By Jeremy Harness

STANFORD – Now that was a turnaround.

After a lackluster showing in their season-opening win over Wisconsin-Green Bay that saw them commit 21 turnovers, the Cardinal made a complete 180-degree turn in their game in Sunday night’s 93-59 drubbing of Charleston Southern in a more-then-half-empty Maples Pavilion.

Sophomore guard Dorian Pickens led the way for Stanford with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point territory. Right behind Pickens was Rosco Allen, who had 19 points of his own and made seven of his nine shots, two of them coming from behind the arc.

Stanford handled the ball much better and stepped up their defensive effort, and that was evident from the first few minutes of the game and did not change throughout the course of the game. The Cardinal forced the Buccaneers into 16 turnovers while committing only eight of their own to set the tone.

In the first 10 minutes, for example, there was a stark contrast in how the two teams handled full-court pressure. The Cardinal broke the press easily with effective passing and frequently ended up with three-on-two’s and easy baskets to scoot out to a double-digit lead.

Charleston Southern, on the other hand, elected to try and dribble out of the pressure and, as a result, committed nine first-half turnovers to Stanford’s four.

On the defensive end, Charleston Southern had no answer for the Cardinal’s inside game, and it showed early and often as Stanford shot 58 percent from the field.

It got no easier for Charleston Southern offensively. Stanford’s defense was very stout inside, forcing the Buccaneers to settle for more than their fair share of 3-point attempts. In the early going, the 3-ball kept them in the game, but the shots stopped falling as the game progressed and allowed Stanford to use its superior inside game to extend their lead to 25 at halftime.

In fact, 28 of the Buccaneers’ 49 field-goal attempts were behind the arc, and realizing that they had no advantage inside, they began setting up high double screens in an attempt to get their shooters open, but they still could not get many to drop. The Cardinal held Charleston Southern to 35 percent shooting overall, and the Buccaneers made only 32 percent of their 3-point shots.

Getting fast-break points is a great way to get your offense going, but Stanford completely eliminated that. While Stanford got 16 points via the fast break, the Buccaneers did not score a single point that way.

The Cardinal quickly extended their lead as the second half got under way, leading by as many as 37 in the final minutes of the game before the Cardinal ran the clock out.

The Cardinal will now get ready for SMU, which comes into Maples Pavilion for their Thursday night matchup before Stanford heads across the bay to face St. Mary’s in Moraga next Sunday night.