Category: Stanford Cardinal

by Matt Harrington

PALO ALTO–When I looked at the final score sheet after the Stanford Cardinal lost to the Washington State Cougars last Saturday 89-88 that was a bit of a stunner. It was a game that the Cardinal were up 27-14 at one point. Cardinal head coach Johnny Dawkins reiterated after the game Stanford didn’t put together a 40 minute effort and it’s been a little bit of a trend lately.

That was something that cost the Cardinal last Saturday as the Cardinal weren’t playing a 40 minute game. It was a little bit of a shocker and it was a bigger shocker the loss to UCLA on Thursday night. Your looking at a team that’s right there in the standings with them in the Pac 12 they both sitting there at 6-4.

UCLA and Stanford are looking to wrap up the number four seed and the bye that goes with it in the Pac 12 Tournament. Stanford with their loss to UCLA on Thursday their getting knocked out of that first round. Oregon and Oregon State are up there at 6-4 so there’s a lot of teams squeezing into this playoff. Stanford doesn’t have the easy road ahead, they do not they still have Utah to play and both Oregon schools, there’s another big one with Arizona on the way.

So the Cardinal are looking at a little bit of trouble if they want they want to dance in the NCAA Tournament they’ve got to start turning things around in a hurry. They know Washington State was a gimmie game but they lost, that was another game that should have been another gimmie game for the Cardinal but it’s not the way things are going right now.

The Cardinal if they show up the way they showed up in the first half of the game against UCLA the Cardinal shot about 30 percent from the field and the Cardinal could find themselves down pretty early. This is a chance for the Cardinal to figure out what’s going on to work on their output or a chance for them to struggle again if they get into their own heads their too worried about this two game losing streak the first one they’ve had all season.

There is a chance they could struggle in Sunday’s game, there is no longer a sure thing in the Pac 12 after that lost to the Cougars. It’s going to be a game where Stanford is going to rebound to struggle to do things right in their own head because so it’s going to be interesting. Washington State their starting to turn things around they looked like the doormats earlier in the year but in the last couple of weeks they looked like they’ve been playing some come back basketball and that’s probably why the Cardinal lost to them because Washington State are getting momentum.

Matt Harrington does weekly commentary on the Stanford Cardinal each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

STANFORD, Calif. –The Stanford Cardinal erased a 22-point deficit but fell a basket short of topping UCLA, falling to the Bruins 69-67 at Maples Pavilion Thursday night.

“You can’t get behind by that many points in a collegiate game,” said Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins. “You can’t get behind, especially against a good team. That’s what we did. We dug ourselves a hole and we couldn’t quite climb out of it.”

Stanford (15-7, 6-4 Pac-12) raced out to an 8-4 just 3:47 into the contest but failed to build on its four-point edge. Instead, UCLA (14-9, 6-4) went on a 27-7 tear to take a half-best 16 point lead with 3:30 left in the interval. The Cardinal scored the next three baskets down the stretch, capping the run with a three-pointer by Anthony Brown to pull the home team within six at 31-25.

“We cut it to six,” said Dawkins. “We started the second we a renewed focus, a renewed energy to try to chip away at the lead. They ended up building on the lead.”

UCLA’s Isaac Hamilton hoisted a three just eight seconds into the second half that deflated the Cardinal. The Bruins then went on a 23-10 run to build a game-high 22 point lead, appearing to be well on the path to a rout with just over 11 minutes left in regulation up 57-34.

“You work that hard to get the lead down to 11, then in the first 4 minutes it goes back to 17,” said Stanford forward Anthony Brown. “All that energy, you just basically wasted it.”

The Cardinal didn’t go quietly, however. Stanford scored 27 points over the next 7 minutes while limiting UCLA to just 10.

“Towards the end, we were making the extra pass or connecting play,” said Brown. “In the first half, none of our jumpers were in rhythm. They were extremely deep or off the first or second pass.”

