By Matthew T.F. Harrington
AP photo: Stanford’s Rosco Allen is hugged by Marcus Allen (15) and Josh Sharma Saturday night at Maples Pavilion
STANFORD, Calif. – Rosco Allen’s lay-up with 3 seconds left handed Stanford a 75-73 victory over the visiting Arizona State Sun Devils Saturday night at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal led its guests for the majority of the game, but despite holding numerous double-digit leads in the 2nd half, couldn’t put the game completely out of reach.
“That’s probably his first basket of that magnitude,” said Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins on Allen’s bucket. “That’s a great thing for any player. Lots of guys can play their whole career and not make a play like that.”
With the Sun Devils in a full-court press to try to stymie Stanford’s chance at breaking a 73-73 deadlock with just over a dozen seconds remaining, the Cardinal (11-7, 4-3 Pac-12) managed to feed Allen across the center court line. From there, Allen drove to the hoop through 3 Arizona State defenders, finishing with a right-handed finger roll for the game-winner before tumbling to the court and sliding out of bounds.
“Full court you have more space,” said Allen. “You have more time to see where defenders are.”
The Hungarian forward, one of three captains for the Cardinal, led his team throughout the night. He scored 24 points on 8-for-14 shooting over his 37 minutes of play. The senior also hit 5 of 6 free throws in rebounding back from a 4-point performance in Thursday’s loss to Arizona.
“I’m just happy we got the win,” said Allen. “The Arizona game was a struggle. I happy to bounce back strong.”
Allen received some support from an unlikely source. Senior Grant Verhoeven pitched in 9 points off the bench in just 17 minutes off the bench. The center also hit the first three-pointer of his collegiate career.
“That was my first one in college,” said Verhoeven. “But as a team you can’t count on the three. Sometimes we’re awesome, sometimes we’re not.”
Verhoeven has seen his role increase with Reid Travis still out with an injury and Verhoeven’s health improving from injuries of his own.
“I’m finally getting healthy,” said Verhoeven. “I’m still not there. I’ve struggled with injuries the last couple years. Being healthy helps out a lot.”
Marcus Allen pitched in 13 points for the Cardinal while Michael Humphrey netted 11 points and 11 rebounds. Arizona State’s Tra Holder had a team-high 18 points, while Willie Atwood added 16.
Holder had an opportunity to but ASU on top late, but his three-pointer with 15 seconds left was off the mark. Rosco Allen dove in for the loose ball that went out of bounds and, following a lengthy review by the officials, possession was awarded to Stanford for the fateful final play.
“I couldn’t tell you who touched it last,” said Allen. “It was bang-bang.”
Stanford led 66-56 with 4:50 left to play, but Arizona State went on a 15-4 run to take a 71-70 lead with 1:41 left to play. Stanford took the lead back at 72-71, then Dorian Pickens hit one of two free throws but Savon Goodman nailed a jumper with 36 seconds left to tie the game at 73.
The Cardinal led 40-34 at the half, but couldn’t build its edge by more than 10 points in the 2nd half against a resilient ASU(11-9, 1-6) squad looking for its 2nd Pac-12 win.
“That’s something we have to work on,” said Verhoeven. “We have to have the cutthroat mentality. When we get ahead we have to hold it. We let them have some easy buckets they shouldn’t have had. As a team, going forward, we need to work on that.”
After three-straight at home, the Cardinal hits the road for three. They’ll face a trio of teams they are familiar with, heading to Utah and Colorado before heading into Haas Pavilion for the second round of the Big Game.
“With the league as balanced as it is, I think any team can beat any other team any night,” said Dawkins. “You have to be prepared, you have to be focused, you have to play 40 minutes of really good basketball to win in this league.”
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