, and 2005, when Stanford tied for third.

In other words, Stanford was a basketball school, and Stanford-Arizona was the yearly climax of the Pac-10 basketball season. The games between the two teams often decided the outcome of the conference race, and from 2001 until a certain game in 2004 — a stretch of six straight contests — the road team peculiarly won every matchup in the series.

Stanford basketball had reached its pinnacle during the 2003-04 season, when the team put its 19-game win streak and No. 2 national ranking on the line to host No. 12 Arizona. What ensued on Feb. 7, 2004 was a back-and-forth affair that is hard to describe, and is now probably best experienced on YouTube.

There was a dramatic Stanford rally in the final minute of the game, complete with a bouncing Tiger (Tigger?) Woods at courtside, an absolutely raucous student section, and the most wonderfully ludicrous shot in Stanford basketball history, a running 35-footer by Nick Robinson as time expired to complete the comeback. Maples Pavilion exploded, the Stanford winning streak would continue and the Cardinal would end the conference season as Pac-10 champions, much to the delirious delight of this then-11-year-old.

Shortly thereafter, however, the precipitous decline of Stanford basketball began. The Cardinal was upset in the second round of the tournament by Alabama in a dubiously officiated game, head coach Mike Montgomery left for the NBA, the Maples floor was “fixed” and Stanford’s streak of 11 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances came to an end in 2006. Aside from the Lopez-led run to the Sweet Sixteen in 2008, Stanford basketball has failed to return to the previously lofty heights set during that eight-year span. My 11-year-old self would have been crestfallen to learn that this was the future that would befall my beloved Cardinal.

So it seems only fitting that if the much-beleaguered Johnny Dawkins era of Stanford basketball is ever going to have a turnaround, tonight would be the place to start, a week shy of the 10-year anniversary of Robinson’s heroics.

Stanford’s senior class is talented and likable, if at times mercurial and inconsistent. The Cardinal features a junior guard in Chasson Randle, who, barring injury, is going to finish his career as one of the top three scorers in school history. And as good as they are, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who thinks the Wildcats can keep their win streak going all season.

As I sit up in the press box tonight to take in the game, I will attempt to maintain ‘neutrality,’ as any ‘professional’ sports writer should. I will not participate in the chants of the student section, I will not cheer or clap. I will not yell at the refs for a bad call.

But if you think that I won’t be rocking my vintage Casey Jacobsen jersey under my shirt, or that I won’t be praying to the basketball gods during every single free throw, you’d be sadly mistaken. The 11-year-old in me lives on. Let’s bring back the magic to Maples.

Contact Daniel Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford earns much-needed road win at USC in overtime https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/26/stanford-needs-overtime-to-earn-much-needed-road-win-at-usc/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/26/stanford-needs-overtime-to-earn-much-needed-road-win-at-usc/#comments Mon, 27 Jan 2014 07:05:06 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1081788 Going on the road in conference play can at times be about the art of survival. For the Stanford men’s basketball team, survival was the sole objective on Sunday afternoon, and the Cardinal eventually passed the test, albeit narrowly. Stanford (13-6, 4-3 Pac-12) eventually overcame the USC Trojans (10-10, 1-6) 79-71 in overtime, capping an […]

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Going on the road in conference play can at times be about the art of survival. For the Stanford men’s basketball team, survival was the sole objective on Sunday afternoon, and the Cardinal eventually passed the test, albeit narrowly.

Stanford (13-6, 4-3 Pac-12) eventually overcame the USC Trojans (10-10, 1-6) 79-71 in overtime, capping an ugly contest that certainly did not see the Cardinal play its best basketball. That said, head coach Johnny Dawkins and company certainly will take it: The win was just Stanford’s second victory in its last 18 tries against the likes of USC and UCLA in Los Angeles and was badly needed on the heels of a 17-point defeat to UCLA on Thursday.

Senior forward John Gage (40)
Senior forward John Gage (40) played a key role in Stanford’s eight-point overtime win at USC on Sunday. (FRANK CHEN/The Stanford Daily)

Senior forward John Gage’s 12 points off the bench, all of which came in the second half and overtime, keyed the Stanford victory. It matched a season high for Gage, who also chipped in four rebounds and a career-high four steals. Not typically known for his defensive prowess, Gage made several strong defensive plays throughout the course of the second half, even while guarding a much bigger player in USC’s Omar Oraby, which greatly contributed to the Cardinal victory.

Junior guard Chasson Randle, who suffered through his worst performance of the season on Thursday against UCLA, bounced back late against the Trojans, scoring seven of his team-high 17 points in overtime to help seal the win for Stanford.

Randle, Gage and senior guard Anthony Brown were the primary contributors to the Cardinal’s overtime success. After a costly turnover with 30 seconds left in regulation that allowed USC’s Byron Wesley to hit two free throws to tie the game with 22 seconds remaining, Brown played an extremely solid overtime period, scoring five points and assisting on a Gage 3-pointer.

Wesley finished with 18 points in the defeat for the Trojans, while forward Strahinja Gavrilovic tallied a career-high 12 points off the bench to help keep USC close.

For Stanford, the game started innocuously enough. The Cardinal jumped out to an early 12-4 lead five minutes into the game before enduring a long cold stretch with Randle on the bench with two fouls that allowed USC back into the contest. USC took its first lead of the game at 17-16 on a Pe’Shon Howard three-point play, and the teams would trade baskets for the rest of the half until a technical foul on Howard allowed Randle to shoot four straight free throws. The Cardinal would enter halftime leading 32-28.

USC began the second half as the hungrier team, quickly snatching the lead from Stanford and maintaining it until a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer by Gage gave the Cardinal a three-point lead seven minutes into the half. Stanford would grow its lead to 58-51 with 3:54 remaining but failed to execute down the stretch, in the process allowing the Trojans to hang around. Five Stanford turnovers over the final 5:29 of regulation proved costly, the most expensive of those being Brown’s mistake with 30 seconds to play that gave Wesley free throws to tie the game.

As if it was finally tired of letting USC hang around, Stanford seized control of overtime from the outset, thanks in large part to the efforts of Randle, Brown and Gage. Gage’s 3-pointer with 2:53 left to play gave Stanford a commanding six-point advantage, and the Trojans would never again draw within one possession.

Senior forwards Josh Huestis and Dwight Powell were again solid for Stanford, tallying a combined 30 points on 11-of-23 shooting.

The Cardinal will now turn its attention to No. 1 Arizona, which visits Maples Pavilion on Wednesday for the marquee home game of the season. Tip off is set for 6 p.m.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Card torched by turnovers in 91-74 loss at UCLA https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/24/card-torched-by-turnovers-in-91-74-loss-at-ucla/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/24/card-torched-by-turnovers-in-91-74-loss-at-ucla/#respond Fri, 24 Jan 2014 08:10:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1081756 Call it a night of missed opportunities. The Stanford men’s basketball team struggled from the outset in its matchup against UCLA (15-4, 4-2 Pac-12) on Thursday, falling to the Bruins 91-74 in a disappointing performance that snapped a three-game conference win streak. It marked Stanford’s 16th loss in its last 17 games in Los Angeles against either UCLA or USC.

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Call it a night of missed opportunities. The Stanford men’s basketball team struggled from the outset in its matchup against UCLA (15-4, 4-2 Pac-12) on Thursday, falling to the Bruins 91-74 in a disappointing performance that snapped a three-game conference win streak. It marked Stanford’s 16th loss in its last 17 games in Los Angeles against either UCLA or USC.

Senior forward Josh Huestis (above) was one of two Cardinal players with double-doubles at UCLA, but the team's turnover issues doomed it in a 91-74 loss. (SIMON WARBY/The Stanford Daily)
Senior forward Josh Huestis (above) was one of two Cardinal players with double-doubles at UCLA, but the team’s turnover issues doomed it in a 91-74 loss. (SIMON WARBY/The Stanford Daily)

Plagued by turnovers and missed open looks, the Cardinal (12-6, 3-3) did not bring its A-game when it needed it most. Stanford shot just 38.6 percent from the field and failed to protect the ball against the Pac-12 steals leader, turning it over a season-high 19 times in the loss. It was Stanford’s highest turnover night since a 22-turnover game against Denver on Dec. 2 last season.

