Category: Stanford Cardinal

Stanford Cardinal scratch BYU Cougars 86-83 in first round of NIT

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Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By Alexandra Evans

PALO ALTO — The Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball team (11-7 Pac-12, 18-15 overall) qualified for the National Invitation Tournament and kicked off Game 1 against the BYU Cougars (11-7 WCC, 24-10 overall) on Wednesday at Maples Pavilion.

Following the opening tip-off, Cougars’ Jahshire Hardnett acquired the ball. The Cardinal played solid defense and managed to make their way to the other end of the court, though Dorian Pickens missed a three-pointer for the Cardinal. Cougars’ Elijah Bryant then dunked a minute into the period. Cardinal’s Reid Travis was given two free throw opportunities after Luke Worthington was fouled, both of which he missed. TJ Haws came back with a jumper for the Cougars, making the score 4-0 just over two minutes in. Haws was then fouled, allowing Pickens two free throws. He made only one. Travis then added a layup, as did Daejon Davis, and the Cardinal claimed a lead. Michael Humphrey then made a three-pointer to double the Cardinal’s lead. Dorian Pickens also got a three, sustaining the lead. A dunk from Pickens followed solid defensive plays (and a pass) by Travis and Humphrey. With a dunk. Payton Dastrup helped the Cougars catch up and the score was 13-12 with three and a half minutes remaining in the first 10. Bryant got a three for BYU, as did Travis for Stanford, keeping their lead. Bryant then got another three, giving the Cougars a two-point lead (18-16) over the Cardinal. Dastrup attempted a buzzer-beating three, but missed.

The next 10 minutes of the first half opened with a foul on Cougars’ Zac Seljaas and a layup from Dastrup. Josh Sharma attempted a three for Stanford, rebounded by Haws, then passed to Yoeli Childs, who got a layup for the Cougars to make the score 22-16, BYU. Pickens got a three for the Cardinal, then Hardnett got a layup for the Cougars to maintain their lead. Humphrey made a dunk shot, then Pickens made another three just before the shot clock timed out. The Cardinal were then down by only one point (24-23). Humphrey missed a jumper and was then fouled, giving the Cougars the ball, though they missed all attempted shots. Oscar da Silva got a layup for the Cardinal, as did Childs for the Cougars, who sustained their lead by a point with just over four minutes remaining. A dunk from Humphrey reissued the Cardinal a one-point lead, which would shuffle over the course of nearly 30 seconds. Hardnett got a layup with 3:22 left, and Travis made two free throws to give the Cardinal another one-point lead advantage, then turned over to the Cougars after a layup and free throw from Seljaas. The Cougars then had a seven-point advantage with 1:53 left after a jumper by Bryant and a three from Rylan Bergesen. The lead then went up to nine briefly after Bergesen made two free throws.

At halftime, the score was 39-35 BYU. Pickens exceeded the Cardinal with 11 points in the first half, Bryant for the Cougars with 14 points.

Humphrey and Travis opened the third quarter with a layup and a jumper, respectively, to tie the score 39-39. KZ Okpala then handed the lead to the Cardinal again with a jumper, followed by a free throw from Humphrey. Childs added a layup as did Travis, and then Hardnett. The Cougars were determined to reclaim their point lead, and the Cardinal were determined to keep theirs as the one-point lead remained active. Travis got a layup, followed by Haws, to keep the one point difference. Da Silva dunked to bring the Cardinal’s lead to three. A foul on Pickens issued Bergersen two free throw opportunities, both of which he made. Dastrup fouled Travis, who made both free throws and brought the Cardinal’s lead to three. Haws missed a critical three which would have tied the score, and then Okpala got a jumper to give the Cardinal a five-point lead, cut back to three by Bryant, then increased to five again when Travis got a jumper. The Cougars carried the ball swiftly to their side of the court, where Dastrup got a three. Davis then got a layup and the score was 56-52 BYU with 2:11 remaining in the quarter. Another layup from Travis brought the Cardinal to a six-point advantage, which they maintained as Seljaas missed a three and Worthington a layup. Oscar da Silva made a three with seven seconds left, leaving the Cardinal on the brink of a double-digit lead over the Cougars.

The final quarter commenced with layups from Childs and Bryant for the Cougars and Okpala for the Cardinal. Pickens made a three just under two minutes in, and a jumper and a dunk from Travis finally brought the Cardinal’s lead to the double digits (69-58) with seven minutes remaining. This was the first point in the game where either team had exceeded the other by more than 10 points. Humphrey then added a point when he made one free throw, and Pickens added two more with two free throws. Worthington got a layup to bring the Cardinal’s lead to 10 even, and then was brought back to single digits after one layup from Haws and two from Hardnett. The Cougars then only trailed the Cardinal by four points.

