By: Ben Leonard
Follow @ben___leonard

After their upset bid against #7 Arizona fell short on Thursday night, the Stanford Cardinal needed to carry momentum into their upcoming road trip to the state of Washington. They had to work hard to do so on Saturday, but pulled away from the Arizona State Sun Devils after a tightly-contested first half to take a 89-70 victory. Playing its third game in a eight day stretch, the #25 Cardinal showed no signs of fatigue despite the odd 9:00 PM PST tip off. Guard Anthony Brown thought it was”a little weird getting to the gym at seven” but the team had to “be ready” because “they (the games) all count the same.” Brown added 21 points in the win, including 10 in the first eight minutes of the contest.

The Cardinal’s tenth home win in its last eleven games seemed in question in the incipient stages of the game, with the Cardinal and Sun Devils going back and forth. Brown explained that Stanford “knew it was going to be an up and down game,” and that the “the seniors wanted to set the tone early.” There were ten lead changes and seven ties in the first half, largely due to the hot shooting and lack of defense from both squads. The Sun Devils went on 8-0 and 6-0 runs in the half, and the Cardinal had a 7-0 run of their own. The Cardinal shot an absurd 70.4% from the field in the first half, but the Sun Devils were still early in it despite shooting 48.4% from the field in that time. Saturday marked the first time since 2007 versus Harvard that Stanford shot over 70% in a half. As Brown put it, “guys were just making shots” because they have become “more and more confident each game.” The Sun Devils’ shooting certainly was not shabby, but paled in comparison to Stanford’s ridiculous clip. Stanford shot so well that even Dawkins noted that you “never know if you’ll shoot that well again.” Anthony Brown led the way for Stanford’s hot shooting in the first half, scoring fifteen points in the period on 6-8 shooting.

Stanford’s defense struggled in part because, as Brown put it, the team is “not as big as [it] used to be.” For this reason, the Cardinal “can’t get in the lane because we don’t have shot blockers at the rim anymore.” Even without freshman phenom Reid Travis, the Cardinal rebounded with, as coach Johnny Dawkins put it, “one of the best second halves of the year.” With ASU coming off of a “great win at Cal” Dawkins knew it was going to be a “tough cover.” According to Dawkins, Stanford did a “good job of focusing defensively” and following their “game plan.” This lack of height down low may not be an issue for long, as Dawkins noted that if Travis continues to progress, he could travel and play on the Washington trip.

The Cardinal began to pull away after the score was knotted at 37-37 with 4:53 left in the first, roaring to a 14-4 run to finish the half. Stanford took a 51-41 halftime lead and never looked back. To put the Cardinal’s hot start in perspective, the Sun Devils yielded just 13 points in the first half to Cal on Thursday. Senior center Nastic and Randle both chipped in with 13 apiece at the half. Stanford held a 14-11 edge on the glass, with such low totals due to the fact that both squads made so many baskets. The Cardinal spread the floor very well, utilizing good ball movement to take advantage of the Pac-12’s sixth-ranked defense.

Both teams were invariably due to regress after their scorching first halves, and slowed down a notch in the second half. In spite of this, the Cardinal still sank a solid 58.5% of their shots. The Sun Devils made just 38.7% of their field goal attempts in the latter part of the game, allowing the Cardinal to throttle such an undersized ASU squad. The Cardinal out-rebounded ASU 36-26, led by Rosco Allen’s game-high eight boards. After an 8-0 run, Stanford took a commanding 80-58 lead with 6:30 left to play, effectively sealing the victory for the Cardinal, who moved to 14-5 with the win. ASU dropped to an even 10-10 with the defeat.

Randle finished with 21 points in the victory, making 6 of 8 field goals and all 7 of his free throw attempts. Brown was among three Cardinal players with over 20 points. As Dawkins put it, Brown was “terrific tonight.” He was tasked with the responsibility of guarding “the other team’s best player,” but it was no issue for “one of the best guards in the country.”

Stanford will travel to Washington for a two-game road trip against the Washington Huskies and the Washington State Cougars. On Wednesday, they will take on the Huskies, who fell 68-60 in OT in the two squads’ first meeting in early January. As Dawkins put it, “It’s going to be tough…Washington’s been playing with a lot of a confidence. It will be a heck of a challenge.” Stanford has also been playing with a lot of confidence, and certainly proved that to Cardinal fans and themselves.