Despite the issues across the board, the Cardinal remained competitive for a large portion of the first half, even holding a 20-17 lead nine minutes into the game. That lead would quickly erode and then transform into a deficit shortly thereafter, as a 1-for-6 shooting stretch in combination with four turnovers saw a three-point lead become an eight-point deficit in a span of five minutes. From that point forward, the Cardinal would never again draw closer than five. UCLA led by double figures for the entirety of the second half.

In defeat, senior forward Dwight Powell registered 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Cardinal, although he was also responsible for six of the team’s turnovers. Fellow senior forward Josh Huestis also tallied a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, but he shot just 3-of-10 from the floor. His shooting performance, while poor, was not the worst a member of the Cardinal suffered on this night.

Junior guard Chasson Randle, who has spent most of the season as a deadly efficient scoring machine, finished just 3-of-16 from the floor, easily his worst shooting performance of the season.

UCLA was boosted by a career-high performance by sophomore big man Tony Parker, who dominated the interior to the tune of 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting in just 28 minutes. Guard Jordan Adams chipped in with 19 points, while forward Kyle Anderson continued to put up gaudy all-around numbers, finishing the evening with 13 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and two steals.

The keys to the game for Stanford were fairly clear-cut from the start: take care of the ball, and in the process, limit UCLA’s explosive offense. Stanford failed to do just that, and, as a result, the Bruins were able to shoot 52.3 percent from the floor, an efficiency that effectively helped shoot the Cardinal out of Pauley Pavilion. UCLA surpassed its season average of 84.4 points per game with 91 and steals-per-game average of 10.7 with 15.

The loss meant that Stanford failed to extend its conference winning streak to four, which would have marked the first time the Cardinal had attained a streak of that length since February 2008. As a result, Stanford will be forced to begin anew when it takes on USC this Sunday, in anticipation of the Cardinal’s home matchup with top-ranked Arizona next week.

Stanford will seek to exorcise some of its Los Angeles demons at the Galen Center against the Pac-12 cellar-dwelling Trojans, who found new life in Wednesday’s upset of Cal. Sunday’s tip-off is at 2 p.m.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s basketball looks to continue hot streak https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/23/mens-basketball-looks-to-continue-hot-streak/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/23/mens-basketball-looks-to-continue-hot-streak/#respond Thu, 23 Jan 2014 08:59:54 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1081700 When opportunity comes a-knockin’, it’s usually best to open the door. The Stanford men’s basketball team finds itself on the verge of a breakthrough, winners of three straight conference games and possessors of some newfound confidence. The Cardinal (12-5, 3-2 Pac-12) will travel to UCLA (14-4, 3-2) and USC (9-9, 0-5) this week with a chance to extend that winning streak, and in the process, do something the team has never done during head coach Johnny Dawkins’ tenure on the Farm: win four straight conference games.

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When opportunity comes a-knockin’, it’s usually best to open the door. The Stanford men’s basketball team finds itself on the verge of a breakthrough, winners of three straight conference games and possessors of some newfound confidence. The Cardinal (12-5, 3-2 Pac-12) will travel to UCLA (14-4, 3-2) and USC (9-9, 0-5) this week with a chance to extend that winning streak, and in the process, do something the team has never done during head coach Johnny Dawkins’ tenure on the Farm: win four straight conference games.

(Sam Girvin/The Stanford Daily)
Senior forward Dwight Powell (33) and the Cardinal will look to claim Stanford’s first four-game conference winning streak of the Dawkins era in a stiff test against UCLA. (Sam Girvin/The Stanford Daily)

The last time Stanford won four straight in conference play, it was late February 2008, and a pair of 7-foot-tall trees named Lopez roamed the paint for the Cardinal. That edition of the Men of Maples was well on its way to the school’s fifth — and most recent — Sweet Sixteen appearance in the NCAA tournament. It hasn’t even been back to the tournament since. In other words, four-game conference winning streaks should be treasured and highly sought after.

Despite the team’s recent disappointments, there is renewed hope for the Cardinal faithful, even ahead of a trip to the house of horrors that Stanford basketball knows as Los Angeles. Despite having dropped 15 of its last 16 games against the Bruins and Trojans in Los Angeles, the Cardinal stands a solid chance of extending its winning streak in the days ahead.

The main reason why is the play of junior guard Chasson Randle, who has been nothing short of scintillating through the first half of the season. The Illinois native ranks third in the conference in scoring at 19.5 points per game. He is the only guard from a major-conference team to rank in the top 40 in the country in scoring while shooting better than 50 percent from the field (52.2) and 40 percent from three-point range (42.0).

“He’s been aggressive, and he’s playing like the young man we recruited,” Dawkins said. “He’s a young man that can score; he can find guys and make guys better, and he’s done that for us this year.”

Randle has been the star of a starting lineup that has been forced to carry Stanford so far this season, due in large part to season-ending injuries to several key contributors. All five starters will have to be at their best if the Cardinal is going to knock off UCLA, which is playing its first season under head coach Steve Alford.

Stanford’s back line of seniors — Dwight Powell, Josh Huestis and Stefan Nastic — must do a good job of protecting the rim and securing defensive rebounds against the high-scoring Bruins, who at 84.4 points per game rank second in the conference in scoring.

Stanford’s fifth starter, senior guard Anthony Brown, will be tasked with the unenviable challenge of guarding UCLA’s leading scorer, sophomore Jordan Adams. If last Saturday is any indication, Brown should be up to the task. He successfully held the Pac-12’s second-leading scorer, Washington’s C.J. Wilcox, to nine points on 4-of-13 shooting in the Cardinal’s game against the Huskies, marking Wilcox’s lowest scoring output of the season.

The Bruins, much like the Cardinal, feature four double-digit scorers in Adams, all-everything Kyle Anderson and guards Zach LaVine and Norman Powell. Given the plethora of perimeter scoring talent UCLA possesses, Stanford must avoid the defensive lapses that have plagued it at times this season.

Regardless of the outcome against the highly talented Bruins, Stanford must come ready to play to avoid a letdown against USC. It can be argued that the Cardinal’s two inexplicable losses to the Trojans last season were the difference between reaching the NCAA tournament and not doing so, the latter being the fate that eventually befell Dawkins and company.

Despite having dropped all five of its conference games by double digits, USC is still good enough to pull off an upset, as evidenced by the Trojans’ victories over Xavier and Boston College earlier this season. Junior guard Byron Wesley has been a stud for first-year coach Andy Enfield so far this season, averaging 16.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, both tops on the team.

The Cardinal will look to keep its hot streak rolling at 8 p.m. on Thursday night and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Both games will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Three in a row: Cardinal heats up with victory over Washington https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/20/three-in-a-row-cardinal-heats-up-with-victory-over-washington/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/20/three-in-a-row-cardinal-heats-up-with-victory-over-washington/#respond Tue, 21 Jan 2014 07:50:45 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1081607 With the fans at Maples Pavilion warming up the atmosphere in preparation for top-ranked Arizona’s arrival in less than two weeks, junior guard Chasson Randle put on his dancing shoes, whirling and twirling his way to a career-high tying 33 points in a Stanford 79-67 victory against the Washington Huskies on Saturday night. Randle, Stanford’s […]

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With the fans at Maples Pavilion warming up the atmosphere in preparation for top-ranked Arizona’s arrival in less than two weeks, junior guard Chasson Randle put on his dancing shoes, whirling and twirling his way to a career-high tying 33 points in a Stanford 79-67 victory against the Washington Huskies on Saturday night.

Randle, Stanford’s leading scorer this season, carried the Cardinal (12-5, 3-2 Pac-12) offensively for large stretches of the game, putting his supreme ball-handling and finishing skills on full display with repeated scoring drives to the basket. Washington (11-8, 3-3) simply had no answer defensively, and, as a result, Stanford was able to slowly pull away. It was Stanford’s third consecutive strong performance after a disappointing loss to Oregon State on Jan. 9.

Junior guard Chasson Randle scored a career-high-tying 33 points during Stanford's victory against Washington, proving his position as the team's leading scorer for the season. (ZETONG LI/The Stanford Daily)
Junior guard Chasson Randle (above) scored a career-high-tying 33 points during Stanford’s victory against Washington, proving his position as the season’s leading scorer. (ZETONG LI/The Stanford Daily)

Senior forwards Dwight Powell and Josh Huestis were again solid for the Cardinal in victory, with each contributing a double-double. Although Powell was plagued by the turnover bug, coughing the ball up six times, he did finish with 17 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

Huestis added a turnover-free 13-point, 10-rebound performance, while also contributing two highlight-reel blocks that delighted the crowd. The second block moved him past Robin Lopez ’10 for second place all time on the Stanford career blocks list. He needs just 11 more to pass Tim Young and become the all-time leader in school history.