The Cardinal shot 10 for 27 from the field in the first half. They hit 14 of 30 in the second.

“In the second half we were finding the next guy,” said Brown. “We were making the extra pass. It was in rhythm.”

Trailing by just six, Stanford’s Marcus Allen hit a free throw with 1:13 left in regulation. He missed the second shot, but the Cardinal forced a Bryce Alford three-pointer off basket.

Rosco Allen pulled down the rebound, then on the ensuing possession took a three-pointer. His shot went off the mark, but Anthony Brown picked up the rebound and laid it up to put Stanford down 67-64 with 22 seconds left.

Brown then fouled Norman Powell on the inbound, putting the Bruin guard at the line with the UCLA in the bonus. Powell missed the shot, with Cardinal center Stefan Nastic pulling in the rebound. He handed the ball to Chasson Randle, who raced down the court with a chance for the game-tying shot.

Instead of opting to hold on to the ball for a set play, Randle drove hard to the basket, losing his handle on the basketball with 10 seconds left. The Cardinal again used a foul to put Powell on the line, with Powell converting on the first free throw while missing the second. Brown came down with board, allowing Rosco Allen to hit a trey with 5 seconds left to put Stanford back just one at 68-67.

The Cardinal put Alford at the line again, hitting one of two shots to give Stanford one last possession with a chance to tie –or even win- the contest on its final shot, but Randle’s buzzer beater hit off the backboard and the rim before falling to the court.

It’s not the first time Stanford and UCLA have come down to the final shot in regulation or beyond. Earlier this season it took double-overtime to decide a winner, with UCLA taking the January 8th meeting in Los Angeles 86-81.

“We played them down there, we were up by 14,” said Brown. “They came back. We just tried to fight, stick with what we were doing and get as close as possible.”

In that contest, Kevon Looney and Tony Parker combined for 49 points to down the Cardinal. Thursday night, it was Hamilton(18 points), Alford (18) and Powell (20) who led the charge.

“We definitely had an emphasis to slow down Looney and slow down Parker,” said Dawkins, recalling their performances from a month ago. “It was important that we tried to contain those guys and know where they were on the floor and give them our attention. I thought we did a really good job on those guys. But it was Hamilton and Alford and Powell on the perimeter who tonight really hurt us.”

“We knew that Hamilton could score,” said Brown. “He was a McDonald’s All-American so we knew he could play. Our emphasis for the game was to stop the inside. He came out and hit some shots right away.”

Brown topped the Cardinal with 19 points, while Randle and Rosco Allen pitched in 13 apiece.

Stanford’s pair of defeats to UCLA may prove costly come March. The two teams, predicted to finish fourth (UCLA) and fifth (Stanford) in preseason polls, currently sit tied for third in the standings at 6-4 along with Oregon State and Oregon. UCLA now holds the tie-breaker over Stanford and could force the Cardinal out of a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas.

For now the Cardinal have a bigger concern. After dropping a shocker to Washington State Saturday, Stanford is now on its first two-game losing streak of the season. The Cardinal has very little time to bolster its NCAA tournament credentials with only 8 games remaining in the regular season. Among those games are tough draws against Utah and Arizona as well as match-ups with Oregon and Oregon State.

“We’ve got eight games left,” said Brown. “We just have to take it one game at a time. It’s not the first time we’ve lost two in a row. We started last year losing two in a row. We have to take it day-by-day. Just as fast as you can lose two in a row, you can win three, win four.”

Stanford does have a chance to get back to its winning ways in a hurry. They welcome the University of Southern California, the last-place team in the Pac-12, in a Sunday evening contest.

“Adversity is part of the season,” said Dawkins. “Most teams are going to face adversity at some point. We’re facing adversity right now. For me, it’s ‘What do we do with that’. We need to make sure we’re going in the right direction having faced what we faced the last couple games.”

by Matt Harrington

PALO ALTO–The Arizona State and Stanford Cardinal game on Sunday the one that they whomped on ASU with a 89-70 win it was almost a 20 point win that was a big bounce back game for the Cardinal after losing to Arizona Thursday after winning the nine game stretch at Maples. It was going to be a question of how do the leaders of Stanford step up? How do the veteran players the guys who have been on the farm for awhile how do they step up.