Over the course of the final two and a half minutes, a free throw from Pickens, a three pointer from Davis, a layup from Dastrup, two free throws from Davis, a layup from Haws, another two free throws from Davis, a free throw from Worthington, a dunk from Okpala, a jumper from Bryant, a free throw from da Silva, a layup and a free throw from Bryant, a free throw from Pickens, a layup and a three pointer from Hardnett, and a free throw from Davis, the Cardinal took home an 86-83 win over the Cougars.

At the end of the game, Travis exceeded the Cardinal with 25 points, and Bryant led the Cougars with 28 points.

The Stanford Cardinal will face the Oklahoma State Cowboys on March 19.

Holiday, Bruins oust Cardinal from Pac-12 tournament with 88-77 win

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Photo credit: gostanford.com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, March 08, 2018

UCLA guard Aaron Holiday sliced and diced Stanford to the tune of a career-high 34 points, eight assists and seven rebounds Thursday, as the Bruins defeated the Cardinal 88-77 in the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament quarterfinals in Las Vegas.

Holiday made 12-of-25 field goal attempts, including 5-of-9 behind the arc. Thomas Welsh added 18 points and 11 rebounds for UCLA, which advances to the semifinals against No. 15 Arizona.

KZ Okpala led Stanford with 23 points. Reid Travis added 17 points and a team-high 14 rebounds for the Cardinal (18-15).

The Bruins (21-10) started quickly, withstood a late first-half Stanford run and maintained a consistent lead over the Cardinal in the second half. UCLA hit seven of its first 11 shots, building a 30-17 lead before Stanford responded with a 15-2 run to tie the game at 32-32.

Stanford closed its deficit to 44-40 by halftime, but, with point guard Daejon Davis in foul trouble, never could make a sustained comeback. Davis committed his fourth personal foul one minute and six seconds into the second half.

Going into the game, UCLA was considered a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament, and Stanford had a slim chance to reach the bubble. The Cardinal won their first meeting with UCLA in double overtime, and the Bruins won by 16 at Pauley Pavilion in the teams’ last meeting.

Welsh became the 14th player in Pac-12 history to reach the 1,000-rebound plateau, now with 1,003 – fourth most in UCLA history. He passed the 1,000-point mark in December.

Stanford, whose chance to reach the NCAA Tournament dimmed considerably with the loss, is likely headed to the National Invitation Tournament.

Cal ends season with huge 76-58 loss to Stanford in Pac-12 Tournament

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Photo credit: @CalMBBall

By Joey Friedman
March 8, 2018
Sports Radio Service

College basketball fans were treated to a third installment of the Cal-Stanford men’s basketball rivalry series this season on Wednesday in which the No. 5-seed Stanford Cardinal beat the No. 12-seed California Golden Bears 76-58 to end the Bears’ 2017-2018 campaign, while the Cardinal simultaneously collected their first Pac-12 tournament win since 2015.

Th Bears only had two conference wins this season, but one of them did come against the Cardinal in the conference opener. In an incredible comeback against their rivals on the road, Cal overcame a 17-point deficit with 10 minutes to go and 97.4% win probability for Stanford with three and a half minutes left to win by a score of 77-74 and to improve to an even record.

Coming off of what would prove to be one of the highlights of the season, Cal was looking to have a resurgent second half on the backs of senior Marcus Lee, junior Don Coleman, freshmen Justice Sueing, and Darius McNeill. Their only other win of the season came against Oregon State on February 3rd.

In round two against the Cardinal on February 18th, Cal tied the game up at 67 apiece with four and a half minutes left, but couldn’t hold on at home as Stanford evened the season series by winning 77-73.

In the third game, Stanford had the lead the whole way. As mentioned by Cal head coach Wyking Jones after the game, Cal started slow and was never really able to put together a run to gain momentum nor were they able to get enough of a rhythm going to chip away at the Stanford lead which was at 11 points at the half behind 13 points and five assists from Reid Travis and 10 points from Dorian Pickens. Travis would finish with 19 points and 13 rebounds, Pickens would finish with 16 points, as Daejon Davis and Josh Sharma would both contribute 12 points.

Darius McNeill added all 19 of his points to Cal’s total in the first half as Juhwan Harris-Dyson added seven in the second half to finish at 11 points. Justice Sueing finished with eight points and five rebounds to compliment Don Coleman’s eight boards. Darius McNeill shot 7-17 from the field and 5-10 from beyond the arc to send his season mark for threes to 67, a single-season freshman school record.

Cal was out-passed, out-rebounded, and out-shot all around by the Cardinal; however, they forced the Cardinal to turn the ball over more often than Cal turned the ball over. Unfortunately, Stanford capitalized more off of Cal’s fewer turnovers, collecting fourteen points off Cal’s 11 turnovers, while the Bears were only able to convert Stanford’s 16 turnovers into nine points.

