by Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit: gostanford.com

STANFORD, Calif.– If Stanford was using Sunday’s contest as a barometer for where they stand heading into the important stretch of the season, Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins has to be pleased with where his team is at.

The Cardinal (7-4) trounced the NAIA’s Carroll College 83-38 Sunday at Maples Pavilion in its non-conference play finale. Dorian Pickens came a pair of points shy of his third-straight 20 point game, freshman Marcus Sheffield hit double-digits for the first time in his collegiate career and Rosco and Marcus Allen both netted 15 points apiece in Stanford’s tune-up for the Pac-12 opener against Utah Friday night.

“We didn’t want to look past this one,” said Pickens. “All the credit to Carroll College, they’re a great school, they fought hard all night. We didn’t want to take them lightly.”

Despite playing without Reid Travis for the second-straight game, the Cardinal outrebounded Carroll College 49-27 led by center Michael Humphrey’s 12 boards. As a team, Stanford shot 30 for 61 while holding the Fighting Saints to just 14 field goals on 57 shots. Carroll College managed only 18 points in the first half, and a mere 5 over the first ten minutes of the game.

“It affords us an opportunity to look at some different line-ups,” said Dawkins. “Some chemistry issues, making connecting plays, sharing the ball. Those are things you can work on no matter the competition. We knew Carroll College was going to compete. We got off to such a good start I think it changed the game right away.”

Pickens went 6-for-9 from the field, including 3-for-5 from beyond the 3 point line. He hit 3 of 4 free throws for his 18 points over 26 minutes.

“We have a lot of belief in Dorian,” said Dawkins. “We have a lot of belief in what he’s capable of. I still think he’s not where he’s going to be as a player. I think he’s going to be a heck of a scorer. He’s not just a shooter. If you’ve watched him play enough you can see he’s driving to the basket, he’s got a midrange game.”

Sheffield went 4 of 8 from the field with a pair of treys to give the blue-chip recruit 10 points.

“I’m feeling good about it,” said Sheffield. “I played pretty well thanks to my coaches and teammates putting me in the right position to score.”

Marcus Allen scored his 15 on 7 field goals out of 13 attempts while Rosco Allen scored his on just 5 field goals. The Hungarian hit 4 of Stanford’s 15 free throws in 22 trips to the charity stripe.

“You can never have too many guys doing that,” said Dawkins when asked about his four players cracking double-digits despite not having Travis. “What we talk about is what you do through adversity. Most teams are going to face it, you’re going to go through it. We’ve faced quite a bit of it this year. I‘ve been asked who is going to step up, who is next. We’re fortunate that we’ve had guys fill the void there.”

With early season injuries to Robert Cartwright, Reid Travis and Marcus Allen sidelining the team out the gate, Dawkins is still pleased with how his team has handled the early adversity.

“We’ve had a heck of a preseason,” said Dawkins. “We’ve played a lot of tough teams throughout the preseason. That was good for us. We didn’t finish with the record we wanted but we’re moving in the right direction.”

The right direction would mean wins over Utah and Colorado at home to wrap up the current 7-game homestand with a 6-1 record and two conference wins. That will be no small task for the Cardinal in a tough Pac-12.

“The conference had a great preseason,” said Dawkins of the Pac-12’s non-conference slate. “I’ve been here 8 years and I think this is the best start our conference has had in the preseason. We’ve always been a good conference. We’ve had parity, I think you’ll see that again this season. We’ve had some teams with some marquee wins out of conference, Utah being one of them. We expect a team to come in with a lot of confidence.”

Matt also does Stanford podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com