In defeat, Washington received 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists from freshman point guard Nigel Williams-Goss, who showed why he was a McDonald’s All-American coming out of high school. Shawn Kemp, Jr., son of the former Seattle SuperSonics star, added 13 points and six rebounds off the bench for the Huskies in the losing effort.

Star guard C.J. Wilcox, who came into the matchup averaging 20.3 points per game, was held in check by Stanford’s Anthony Brown and the rest of the Cardinal defense. Wilcox tallied just nine points of 4-of-13 shooting, marking the first time this season that the All-Pac-12 performer was held to scoring single digits.

“He’s one of the best players in our league,” said Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins. “I thought the thing we did well was we identified him, we tried to find him as soon as he came across half court … I thought our guys did a really good job of that.”

Stanford was hot from the outset, as it shot 54.2 percent in the first half while also getting to the line 17 times. Randle’s layup two minutes and 18 seconds into the game gave the Cardinal a 7-5 lead, one that it would not relinquish for the rest of the game.

In the second half, the Cardinal was largely successful in repeating its strategy from the first half by aggressively attacking the basket, shooting an identical 13-of-24 from the field while reaching the line 17 times. Randle was particularly phenomenal in the second frame, shooting 7-of-8 from the floor and 4-of-7 from the line for a 19-point second half. His deep 3-pointer with 13:40 to play that left his hand just before the shot clock expired salvaged a terrible offensive possession for the Cardinal and brought the crowd to its feet, capping a night when Randle could do no wrong.

“We’re a ground-and-pound team, whether it’s hitting the post or driving the basketball,” said Randle, who was also quick to credit his teammates. “I think we played like men tonight. We were aggressive on both ends of the floor.”

The win for Stanford moved the Cardinal back over .500 in conference play and marked Stanford’s first three-game conference win streak since Jan. 27-Feb. 3 of last season, when consecutive wins against Utah, Oregon and Oregon State also brought Stanford back over .500. This time around, the Cardinal is hoping that the team’s momentum will continue to carry it as Stanford hits the road this week to take on UCLA and USC.

The win over Washington moves the Cardinal into a tie for fourth place in the conference with its upcoming opponent, the Bruins of UCLA. A successful week in Los Angeles could set up a marquee showdown against top-ranked Arizona on Jan. 29, the likes of which haven’t been seen in Maples Pavilion during the Johnny Dawkins era.

First, the Cardinal must take care of business down South, and Stanford knows that UCLA is no easy task.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Cardinal basketball blows out Washington State https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/16/cardinal-basketball-blows-out-washington-state/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/16/cardinal-basketball-blows-out-washington-state/#respond Thu, 16 Jan 2014 08:28:13 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1081497 For the first 16 minutes of the game, it looked like the same old Stanford men’s basketball team. A lesser opponent was hanging around with the Cardinal when it had no business doing so. With about four minutes left to play in the half and the score tied at 27, that all changed. The bench made contributions. The Cardinal didn’t allow any second-chance points. Turnovers were limited. The zone defense was tight. A 13-2 run to end the half ensued, and Stanford never looked back.

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For the first 16 minutes of the game, it looked like the same old Stanford men’s basketball team. A lesser opponent was hanging around with the Cardinal when it had no business doing so. With about four minutes left to play in the half and the score tied at 27, that all changed. The bench made contributions. The Cardinal didn’t allow any second-chance points. Turnovers were limited. The zone defense was tight. A 13-2 run to end the half ensued, and Stanford never looked back.

(Frank Chen/The Stanford Daily)
Senior forward Josh Huestis (above) matched a team-high with 15 points, his highest total in a game since December 14. (FRANK CHEN/The Stanford Daily)

The Cardinal (11-5, 2-2 Pac-12) defeated the Washington State Cougars (8-9, 1-4) 80-48 on Wednesday night, its second consecutive conference victory after dropping the first two games of its Pac-12 slate. The 32-point margin of victory tied Stanford’s best effort this season, when the Cardinal dismantled South Dakota State 92-60 on Dec. 1. It was a complete team performance from start to finish, with seven different players tallying at least six points apiece.

Senior forwards Josh Huestis — sporting a new haircut — and Dwight Powell led the way for the Cardinal, thrilling the crowd with one vicious put-back dunk after another. Huestis finished with 15 points, five rebounds and two assists, while Powell added 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the win. After the game, Huestis attributed his first double-digit scoring effort of the conference season to the new look.

“The past few games I have been struggling, putting too much pressure on myself and just trying to find my place, but I cut my hair just to signal a new mindset and a new beginning,” Huestis said. “It looked like it worked.”

Senior guard Anthony Brown, whose similar style to that of Huestis confused many coaches in practice today, also chipped in offensively, adding 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Freshman guard Marcus Allen also chipped in 11 points, the first double-digit scoring effort of his Stanford career.

Que Johnson had 21 points in the defeat for the Cougars, who were clearly undermanned without the services of injured star player and leading scorer DaVonte Lacy. After a strong first half in which Johnson scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, he was held to just six points on 2-of-8 shooting in the second half. Lacy’s backcourt mate Royce Woolridge was the only other Cougar to reach double figures with 13 points.

“Without Lacy in the game — he’s a terrific scorer — we try to turn our attention to the other scorers, Que Johnson being one of them and Kernich-Drew being another one,” said Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins. “We really just wanted to slow those guys down and maybe get them off their rhythm a little bit. I think we were able to do that in spot moments tonight.”

Stanford marched its way to victory behind stifling defense and dominance on the interior. The Cardinal held the Cougars to just 37 percent shooting for the game, including just 29.6 percent in the second half, while manhandling WSU inside. Stanford out-rebounded the visitors 37-23 and outscored them 34-12 in the paint.

The other notable aspect of Stanford’s blowout victory — in addition to the team’s strong defense and interior play — was the contributions of the bench. Saddled by injuries to four experienced players who were supposed to be key components of the rotation, the Cardinal has struggled to receive any sort of meaningful contributions from its bench this season.

Wednesday night was a different story, as the Stanford reserves exploded for 28 points behind the strong play of Allen and senior guard Robbie Lemons, who sparked Stanford’s run in the first half.

Despite the lopsided final score, the shorthanded Cougars hung tough with the Cardinal for the first 15:46 of the game, as the score was tied at 27 apiece after a Dexter Kernich-Drew 3-pointer with 4:14 left in the half. Free throws by Powell, a three by Brown, two threes by Lemons and a layup by senior Chasson Randle before the buzzer gave Stanford an 11-point lead and clear momentum heading into the second half, neither of which the Cardinal would relinquish.

The Cardinal will now turn its attention to the Washington Huskies on Saturday in what should be a stiffer test. Tipoff is at 8 p.m.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Home sweep a must for Pac-12, NCAA hopes https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/14/home-sweep-a-must-for-pac-12-ncaa-hopes/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/14/home-sweep-a-must-for-pac-12-ncaa-hopes/#respond Wed, 15 Jan 2014 07:28:55 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1081449 After scoring an upset win on Sunday against then-No. 17 Oregon, the Stanford men’s basketball team finds itself in an interesting position heading into its games against Washington State and Washington this week at home. With a sweep, the Cardinal could put itself not only back in the thick of the conference race, but also in the hunt for an NCAA tournament bid. With anything less, Stanford will put itself back in a hole.

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After scoring an upset win on Sunday against then-No. 17 Oregon, the Stanford men’s basketball team finds itself in an interesting position heading into its games against Washington State and Washington this week at home. With a sweep, the Cardinal could put itself not only back in the thick of the conference race, but also in the hunt for an NCAA tournament bid. With anything less, Stanford will put itself back in a hole.

The Cardinal (10-5, 1-2 Pac-12) put forth two of its most incongruous performances of the season last week on the road in Oregon. Stanford suffered an ignominious 81-72 defeat at the hands of the Oregon State Beavers last Thursday night in Corvallis, Ore. — its first loss in its past five meetings against OSU — before gaining some method of redemption with the win over the Ducks in Eugene, Ore.