What’s Next?
Stanford: The Cardinal look to keep their slim hopes for an NCAA tournament berth alive as they take on the No. 4 UCLA Bruins in the Pac-12 tournament.

Cal: This year’s performance can be viewed in a positive light when looking forward: a school record for losses in a season can only be improved upon. First-year head coach Wyking Jones looks to focus almost exclusively on individual player improvement during the offseason. With another year of experience for some exciting freshmen, a couple of four-star recruits already committed, and three more ESPN Top 100 recruits still considering Berkeley, next year could easily be a very successful one for the Golden Bears.

Stanford Cardinal Podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Stanford dominates Cal 76-58 Pac-12 Tournament; face UCLA this afternoon

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Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

On the Stanford Cardinal Podcast with Jerry:

1 Turning to Stanford (17-14) men’s basketball, they played Cal (8-23) last night in Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament. The Cardinal dominated all game long.

2 The Cardinal were beaten last time these two teams met and they made sure they weren’t going to lose this time.

3 The Cardinal’s usual offensive core came through with Dorian Pickens, Michael Humphrey, and Reid Travis.

4  Jerod Haase says he believes that Stanford is an NCAA Tournament team.

Jerry Feitelberg does the Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.co

 

 

 

Stanford routs Bears 75-58, moves on to face UCLA in Pac-12 Tournament

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gostanford.com photo: Stanford’s Travis Reid throws down against the Cal Bears on Wednesday afternoon at the T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas in the Cardinal’s first win in the Pac 12 Tournament

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Reid Travis helped No. 5-seed Stanford get off to a rolling start against No. 12 California in the opening round of the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament in Las Vegas.

Travis led the Cardinal (18-14) with 19 points and 13 rebounds on 7 of 11 field goal shooting in Stanford’s 76-58 defeat of the Golden Bears. Dorian Pickens was next on the Cardinal scoring list with 16 points. “We’re certainly excited to be able to move on,” said Stanford head coach Jerod Haase “I think in tournament situations, you do build momentum once you’re in the tournament. So we feel like we have some momentum moving forward. We were able to catch Cal on a cold night. They didn’t shoot the ball great, but I thought our defense was for the most part active. We executed the game plan how we wanted.” Haase told gostanford.com.

Josh Sharma and Daejon Davis each scored 12 points for the Cardinal, and Oscar da Silva added nine points and eight boards. Stanford held a 51-41 rebounding edge.

By winning the rubber game of their season series, Stanford ousted Cal from the tournament. The Bears beat Stanford in their first meeting at The Farm for one of Cal’s two Pac-12 wins. The Cardinal won the rematch in Berkeley.

Stanford dominated the Bears at both ends of the floor. The Cardinal defense held Cal to 28 percent shooting while maintaining a 30-18 advantage on points in the paint.”A big emphasis for me is playing with the motor and just trying to get us started the right way when we start the game,” Travis said. ”So the more I can do that, the more guys got to start helping down and trying to make the right reads, the right passes.”

Travis had the hot hand early, scoring 11 points in the opening 10 minutes as the Cardinal built a 12-point lead. As a team, Stanford connected on 16 of 29 shots in the first half and led 29-28 at halftime.

In the second half, the Cardinal led by as many as 24 (63-39). Though, Stanford isn’t quite on the bubble for the NCAA tournament, the possibility remains alive after defeating Cal. But the Cardinal must defeat No. 4-seed UCLA in the second round.

NCAA Podcast with Daniel Dullum: Stanford’s win helps them going into the post season; Miller stays on as coach no wiretap evidence presented yet; Stanford women has good shot

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photo from tucsonpatch.com: Arizona Wildcats head coach Sean Miller still UA head coach no evidence presented yet from FBI wiretap on pay promise to Wildcats Deandre Ayton

NCAA Basketball Podcast with Daniel Dullum:

1 Stanford scores big road win at ASU to wrap Pac-12 schedule

2 Sean Miller still the coach at U of A, for now

3 Mitch Albom in Detroit Free Press: How to fix college athletics

4 Stanford women, ranked No. 2, routs No. 6 Arizona State in Pac-12 tourney

Daniel is filling in for Michelle Richardson for the NCAA Basketball podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stanford Cardinal Men’s Basketball Podcast with Matt Harrington: The Sean Miller story was the biggest distraction on Stanford’s road trip

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zimbio.com photo file: Arizona Wildcats’ head coach Sean Miller made his return to the bench last Thursday against Stanford. Miller has denied that he offered to pay Wildcats’ Deandre Ayton $100,000 to come play for the school.

On the Stanford Cardinal Men’s Basketball Podcast with Matt Harrington:

Stanford’s timing to be at the University of Arizona last Thursday was all the rage in the news and sports media world. UA is under FBI investigation and the Wildcats head coach Sean Miller, who is accused in a wiretap, according to ESPN; that he offered Deandre Ayton $100,000. Miller did not coach last week Saturday against Oregon, but his return to the bench Thursday was one for the books.

