by Jerry Feitelberg

Bing images: SMU head coach Larry Brown

PALO ALTO–The Stanford Cardinal hosted the Mustangs of Southern Methodist University Thursday night at a not very well-attended Maples Pavilion. The Mustangs, coached by Larry Brown, won their second game of the year beating the Cardinal 85-70. Stanford suffered its first loss of the year.

Stanford had trouble with the Mustangs’ defense. The Mustangs and the Cardinal were fairly even through the first ten minutes of the game. SMU took a seven-point lead with 9:34 left in the first half.The Cardinal closed the gap to four, trailing 23-19.  The Mustangs went on a 8-0n run to take a twelve-point margin with just  little over 6 minutes to go in the half. Stanford rallied to trail by five 31-26 but SMU continued to play pressure defense and kept the Cardinal at bay. The half ended with Stanford behind by eight points 39-31. SMU’s Ben Moore led all scorers with twelve points.  Jordan Tolbert had eight and Keith Frazier contributed six for SMU.  Rosco Allen led the Cardinal with eight. Reid Travis and Marcus Allen helped out with six apiece. Cardinal turnovers contributed seventeen points to the Mustang total. The Cardinal shot 47.8% from the floor . SMU’s field-goal percentage came in at 52.9%

In the second half, the SMU Mustangs went on 19-9 run to take a twenty point lead 58-38. The Cardinal, however, played better ball. They employed a pressure defense and cut the deficit to twelve with 6:35 left in the game. The Mustangs upped the lead to 15 but Stanford kept coming back. The lead was cut to nine but time is not on Stanford’s side. SMU made three free throws and lead by twelve with 31.4 seconds left and they control the ball. SMU wins 85-70.

Game Notes- Stanford had four players in double figures in scoring. Marcus Allen led the Cardinal with 18. Rosco Allen had 14 while Reid Travis added 12 and Michael Humphrey pitched in with 10. Leading scorers for SMU were guard Nic Moore and Ben Moore. Each knocked down 17. Markus Kennedy added 14 and Jordan Tolbert pitched in with 10. SMU dominated the rest of the stats. They shot 56% from the floor compared to Stanford’s 46%. Stanford turned over the ball 13 times leading to 21 SMU points. SMU out rebounded the Cardinal 34-24.

The NCAA has sanctioned the SMU basketball program for multiple violations, including academic fraud and unethical conduct. Penalties will keep SMU from the 2016 postseason and Larry Brown has been suspended for nine games during the upcoming season.

Stanford hopes to get back on the winning track Sunday night when they travel to Moraga to face the Saint Mary Gaels.