(BEN SULITEANU/The Stanford Daily)
Senior guard Anthony Brown (21) rebounded from a tough loss against Oregon State to provide offensive fire power against the Ducks with 24 points. (BEN SULITEANU/The Stanford Daily)

As has been the case all season long, junior guard Chasson Randle was again at the forefront of Stanford’s efforts in both victory and defeat, averaging 26.5 points on 56.3 percent shooting in the two games last week. Had Stanford managed to avoid the disaster in Corvallis, it is likely Randle would have picked up his second Pac-12 Player of the Week honor of the season. Instead, the award went to Cal’s Justin Cobbs, whose team swept the Oregon schools. Randle is now averaging 19.5 points per game this season, which puts him third in the Pac-12.

No one player’s week summed the team’s performances like senior guard Anthony Brown, who struggled mightily against Oregon State on Thursday before bouncing back to score a career-high 24 points against Oregon on Sunday. Stanford’s backcourt duo of Brown and Randle has been one of the team’s strengths all season long, and if the pair can continue to put up simultaneous performances like the one they put together against Oregon, the Cardinal can be awfully tough to beat.

Washington State (8-8, 1-3) is the first test for Stanford this week. Much like the matchup with Oregon State, the Cardinal will again be heavily favored, but the Cougars have the ability to create some serious problems should Stanford not be on its game. WSU plays a low-possession, low-scoring brand of basketball that can be frustrating for opponents at times, as evidenced by the Cougars’ 49-46 upset victory over Utah last week.

“They play different defenses,” said Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins. “They’ll mix their defenses, so that’s something you always have to be prepared for. They’ll play some man, some zone, and the kids are very active.”

That said, WSU is in the midst of an uphill battle, as the Cougars will carry on without leading scorer DaVonte Lacy, who will miss the next four to six weeks with an injury. Lacy, at 17.7 points per game, is currently the only WSU player averaging double figures. His absence should make it even tougher for the already offensively challenged Cougars to score against the Cardinal.

In his absence, guards Que Johnson and Royce Woolridge and forward D.J. Shelton will be the WSU players to keep an eye on.

In contrast to WSU, Washington (11-6, 3-1) is healthy and playing some of its best basketball of the season. After a shaky start, the Huskies have won seven of their past nine contests, including an upset win over No. 21 Colorado on Sunday. Washington features a high-powered offense led by star senior guard C.J. Wilcox, an NBA prospect who is second in the Pac-12 in scoring at 20.5 points per game.

Freshman Nigel Williams-Goss, a McDonald’s High School All-American, and conspicuously named sophomore guard Andrew Andrews provide support for Wilcox in the backcourt, while University of San Francisco transfer Perris Blackwell anchors the interior. Stanford would be wise to use its height advantage against the Huskies: Blackwell is the only member of the rotation taller than 6-foot-5.

Tip off at Maples Pavilion is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday night and 8 p.m. on Saturday night as the Cardinal looks to get itself back in the Pac-12 race.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s basketball rebounds with win at No. 17 Oregon https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/12/mens-basketball-rebounds-with-win-at-no-17-oregon/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/12/mens-basketball-rebounds-with-win-at-no-17-oregon/#respond Mon, 13 Jan 2014 07:32:57 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1081382 The Stanford men’s basketball team finally found an opponent that was reeling worse than it was and took advantage of the opportunity to score a win over a ranked opponent on the road. The Cardinal (10-5, 1-2 Pac-12) held on to defeat the No. 17 Oregon Ducks (13-3, 1-3 Pac-12) 82-80 on Sunday, giving Stanford […]

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The Stanford men’s basketball team finally found an opponent that was reeling worse than it was and took advantage of the opportunity to score a win over a ranked opponent on the road.

The Cardinal (10-5, 1-2 Pac-12) held on to defeat the No. 17 Oregon Ducks (13-3, 1-3 Pac-12) 82-80 on Sunday, giving Stanford its first Pac-12 win of the season while handing Oregon its third consecutive loss. After starting the year 13-0, the Ducks have now lost to Colorado, California and Stanford in consecutive games.

The game was a fight to the finish as the Cardinal was not able to secure the victory until senior forward Dwight Powell corralled Dominic Artis’ missed layup attempt that rolled off the front of the rim as time expired. Paired with Stanford’s upset win earlier this season at UConn, the victory over the Ducks marks the first time the Cardinal has won multiple road games over ranked teams in the same season since the 2001-02 campaign, and the first time it has defeated two ranked teams home or away since the 2008-09 season.

Senior forward Dwight Powell (above) provided the only offense in the frontcourt for the Cardinal in its 82-80 upset over the Ducks. (BEN SULITEANU/The Stanford Daily)
Senior forward Dwight Powell (above) provided the only offense in the frontcourt for the Cardinal in its 82-80 upset victory over the Ducks. (BEN SULITEANU/The Stanford Daily)

After struggling through a 1-10 shooting night against Oregon State, senior guard Anthony Brown came out on fire this time around, making his first seven shots en route to a career-high 24 points. He finished 10-of-12 from the floor and added six rebounds, two assists and a steal.

“After going 1-10 against Oregon State on Thursday, I just had to move forward,” Brown said. “I haven’t had a game like that all season. I told the team I felt like I let them down. During this game, I just wanted to make sure my energy level was there.”

“Anthony stepped up,” said junior guard Chasson Randle. “The starters had a talk after the Oregon State game and Anthony stepped up and said, ‘I’ve got you guys. We’re going to do it together but I’m going to step up next game.’”

While Brown led the scoring for Stanford, Randle nearly matched him with 23 points, capping a stellar offensive week for the Cardinal’s leading scorer. After scoring 30 points and shooting over 50 percent from the floor against Oregon State on Thursday, Randle was again efficient, finishing 8-of-14 from the field, including 2-for-4 from the 3-point range.

Stanford’s starting backcourt was stellar on Sunday, and it had to be, because senior frontcourt starters Josh Huestis and Stefan Nastic struggled mightily. Although Powell tallied 14 points, six assists, and five rebounds, Huestis finished the game 0-for-7 from the field, and Nastic registered just four points and three rebounds before fouling out after playing only 12 minutes.

As a result, the bench was forced to play more extensive minutes. Depth has been an issue for Stanford all season long, especially given the injuries sustained by Andy Brown, Christian Sanders, Aaron Bright and Rosco Allen. On Sunday, Stanford’s bench was actually something of an asset, as seniors Robbie Lemons and John Gage and freshman Marcus Allen managed to chip in a combined 16 points, five rebounds and two assists. It was a dramatic improvement from the previous two games, when the substitutes only managed to contribute two points total against Cal and Oregon State.

Stanford led Oregon 59-50 after an Anthony Brown jump shot with 13:30 left to play, and then somehow managed to withstand a stretch in which the Ducks scored a 3-pointer on four straight possessions, three of them by senior forward Mike Moser.

The Cardinal was able to counter with a 3 and a pair of 2-point baskets of its own to keep the lead at four, and it would manage to cling to a similarly small lead for the rest of the game. The Ducks failed to capitalize on the five free throws Stanford missed down the stretch, including three in the final 14 seconds of the game.

“We hadn’t won a Pac-12 game, so it’s good to get one under your belt,” said head coach Johnny Dawkins. “The way we did it was really good because I felt the guys had to dig deep and make some plays at the end to secure the lead.”

Dawkins and Stanford will hope that this game can serve as a turning point for the season moving forward. The Cardinal will look to establish some consistently strong play when it hosts Washington State on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Unheralded Beavers chomp through Card https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/09/unheralded-beavers-chomp-through-card/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/09/unheralded-beavers-chomp-through-card/#comments Fri, 10 Jan 2014 07:19:12 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1081373 Despite an outstanding offensive performance by junior guard Chasson Randle, the Stanford men’s basketball team suffered its most disappointing loss of the season on Thursday night, falling to the Oregon State Beavers 81-72 in Corvallis, Ore. The loss drops Stanford (9-5) to 0-2 in the Pac-12, while the Beavers (9-6) move to 1-2 in the conference.

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Despite an outstanding offensive performance by junior guard Chasson Randle, the Stanford men’s basketball team suffered its most disappointing loss of the season on Thursday night, falling to the Oregon State Beavers 81-72 in Corvallis, Ore. The loss drops Stanford (9-5) to 0-2 in the Pac-12, while the Beavers (9-6) move to 1-2 in the conference.

