A massive second half by Stanford (10-10, 3-5 Pac-12) stopped Colorado (11-8, 2-5 Pac-12) in its tracks as the Cardinal left Maples with a 75-62 victory. With sophomore forward KZ Okpala held scoreless in the first half, it was a big night for sophomore forward Oscar da Silva, who went scoreless in Thursday’s loss to Utah, that kept the Cardinal in the game.

Player and coach agreed that mindset was key for da Silva’s 21-point, seven-rebound night, in which he scored the Cardinal’s first eight points.

“It’s a mindset of wanting to win,” da Silva said. “Finding a rhythm early helps.”

“His mindset is important,” said head coach Jerod Haase. “Getting to the right spot, being aggressive and confident but not to the point he puts too much pressure on himself. He was there. During the shoot-around, he looked like he was in a good spot.”

Colorado was up by as much as 12 in the first half while dominating inside and on the boards. The Buffaloes held an 8-2 advantage in offensive rebounds and a 26-8 lead in points in the paint. If not for the Cardinal’s edge in three-point shooting, going 5-13 while holding Colorado to 1-10, the margin could would have been much greater than 37-31.

Five of Stanford’s nine made field goals at the half came from behind the arc, with three contributed by da Silva. “Colorado did a nice job clogging up the driving lanes,” said Haase.

On the other end, the Buffaloes were getting easy looks inside with incisive passes through the high zone of the Cardinal.

“In the first half, I couldn’t have been happier with the execution defensively of the game plan, our toughness factor and holding them to 37 percent,” Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. “In the second half, that toughness factor went away.”

The turning point seemed to be a technical foul assessed to sophomore guard Daejon Davis with 16:37 remaining. Called for what Davis described as “over-communication,” Stanford went on a 13-4 run after Colorado missed both free throws. “I was just trying to get my guys fired up,” Davis said. “After I got that technical foul or whatever, it kind of gave my guys a little energy.”

During that run the Cardinal overtook the lead from the Buffs on consecutive dunks from senior center Josh Sharma with 11:11 remaining in the game, a lead Stanford would never relinquish. The first dunk came on an alley-oop pass from Davis, who hit a three after the second dunk that electrified Maples.

After a quiet first half of four points, Davis came alive in the second period with 12 points on a perfect 4-4 from the field to finish with 16 points, four rebounds and six assists. “The offense was faster-paced in the second half,” Davis said. “We were getting transition points, and the overall player movement was better. We found open lanes and were looking to get assists.”

Freshman Bryce Wills matched Davis’ second half 4-4 and finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists. “With Bryce you’re seeing someone grow up before our eyes,” said Haase. “He’s been great, his attitude has been great, and I think we’re going to see him continue to grow and flourish when he’s here.”

Although Okpala is averaging 17.5 points per game, he did not score his first points of the game until three minutes into the second half. However, with redshirt junior Marcus Sheffield and freshman Jaiden Delaire each putting up seven points, Stanford did not need his contributions Saturday. “We definitely don’t want it to be the KZ show where we just give him the basketball, and everyone stands and looks,” Haase said. “I’d love KZ to continue averaging what he’s averaging now but do it in a way where it’s even a little bit simpler.”

Stanford shot an impressive 72 percent from the field in the second half and made it look easy. “Probably the best half we’ve had since I’ve been here of getting to the lane and playing under control,” Haase said.

The team was having fun playing basketball, and so was their coach. “It was really fun. I thought they responded to my messages, and as a coach that’s a good feeling,” Haase said. “I do want the guys to play with joy, but in the first half it doesn’t help us to smile and laugh when things aren’t going well.”

On the other side, Colorado’s second half was considerably less fun. “We just didn’t guard them in the second half; they shot 72 percent,” Colorado’s McKinley Wright said. Nothing changed for us in the second half; we just let our guard up.”

Colorado’s leading scorer coming into the game, Wright, scored 14 points as four of the Buffs’ five starters were in double digits. The bench, however, added only six more to Colorado’s scoring line.

Stanford will make the trip over to Berkeley next Sunday to face the Bears.

 

Contact Daniel Martinez-Krams at danielmk ‘at’ stanford.edu.