The game against ASU was a game that they really needed to respond and looking at the three starting seniors Stefan Nastic, Anthony Brown, and Chasson Randle and what they put out in that game on Sunday in front of the Sunday faithful of 4,009. Brown 21 points, Randle 21, and Nastic 20. It was the first time in 18 years that three members of the Cardinal put up 20 plus points in a game.

It was a big bounce back game, a big game for the leaders to step up and assert their dominance and that was a great way for the Cardinal to put their loss to Arizona and start going forward in Pac 12 play. Stanford’s win over Washington 84-74 on Wednesday it that tough part of the Pacific Northwest. It was a tough game for ASU who are near the bottom of the standings with a record of 11-11.

This is a good chance for Stanford (15-5) who face one of lower out of conference teams (the Cougars) with a record that’s below than some of the few Pac 12 teams that’s sitting under .500 in terms of an overall record. Stanford who beat Washington have critics thinking the Cardinal are one of the premier teams as Washington (14-6) had 15 wins at the time and that they were going to be a powerhouse going into Pac 12 play.

Stanford might be overlooking Washington State a little bit that’s going to be at their own peril, it’s tough to get wins in the Pacific Northwest against these Washington Schools at home if your not bringing in your best effort. The Cardinal really has to be focused and continue all the things that they did against Washington in that victory last Wednesday.

The Cardinal need to keep shooting the ball the way they’ve been shooting, the last two games they were shooting over 50 percent that’s just a crazy figure their converting on more than half the shots to take in the Pac 12 that’s a lethal team. Stanford I wouldn’t say has a cakewalk game over Washington State but it’s a game that they should win.

Matt Harrington covers Stanford basketball listen to Matt’s podcast on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

By: Joe Lami

The Stanford Cardinal concluded their LA road trip with a win over the USC Trojans on Sunday Afternoon 71-60. After a tough win on Friday over the UCLA Bruins, this was exactly the game the Cardinal were looking for, finishing 50% from the field.

“We’re a very good shooting team with a good shooting lineup,” said head coach, Tara VanDerveer.

Lili Thompson bounced back well, after her worst performance of the season on Friday, by leading the team with 21 points. Thompson added “We came in with an attitude that we didn’t want to get down like we have in past games, and try to battle back. We wanted to stay aggressive the entire game.

The Women of Troy have now lost three straight, their longest losing streak of the season, as they finished just 35% from the field. Head Coach, Cynthia-Cooper Dyke commented “Stanford plays the type of defense that puts pressure on you to make outside shots and it’s very difficult,” about the Cardinal defense.

Erica McCall and Bonnie Samuelson capped off the double-digit scorers with 11 and ten respectively. Most importantly for the Cardinal was their free throw shooting, something that has been a problem in the past, as they went 20 of 24 to finish 83% from the charity strike.

USC remained in the game, thanks to three scorers that combined for 47 of the Trojans 60 points. Jordan Adams led the way with 21, Brianna Barrett finished with 15 and Kaneisha Horn capped the game off with 11.

The Cardinal remain perfect on the road in Pac-12 play, extending their overall records to 15-5 and 7-1 in conference play. They return home to Maples Pavilion to end the month of January.

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.

 

by Matt Harrington

PALO ALTO–Last Sunday Stanford (13-5) just couldn’t close out the game against the Arizona Wildcats (17-2) at Maples Pavilion and the Wildcats have had those difficulties a lot this season. Looking at the past games there are games that Stanford just held on barely for wins or they were leading late in the game and they went overtime and lost in overtime or won in overtime.