Thirty points from junior guard Chasson Randle (above) weren't enough for Stanford to beat Oregon State on the road on Thursday night. (MICHAEL LIU/The Stanford Daily)
Thirty points from junior guard Chasson Randle (above) weren’t enough for Stanford to beat Oregon State on the road on Thursday night. (MICHAEL LIU/The Stanford Daily)

Stanford was outplayed by Oregon State from start to finish, falling behind early and struggling late in a forgettable performance that could trigger the wheels of change for the program. Despite entering the game last in the conference in rebounding margin and 3-point field goal percentage defense, the Beavers outrebounded the Cardinal 38-33 and held Stanford to a paltry 2-for-8 from behind the arc, proving that the Cardinal was both out-hustled and out-executed by a less talented team.

Junior forward Eric Moreland, playing in just his third game of the season, proved to be Stanford’s foil, registering a monster performance with 17 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and four blocks. He had plenty of support from the Pac-12’s leading scorer, Roberto Nelson, who met his average by pouring in 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting, and freshman Hallice Cooke, who had a career-high 16 points in his first ever start for the Beavers.

As has sometimes been the case this season, a terrific individual effort by Randle wasn’t enough to save the Cardinal. Stanford’s leading scorer finished the night with 30 points on 10-for-18 shooting and was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line. Senior forward Dwight Powell added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Stanford, but shot just 4-for-11 from the field and turned the ball over a season-high six times.

OSU outshot Stanford 47.2 percent to 41.4 percent and was a terrific 8-for-15 from 3-point range. The difference in the 3-point shooting alone was enough to make up the final deficit of the game, a surprising result considering the strengths of the two teams entering the game. Stanford had entered the contest second in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage, but that advantage hardly showed on this night.

The Cardinal started the game slowly, falling behind quickly 12-6 thanks to three baskets by Nelson, before slowly crawling its way back into the contest. Stanford actually took a 15-14 lead with 10:41 remaining in the half on a jumper by Randle but the Beavers quickly regained control of the game with a 13-3 run to give themselves a 27-18 lead with 7:03 left in the half. Stanford was eventually able to whittle the lead to five by halftime, 37-32, after Randle scored once more with two seconds remaining.

Much of the second half proved to be a back-and-forth affair until Stanford went on a 12-6 run to cut the Oregon State lead to two with 10:55 left to play. Oregon State answered immediately, and a 3-pointer by Cooke and a layup by Moreland reestablished the Beavers’ lead at seven.

Senior Anthony Brown’s 3-pointer with 4:27 to play once again reduced OSU’s lead to two and a 3-point play by Randle with 2:59 left restored that same deficit, but a killer sequence that saw OSU outscore Stanford 5-0 over a one-minute stretch essentially put the Cardinal to bed.

It was Stanford’s first defeat to Oregon State in its last five contests, ending a streak that spanned the past two seasons.

Moving forward, the Cardinal must turn its attention to the No. 17 Oregon Ducks, a tough task to handle following a disappointing defeat such as the one endured on Thursday night. If it’s any consolation for the Cardinal, the Ducks (13-2, 1-2) are playing their worst basketball of the season at the moment, having dropped their second consecutive home game on Thursday night to Cal. Stanford will hope to exploit whatever is ailing Oregon and defeat the Ducks to turn around what has been yet another disappointing start to a season.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s basketball seeks first conference victory https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/08/mens-basketball-seeks-first-conference-victory/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/08/mens-basketball-seeks-first-conference-victory/#respond Thu, 09 Jan 2014 07:37:16 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1081297 After a disappointing home loss to Cal last week in its conference opener, the Stanford men’s basketball team will hit the road this week to take on both Oregon schools in a crucial stretch for the team’s Pac-12 aspirations. A road sweep of Oregon State (8-6, 0-2 Pac-12) and No. 17 Oregon (13-2, 1-1) could do wonders to restore Stanford’s confidence early in the conference season.

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After a disappointing home loss to Cal last week in its conference opener, the Stanford men’s basketball team will hit the road this week to take on both Oregon schools in a crucial stretch for the team’s Pac-12 aspirations. A road sweep of Oregon State (8-6, 0-2 Pac-12) and No. 17 Oregon (13-2, 1-1) could do wonders to restore Stanford’s confidence early in the conference season.

(Zetong Li/The Stanford Daily)
Senior center Stefan Nastic (4) will look to use his size as an advantage against a smaller Oregon team on Sunday. (Zetong Li/The Stanford Daily)

At the very least, the Cardinal (9-4, 0-1) must come away with a split to avoid a disastrous 0-3 start to conference play, and that should be manageable given the favorable matchup with Oregon State on Thursday night in Corvallis, Ore. OSU has lost three of its last four games, including two last week against Colorado and Utah during the opening week of conference play.

The Beavers have been particularly poor in two crucial categories: defense and rebounding. OSU is giving up 73.7 points per game — just 10th in the conference — and features the worst three-point defense in the conference, allowing 37.6 percent shooting from behind the arc.

Oregon State compounds its inability to contest shots by not doing a very good job of grabbing the shots that do miss. OSU ranks dead last in the Pac-12 in rebounding margin. Given Stanford’s ability to shoot the three — the Cardinal ranks second in the conference in three-point field goal percentage at 41.2 percent — junior guard Chasson Randle and company should be able to shoot over OSU’s defense and grab a fair number of offensive rebounds along the way. This should translate into a high-scoring night for the Cardinal.

Despite their defensive struggles, the Beavers field a dangerous offense that features senior guard Roberto Nelson, the conference’s leading scorer at 21.1 points per game, and senior forward Devon Collier, a nightly double-double threat. If Stanford can slow down one of Oregon State’s two leading scorers and dominate the glass against the worst rebounding team in the conference, the Cardinal should be able to corral the victory in Corvallis.

Sunday’s contest in Eugene figures to be an entirely different affair for Stanford, as the Cardinal is sure to be a heavy underdog against the 17th-ranked Ducks. Led by the sweet shooting of junior guard Joseph Young and the strong interior play of senior forward Mike Moser — both transfers — the Ducks will be eager to defend their home court after suffering their first loss of the season on Sunday against Colorado.

Oregon’s high-flying attack will be a tough test for Stanford’s recently improved defense. The Ducks lead the conference in scoring with 89.4 points per game and three-point field goal percentage at 41.4 percent, and they rank second in both free throw attempts and free throw shooting percentage. Oregon has scored at least 70 points in all but one game this season, while Stanford’s defense hasn’t allowed an opponent to score 70 since an 88-67 defeat to Pittsburgh on Nov. 26 — a stretch of six straight games.

For Stanford to find success against Oregon, the defensive improvements that the Cardinal has shown over the past few weeks must prove to be sustainable. The Cardinal simply cannot afford to find itself in a shootout, or odds are Stanford will wind up on the wrong side of the scoreboard. The Men of Maples would be wise to take a page out of the football team’s book: Control the tempo and pound the ball inside. The Ducks simply do not have the size to contend with the interior scoring abilities of Stanford senior forward Dwight Powell and senior center Stefan Nastic — nobody taller than 6-foot-8 has played more than 11 minutes per game for Oregon.

Thursday night’s game against Oregon State will tip off at 7 p.m., viewable on Pac-12 Bay Area, while Sunday’s contest against Oregon commences at 2 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.

Contact Daniel Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Plagued by lack of depth, men’s basketball drops Pac-12 opener to Cal https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/04/mens-basketball-plagued-by-lack-of-depth-drops-pac-12-opener-to-cal/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/01/04/mens-basketball-plagued-by-lack-of-depth-drops-pac-12-opener-to-cal/#respond Sat, 04 Jan 2014 23:25:09 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1081188 Any optimism brought about by the Stanford men’s basketball team’s recent East Coast road trip will have to temporarily be put on hold, as the Cardinal (9-4, 0-1 Pac-12) dropped its Pac-12 opener to Cal (10-4, 1-0) 69-62 at home on Thursday night.

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Any optimism brought about by the Stanford men’s basketball team’s recent East Coast road trip will have to temporarily be put on hold, as the Cardinal (9-4, 0-1 Pac-12) dropped its Pac-12 opener to Cal (10-4, 1-0) 69-62 at home on Thursday night.

Although the game was close throughout, it was Cal that better executed its game plan and made the big shots down the stretch. The Golden Bears held the Cardinal to just 36.4-percent shooting in the second half and 28.6-percent overall from 3-point range.

Despite strong play by Chason Randle (center) and the rest of Stanford's starters, the Cardinal's poor depth was exposed in a Pac-12 opening loss to Cal Thursday. (BOB DREBIN/The Stanford Daily)
Despite strong play by Chason Randle (center) and the rest of Stanford’s starters, the Cardinal’s poor depth was exposed in a Pac-12 opening loss to Cal Thursday. (BOB DREBIN/The Stanford Daily)

Stanford is a team that prides itself on its defense, and, despite holding its archrival to 42.1-percent shooting for the game, the Cardinal could not find the answers on the offensive end to come away with the victory. Stanford tallied a season-low seven assists and made just 10 of 20 free throws, which compounded the team’s problems shooting from the field.

“We didn’t finish as well as we usually do,” head coach Johnny Dawkins told GoStanford.com. “We didn’t shoot from the line how we usually do, and that is very disappointing. It is something that our guys work on, and they know the importance of it.”

The Cardinal was able to stay close in the second half thanks to a tremendous effort by senior forward Dwight Powell, who scored 15 of the team’s 19 points over a 10-minute stretch in the second half before fouling out.

Despite the problems the team was having offensively, Stanford was able to put together a 13-3 run to take a 56-54 lead with 5:17 remaining, capped by a Powell free throw.

From there on out, however, Cal’s senior guard and leading scorer Justin Cobbs took over, rallying the Bears by scoring nine of his 18 points, in addition to an assist on a dunk, in the final 3:31 of the game.

Two costly turnovers by Stanford junior Chasson Randle allowed the Bears to take a four-point lead with 2:36 remaining, and a terrific offensive sequence by Cobbs on consecutive possessions gave the Bears a 64-58 lead with 1:06 left to play.

Free throws by Randle, a missed free throw by Cal sophomore Tyrone Wallace and a jumper by Randle once more cut the Cal lead to one possession, 65-62, with 0:53 left, but the Cardinal was never able to get any closer. Cobbs iced the game by scoring the final four points for the Golden Bears, who secured their first victory at Maples Pavilion since March 6, 2010.

Dwight Powell led the Cardinal with 16 points, while Randle added 15 and senior Anthony Brown contributed 14.

Wallace paced the Bears with 20, while Cobbs finished with 18 and senior Richard Solomon contributed 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Stanford’s lack of depth, which has become an issue due to the season-ending injuries sustained by senior guard Aaron Bright, sophomore guard Christian Sanders and fifth-year senior forward Andy Brown, was a glaring weakness for the Cardinal throughout, but especially down the stretch. The bench failed to score a single point for Stanford for the second time in four games, and it was clear that Dawkins had few reliable options to turn to when seniors Stefan Nastic and Powell fouled out in the final four minutes of the game.

“Stefan fouling out was big. He anchors our post and not having him in there hurt us,” Dawkins told GoStanford.com. “It was a tough play. He was being aggressive. We want him going in there to the offensive boards, and it was unfortunate that he went over a young man’s back. He was giving us a presence down there. A lot of our offense flows with what we do with him.”

As the Pac-12 season progresses, it is clear that someone will have to step up to help shoulder some of the starters’ load. Against Cal, Stanford’s starting lineup of Randle, Brown, Huestis, Powell and Nastic played a combined 179 out of a possible 200 minutes, and it would have been more had Powell and Nastic not fouled out.

The Cardinal will search for some answers offensively and look to find a solution for its depth problem when it takes on Oregon State and Oregon on the road next week.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Furious rally by Randle-led Card falls short against Michigan https://stanforddaily.com/2013/12/22/furious-rally-by-randle-led-cardinal-falls-short-against-michigan/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/12/22/furious-rally-by-randle-led-cardinal-falls-short-against-michigan/#respond Mon, 23 Dec 2013 06:33:58 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1081118 The Stanford men’s basketball team came away from its East Coast holiday trip with a hard-earned split after falling to the Michigan Wolverines (7-4) 68-65 on Saturday night. Just three nights earlier, the Cardinal had rallied from a double-digit second half deficit to stun the tenth-ranked and then-undefeated Connecticut Huskies. However, in a similar situation against the Wolverines, the Stanford comeback fell just short.

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The Stanford men’s basketball team came away from its East Coast holiday trip with a hard-earned split after falling to the Michigan Wolverines (7-4) 68-65 on Saturday night. Just three nights earlier, the Cardinal had rallied from a double-digit second half deficit to stun the tenth-ranked and then-undefeated Connecticut Huskies. However, in a similar situation against the Wolverines, the Stanford comeback fell just short.

(HECTOR GARCIA-MOLINA/stanfordphoto.com)
Junior guard Chasson Randle (left) scored all 18 of his points in the second half against Michigan, but his standout effort wasn’t enough for another big Stanford victory on its East Coast road trip. (HECTOR GARCIA-MOLINA/stanfordphoto.com)

Despite outshooting the Wolverines 45.8 percent to 40.4 percent, the Cardinal (8-3) was unable to overcome the turnover problems that have plagued the team throughout the season. Stanford had 12 turnovers to just nine assists for the game, marking the fifth time this season in which the team has registered more turnovers than assists in a game.

Junior guard Chasson Randle was again spectacular for Stanford, scoring all 18 of his points in the second half to spearhead the Cardinal comeback attempt. Senior center Stefan Nastic also provided a boost offensively for Stanford, matching a career high with 14 points.

The game was close throughout, as Stanford jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start before Michigan responded with the next seven points. The Wolverines would extend their lead to 25-17 on a three-pointer by forward Glenn Robinson III with 4:22 to go in the first half before Stanford closed the lead to three by halftime.

Michigan’s lead was four with 12:03 remaining in the second half before a three by guard Nik Stauskas sparked the defining run of the game for the Wolverines. A series of bad offensive possessions by the Cardinal allowed Michigan to extend its lead to ten with 7:32 remaining when guard Spike Albrecht hit a long three-pointer as the shot clock expired.

Randle took over from there on out, scoring 14 of his 18 points in the final 5:41 of the game as he relentlessly attacked the basket with each possession. His jumper narrowed the Wolverine lead to just two with 2:21 remaining in the game, bringing Stanford within one possession for the first time since the 15:31 mark of the second half.

However, two missed free throws down the stretch from Randle and sophomore center Grant Verhoeven proved costly for the Cardinal, which led to a four-point Michigan lead with 14 seconds remaining after a tough layup by Robinson scored over Verhoeven’s outstretched arms.

Stanford’s hopes were seemingly dashed the Cardinal went down two possessions with less than 15 seconds remaining. However, Randle promptly came streaking down the court once more, scoring a layup and being fouled in the process. After making the freebie, Michigan’s lead was down to just one with 0:09 remaining. Stanford immediately fouled Stauskas on the inbounds, and Michigan’s sharpshooter made both free throws to extend the lead back to three.

Stanford’s fate was not sealed until Randle’s three-point prayer with 0:02 remaining clanked off the front of the rim and Michigan’s Zak Irvin secured the rebound and the victory for the Wolverines.

Despite the loss, head coach Johnny Dawkins was encouraged by his team’s effort against the defending national runners-up.

“I thought our group had its moments,” Dawkins said. “I think towards the end of the game we did a good job of making a run, but we could never get over the hump. Michigan made the plays they needed to make to seal the game.”

Michigan coach John Beilein was also complimentary of Stanford following the game.

“I really think Stanford has a terrific team,” Beilein said. “It’s something you don’t see anymore with the experience they have.”

The Cardinal will be looking for more than just high praise the next time out, especially as the level of competition gets better as the Cardinal enters Pac-12 play. Stanford must find answers to its turnover problem, especially in the absence of senior guard Aaron Bright.

The Cardinal will play its final non-conference game against Cal Poly on Dec. 29 before opening its conference slate on Jan. 2 against Cal in an inconveniently scheduled game. The Cal game will mark the third time in four years that Stanford will open conference play at home during winter break, when the student body is absent and unable to cheer on the Men of Maples.

Contact Daniel Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Randle, second-half defense spur Stanford’s comeback victory at No. 10 Connecticut https://stanforddaily.com/2013/12/19/randle-second-half-defense-spur-stanfords-comeback-victory-at-no-10-connecticut/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/12/19/randle-second-half-defense-spur-stanfords-comeback-victory-at-no-10-connecticut/#comments Thu, 19 Dec 2013 19:21:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1081107 Despite its worst shooting night of the season, a terrible end to the first half, long droughts on the offensive end and a plethora of missed free throws down the stretch, the Stanford men’s basketball team was finally able to accomplish something on Wednesday night that it had never done under head coach Johnny Dawkins: […]

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Despite its worst shooting night of the season, a terrible end to the first half, long droughts on the offensive end and a plethora of missed free throws down the stretch, the Stanford men’s basketball team was finally able to accomplish something on Wednesday night that it had never done under head coach Johnny Dawkins: beat a marquee nonconference opponent on the road.