It’s a case of the Cardinal to close out the game even in the final ten minutes of the game and being able to stop any runs to be able to hold onto a lead. It was a surprise that the Cardinal was able to hang in there as much as they did. It’s hard to say if they limited the guys with 19 points holding the Wildcats Stanley Johnson to 19 points.

It was an accomplishment for Stanford it was definitely a good and a bad game and you look at it and you say this was a game that they left points on the board and they could have won it. But the Cardinal also say they now belong after that great battle with Arizona. The Cardinal say they can win the Pac 12 and they had a couple of fouls in this game.

The Cardinal could have used a couple of rebounds that could go the other way and you win that way. The Cardinal are looking at that game saying that they can win the Pac 12. They believe they can take it to Utah, Arizona, or UCLA and they believe their one of the premier teams. The Cardinal have a little bit of a chip on their shoulder and nobody has given them any national love.

Stanford’s Chasson Randale has been named for the John Wooden Award mentions but other than that your not seeing Stanford popping up in the AP Polls or the USA Today polls. They’re hanging with other teams that are way up there in the top Ten. They have that chip on their shoulder but it was also a chance for Stanford to build confidence and establish being one of the big elite teams in the Pac 12.

The game for Sunday morning against Arizona State is an early morning start at 9:00 AM PST so somebody better tell Anthony Brown that, Anthony who failed to set his alarm clock a couple of times and missed a shoot around. There was a game earlier this season against Denver where he missed the morning shoot around, and he was taken out of the starting line up that night and came in off the bench and lead the team with 20 points.

More Matt Harrington covers Stanford basketball listen to the podcast below listen on Stanford basketball right here on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

by Matt Harrington

PALO ALTO–When UConn (9-6) comes to town fans, media, faculty, front office, and scouts of every kind come running and Maples Pavilion will be no different on Saturday night as the Huskies are one of the marquee schools in NCAA basketball. It’s a school that is a powerhouse in terms of producing powerhouse players. Anytime you have UConn and Stanford (12-4) on the marquee it gets people excited just like UConn’s women’s head coach Geno Auriemma when they play against Stanford.

It’s rivalry in women’s basketball which can now carry over on the men’s side, it’s going to be interesting, UConn gets by on the cache’ of their name. This season where fans and media respond by saying “here is this great team, a former international champion within the last five years, this powerhouse of a squad” the Huskies have scuffled a little bit this year they just lost to Tulsa (11-5) in their first year in the American Conference.

So for UConn it’s been a bump down in the conference, a bump down in quality, and in terms of the quality of players that they put on the court it’s another bump down. UConn still are not the sisters of the poor, they’re not a intimidating team this year, their not the UConn of my older brother’s generation. Their on the downside they rode that ride to prominence, their a middling team right now so it will be interesting to see how they come out.

This is a sort of a reverse of trends for UConn, the Cardinal have to be looking at this game thinking “this is a chance for us to build our resume for the NCAA Tournament. This is also a chance for UConn to get a signature win for their NCAA Tournament resume. The Cardinal had some success with the Cal Bears on Wednesday night and anytime you can beat a rival on the opposition’s court it’s always a night to celebrate.

Stanford was definitely pleased to come away with a victory over the Bears and with a ten point victory because every single Pac 12 win they’ve been getting had been in some close games by one or two points or in overtime. So for Stanford it was nice for them to have a little bit of breathing room towards the end of the game last Wednesday night. As opposed to the game against UCLA and they have gone wire to wire in a lot of these games.

It was a big week for Stanford getting the win over Cal and getting beat in a razor close game against USC (9-8), the Trojans are a younger squad, they are a little less experienced, the Cardinal were coming off a very embarrassing loss when they went into Berkeley on Wednesday. So for USC to come in and battle Stanford the Cardinal really thought they were going for the win but they lost it by just two points last Sunday.

Matt Harrington covers Stanford basketball and is filling in for Michelle Richardson this week for the NCAA Commentary on http://www.sportsradioservice.com