The Cardinal (8-2) prevailed 53-51 over the tenth-ranked and previously unbeaten Connecticut Huskies (9-1), giving Stanford its first win over a ranked opponent away from Maples Pavilion since a March 5, 2009, upset over current NBA star James Harden and No. 21 Arizona State.

Junior guard Chasson Randle (5) (BOB DREBIN/StanfordPhoto.com)
Junior guard Chasson Randle (5) led the Cardinal to an upset at No. 10 Connecticut with 22 points. (BOB DREBIN/StanfordPhoto.com)

The win, by all accounts, was a stunner. Not only had Stanford struggled on the road in recent memory, but it was also Connecticut’s first home loss against a nonconference opponent since Jan. 20, 2007, snapping a 54-game home winning streak against nonconference foes.

History would have been enough to make the end result of this game surprising. But the way in which the Cardinal overcame the Huskies was altogether astonishing.

Close throughout most of the first half, Connecticut led Stanford 30-28 with 3:08 remaining after Stanford junior guard Chasson Randle nailed a three-pointer. The Huskies then embarked on what appeared at the time to be a backbreaking 8-0 run to close the half, including two fast-break layups over the final 31 seconds to give Connecticut a 10-point lead going to into halftime.

Connecticut would extend its lead to 13 with 16:50 remaining in the game on a layup by Niels Giffey before Stanford would finally dig its heels in defensively.

All season long, Coach Dawkins has preached overcoming adversity to his team. Down 13 on the road to a ranked opponent in the second half, it seemed as though the Cardinal was on its way to another ho-hum disappointment that has at times been characteristic of the Dawkins era. But the Cardinal, aided in part by poor offensive play from UConn, finally made its stand.

“To win the game, and the way we won it, defensively, speaks a lot about our kids,” Dawkins said.

After getting three-pointers on consecutive possessions by senior Anthony Brown and Randle to cut the deficit to 43-36, the Stanford 2-3 zone defense would allow just four more field goals over the final 16:50 of the game. Stanford held the Huskies to an incredibly low 16.1 percent (5-31) from the field in the second half, a performance that allowed the Cardinal to overcome its own poor shooting.

“It was one of the best efforts I’ve ever seen for a half,” Dawkins said. “I’m just really proud of their effort.”

Stanford slowly chipped away at Connecticut’s advantage before taking the lead with 10:54 to play on an and-one layup by Randle, rousing the Cardinal bench to its feet. The two teams would trade baskets and one-point leads over the next four minutes until Stanford finally took the lead for good with just over three and half minutes remaining on a jumper by Randle, who was the Cardinal’s only consistent source of offense on the night.

Despite two missed free throws on Stanford’s final two possessions by senior Josh Huestis, who otherwise played a stellar game, the Cardinal was able to hold on to its two-point lead during Connecticut’s final possession. Shabazz Napier and Omar Calhoun missed contested jump shots in the game’s waning moments, sealing the victory for exuberant Stanford.

While Randle’s 22 points certainly provided the offensive heroics for Stanford, seniors Huestis and Dwight Powell were instrumental in the Cardinal victory. Huestis finished with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting in addition to 10 rebounds, while Powell survived one of the worst shooting nights of his career to stuff the stat sheet with 10 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, four blocks and two steals. The rebounding and ‘dirty work’ done by Stanford’s two co-captains, who played a combined 78 minutes, showed the national television audience why the Cardinal’s frontcourt is one of the best in the country.

“This was huge for us,” said Huestis. “We knew inside our locker room we could compete with anybody, but not until you prove it.”

Stanford has a chance to prove itself once more when it heads to Brooklyn, N.Y., on Saturday to face last year’s NCAA runner-up, Michigan. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m.

Contact Daniel Lupin at delupin ‘at’ Stanford.edu.

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Stanford routs UC-Davis, tough East Coast trip looms https://stanforddaily.com/2013/12/16/stanford-routs-uc-davis-ahead-of-looming-east-coast-trip/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/12/16/stanford-routs-uc-davis-ahead-of-looming-east-coast-trip/#respond Mon, 16 Dec 2013 19:59:42 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1081081 The Stanford men’s basketball team showed few signs of rust following its two-week finals break, defeating the UC-Davis Aggies (3-8) 83-56 in a rout from start to finish. Stanford jumped out to a 22-5 lead and never looked back, overwhelming the Aggies with its shooting and scoring balance. The Cardinal featured an offensive attack that […]

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The Stanford men’s basketball team showed few signs of rust following its two-week finals break, defeating the UC-Davis Aggies (3-8) 83-56 in a rout from start to finish. Stanford jumped out to a 22-5 lead and never looked back, overwhelming the Aggies with its shooting and scoring balance. The Cardinal featured an offensive attack that saw four starters score in double figures, led by junior Chasson Randle’s 16 points.

Stanford (7-2) shot a blistering 58.5 percent from the field, including 55 percent from three-point range, en route to one of its most impressive offensive performances of the season. The Cardinal tallied a season-best 22 assists, including six from senior forward Dwight Powell, despite playing just its second game without injured senior guard Aaron Bright, the team leader in assists for each of the past two seasons.

The hot shooting of Stanford’s backcourt has been a storyline for the Cardinal to start the season, and Saturday night’s performance against the Aggies was another feather in the respective hats of Randle and fellow backcourt mate Anthony Brown.

Randle scored his 16 points on five three-pointers and a free throw, finishing 5-of-6 from three to up his percentage from behind the arc to 41 percent for the season.

Senior Anthony Brown (21) again provided an efficient performance for the Cardinal, scoring 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting. (isiphotos.com)
Senior Anthony Brown (21) again provided an efficient performance for the Cardinal, scoring 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor. (isiphotos.com)

Brown, a senior who has arguably been Stanford’s best player in his return from last season’s hip injury, scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-3 from three point range. He is now shooting 58.3 percent from the field and 60 percent on 21-of-35 shooting from three-point range for the season, which currently ranks him sixth amongst all players in Division I.

Seniors Powell and Josh Huestis were also stellar for the Cardinal against the Aggies, as both continued to produce the all-around performances that will be crucial for Stanford moving forward. Powell tallied 15 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals, while Huestis added 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and four blocks.

“We have different guys in different attack positions spread around the floor,” Powell said. “The more we can take advantage of guys’ strengths, the more in tune we can be as an offense. It makes everything a lot easier when guys are doing what they do best in comfortable situations.”

As impressive as Stanford’s offense was, the real focus for the Cardinal moving forward has to be its defense, which has struggled against the few quality opponents it has faced thus far this season.

Saturday night was a step in the right direction, as Stanford held UC-Davis to just 34.5 percent shooting, its best defensive effort of the season, while also forcing 14 turnovers.

“We have been spending a lot more time on our defense,” said head coach Johnny Dawkins. “We made an effort to clear up some things defensively that we thought were hurting us. Our guys bought into that. They understand the importance of defending and what that does for you to have a chance to win.”

It remains to be seen whether or not the Cardinal will be able to maintain the same level of defensive intensity and execution against higher-caliber teams, which the Cardinal will certainly encounter later this week. Stanford will hit the road for games at No. 10 UConn on Wednesday and against last season’s national runner-up, Michigan, in Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday. Stanford’s performance against these two opponents, arguably its two toughest of the non-conference season, could determine the trajectory for the rest of its season.

To have success against UConn and Michigan, the Cardinal’s defense must improve. In its two losses to BYU and Pitt this season, Stanford is allowing 100 points per game on 52.1 percent shooting, while forcing just eight turnovers a game. Better defensive rotation and increased ball pressure should be the solution for Stanford, which has displayed an ability to impose its will against lesser foes, like it did against UC-Davis on Saturday.

“Defense is something we hang our hats on,” Powell said. “We are always trying to get stronger and impose our will on that end of the court.”

Come Wednesday, Stanford’s new-look defense will certainly be tested. Tune in to ESPN2 at 6 p.m. to find out if the Cardinal is up to the challenge.

Contact Daniel E. Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Dawkins earns 100th career victory in Cardinal triumph over SDSU https://stanforddaily.com/2013/12/03/dawkins-earns-100th-career-victory-in-cardinal-triumph-over-sdsu/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/12/03/dawkins-earns-100th-career-victory-in-cardinal-triumph-over-sdsu/#respond Tue, 03 Dec 2013 08:52:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1080907 After a frustrating 88-67 loss to Pittsburgh last week in the championship game of the Progressive Legends Classic, the Stanford men’s basketball team was able to exorcise some of its demons on Sunday night with a 92-60 rout of the South Dakota State (SDSU) Jackrabbits in the final game of the Classic at Maples Pavilion. […]

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After a frustrating 88-67 loss to Pittsburgh last week in the championship game of the Progressive Legends Classic, the Stanford men’s basketball team was able to exorcise some of its demons on Sunday night with a 92-60 rout of the South Dakota State (SDSU) Jackrabbits in the final game of the Classic at Maples Pavilion. The win sent the team into the two-week finals break on a positive note and delivered head coach Johnny Dawkins his 100th career victory.

After being outplayed from start to finish by Pitt in the game last Tuesday, Stanford (6-2) looked to jump out to a quick start in Sunday’s contest. The Cardinal had started slowly in almost every game this season but reversed that trend this time around, scoring the first 13 points of the game en route to an early 19-3 lead.

Junior guard Chasson Randle led the Cardinal charge against the Jackrabbits on Sunday, scoring 17 of his 21 points in the first half. (BEN SULITEANU/The Stanford Daily)
Junior guard Chasson Randle led the Cardinal charge against the Jackrabbits on Sunday, scoring 17 of his 21 points in the first half. (BEN SULITEANU/The Stanford Daily)

The Cardinal widened the gap behind hot shooting and equally cold marksmanship from the Jackrabbits (3-6). Stanford shot a blistering 66.7 percent from the field in the first half while holding SDSU to just 30 percent. It marked the best defensive half of the season for Stanford from both a points (24) and shooting-percentage standpoint.

“I thought we got off to just a very good start. Right from the beginning our guys were ready to go,” Dawkins said. “Something we had talked about was seeing if we could start games better, and our kids did a great job of it today.”

Junior Chasson Randle led the charge in the first half with 17 points and three assists for Stanford, while seniors Anthony Brown and Josh Huestis added 14 and 10 points respectively. Stanford dominated just about every aspect of the game in racing out to a 34-point halftime lead (58-24), having outshot, outrebounded and out-assisted SDSU.

SDSU, which was a 25-win NCAA-tournament team a season ago, is clearly not the same without current Milwaukee Bucks guard Nate Wolters. Wolters, a third-team All-American for the 2013 season, was the leader of a team that never quit and could shoot the lights out on any given night. With their former leader gone, it is clear that—at least in the early part of this season—the Jackrabbits are still searching for their identity. The lone bright spot for the Jackrabbits was the play of seniors Brayden Carlson and Jordan Dykstra, who finished with 16 and 20 points respectively.

For the Cardinal, Randle’s 21 points marked the fifth straight game and sixth time this season that a Stanford player had tallied at least 20 points in a game. Brown finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists to continue the strong start to his comeback season, while Huestis contributed 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks in a solid all-around effort.

“I think we worked really hard in the past couple days after we came back from Brooklyn,” Randle said. “[We] really tried to focus on what’s our identity and getting stops on the defensive end.”

While the game was an ordinary event for most of the Cardinal contingent, it will be a memorable night for Stanford freshmen Marcus and Malcolm Allen. With a little more than two minutes left to play, Marcus’ steal led to a fast break dunk for twin Malcolm, rousing the few diehard fans that were still around to witness it. It was just that kind of night for Stanford, which saw 10 of its 11 players in action register at least one point.

The Cardinal will have the two-week break to figure out how it can improve its performances against opponents of a similar talent level. Thus far, Stanford has fallen short in its two marquee non-conference matchups against BYU and Pitt. After UC-Davis on Dec. 14, the Cardinal will have opportunities against UConn on Dec. 18 and Michigan on Dec. 21 to prove that it can hang with the big boys.

Contact Daniel Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Second-half surge leads to big win https://stanforddaily.com/2013/11/22/second-half-surge-leads-to-big-win/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/11/22/second-half-surge-leads-to-big-win/#respond Fri, 22 Nov 2013 09:27:12 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1080747 The Stanford men’s basketball team cruised to a 97-71 victory over the Texas Southern Tigers on Thursday night in its final game before heading east next week, where it will play in the semifinals of the Progressive Legends Classic. Stanford’s strong string of second halves continued as the Cardinal (4-1) blew out the Tigers (2-4) in the final frame.

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The Stanford men’s basketball team cruised to a 97-71 victory over the Texas Southern Tigers on Thursday night in its final game before heading east next week, where it will play in the semifinals of the Progressive Legends Classic. Stanford’s strong string of second halves continued as the Cardinal (4-1) blew out the Tigers (2-4) in the final frame.

The first half was a high-scoring affair as Stanford went into the break leading 51-44. The Tigers hung tough for most of the opening half thanks to strong offensive performances by their leading scorers Aaric Murray and Jose Rodriguez, who each contributed 14 points. Stanford was led by the sweet shooting of senior guard Anthony Brown, who had 15 points in the period to go with four rebounds, in addition to nine points and three assists from fellow senior guard, Aaron Bright. Bright gave the Cardinal a huge lift off the bench, bringing the spark and infectious energy that he has been known for throughout his career at Stanford.

(The Stanford Daily)
Senior guard Anthony Brown (21) scored a career-high 23 points to go with 10 rebounds in the Card’s 97-71 victory last night. (BEN SULITEANU/The Stanford Daily)

“In shoot-around today, I was just lights out,” Bright said. “I just felt really good tonight, and I just wanted to come in and be aggressive.”

Most of the first half was a close contest, as neither team was able to gain much separation. Texas Southern actually led the Cardinal 42-41 after a three-pointer by Rodriguez with 3:03 left to play in the first half. That lead would be the high-water mark of the game for the Tigers, as Stanford would never trail again. Brown’s three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Cardinal a seven-point lead going into halftime, and it was the first sign of the rout to come. Stanford outscored TSU 58-29 over the final 22:57 of the game.

The Cardinal wasted no time in blitzing the Tigers right out of the gates in the second half, as it opened with an authoritative 33-11 run. Everybody chipped in for Stanford on this night, as five players finished in double figures. Brown led the team with a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds on 9-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three-point range. The other major contributors for Stanford were senior forwards Josh Huestis and Dwight Powell, who combined for 29 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and four monstrous blocks that had the few fans in attendance “oohing” and “aahing.”

Junior Chasson Randle had his fifth-straight double-digit scoring performance despite suffering his worse shooting performance of the young season. He finished with 15 points, six assists and four rebounds.

For Texas Southern, Murray finished with 28 points but was just 9-of-25 from the field, while Rodriguez totaled 24 points on 7-of-17 shooting for the Tigers.

After the game, Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins was complimentary of his team’s effort, which even saw freshmen Schuyler Rimmer, Malcolm Allen and Marcus Allen all make their first collegiate field goals.

“I thought it was one of our best team efforts of the year,” Dawkins said. “I thought our guys really did an excellent job of sharing the basketball, [with] 21 assists. We had 21 offensive rebounds. It was good to see our guys do that tonight against a very good basketball team.”

Despite struggling defensively during a first half in which it allowed 44 points and seven three-pointers to a team from arguably the worst conference in college basketball, Stanford made the necessary defensive adjustments at halftime to produce the expected result. The Cardinal held the Tigers to just 30-percent shooting in the second half while converting nine points off five TSU turnovers.

“I think defensively, we did a much better job of getting back and making them a half-court team,” Dawkins said. “I thought our activity level picked up. I thought with our physicality, we were able to wear them down some. I thought we did a much better job in the second half of identifying their shooters and taking some of their strengths away.”

The victory on the court was the cap to an exciting day for Stanford basketball, as the Cardinal had earlier announced the signing of four top-100 recruits for next season’s class. The class includes guards Robert Cartwright and Dorian Pickens, in addition to forwards Michael Humphrey and Reid Travis.

This year’s team will be in action next on Monday night at 6:30 p.m., when it faces the Houston Cougars in Brooklyn, N.Y., for the semifinals of the Progressive Legends Classic.

Contact Daniel Lupin at delupin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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