Before the media scrum who were trying to get a quote from Miller reporters even from major news organizations were covering the Miller story and it was Miller’s first game since the story broke and all reporters wanted to know if Miller did offer Ayton $100,000. Miller put out an statement saying that the allegations were false and concocted. That he was being defamed by ESPN and that he never offered any money to Ayton. Ayton also said that he never got an offer of any kind from coach Miller.

Daniel has details of Stanford’s trip to Arizona last Thursday which was a media circus on the podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Cardinal survive wild finish to topple Sun Devils 84-83 in season finale

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Photo credit: gostanford.com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, March 3, 2018

TEMPE, Ariz. – Playing in the Pac-12’s version of a home-away-from-home game, Phoenix native Dorian Pickens torched the Arizona State Sun Devils (20-10, 8-10 Pac-12) with 20 second-half points as the Stanford Cardinal (17-14, 11-7 Pac-12) hung on for a wild 84-83 win at Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday afternoon.

“It was one of those things where (the emotions of coming back home) doesn’t really hit you until after the game,” said Pickens, a former Pinnacle High School graduate. “In the pregame, I’m just thinking about my teammates and trying to get the win. We were able to do that and my teammates helped send me out the right way.”

“It felt great to be able to come back home and come out of it with a victory. I had a lot of people here, maybe 20, 25, a lot of friends and family, and all of the above!”

On his offensive exploits in the second half, Pickens said, “I just wanted to be more aggressive, around the perimeter, especially.”

“He’s just a big-time player,” Cardinal Coach Jerod Haase said of Pickens. “It’s not really a surprise, but a great feeling to see him do that, especially at home in front of family and friends.”

“To win on the road against a team like (ASU) meant a lot.”

Reid Travis scored 24 points (8-of-14 field goals) and grabbed 14 of Stanford’s 45 rebounds. Kezie Okpala added 18 points and 10 boards for the Cardinal, who hit 51 percent (27-of-53) from the field.

Going into Saturday’s regular season finale, Travis was averaging 22.3 points and 10.0 rebounds in his last four games.

Travis described the final five minutes as “hectic. I wish we would have taken care of the ball a little bit more, but we got stops when we needed to, so I couldn’t be happier with the way we finished out the game.”

The victory gave Stanford a shot at finishing in the top four of the Pac-12 standings and a first-round bye in the conference’s upcoming postseason tournament in Las Vegas.

“In the non-conference, we battled and stuck together, which was really cool,” Haase said. “After the loss at home to Cal, our team has done some nice things. I think there’s still a long way to go with our quality of play, but the mental side, the competitiveness, is really cool to see as a coach.”

“Regardless of where we wind up, we’re going into (the Pac-12 tournament) excited.”

The Sun Devils, who struggled in conference play after a blazing start, look for redemption in the Pac-12 tournament. Tra Holder led ASU’s balanced attack with 19 points, followed by Shannon Evans II with 17 and 14 points each by Kodi Justice and Remy Martin.

Holder, Evans and Justice each hit three 3-pointers as the Devils were 10-of-27 behind the arc.

“This game is who we are,” ASU Coach Bobby Hurley said. “We have an amazing will to win, and character. The make the plays we made and claw our way back, we gave ourselves a chance to win.”

“I love my chances with the group I have against whoever we play in the postseason in Vegas and in the NCAA tournament.”

The Cardinal led by 19 points less than four minutes into the second half after opening the half with a 15-1 run after leading 40-35 at the break. But with basketball being a game of runs, Arizona State battled back with a 16-4 run, capped by Kimani Lawrence’s layup at 12:45, pulling the Devils to within 59-54.

“In 20 or 18 minutes against a team like this, there was never a comfort level at all,” Haase said. “Our guys stayed steadfast, continued to score on the offensive end, and we got enough stops on defense.”

Hurley said, “We got behind and always fought to get back in it. I thought the difference in the game could be as simple as the last four minutes of the first half, and we had empty possessions where we didn’t make shots that we usually make.”

“To start the second half, we didn’t have enough energy and (Stanford) was able to generate the lead that they did.”

Over the next three minutes, the Cardinal pushed their lead back to 11 on a Pickens 3-pointer, but ASU battled back again. Kodi Justice drained a 3 with 3:05 to play as the Sun Devils used a 5-minute, 16-7 run to cut their deficit to 79-77.

Another 3-pointer by Justice with 1:13 remaining tied the game at 82-82, but Arizona State could never surge ahead while both teams struggled at the free throw line down the stretch.

Daejon Davis, playing with four fouls, hit a jumper at :42 to break the deadlock, and on the ensuing possession, Justice missed a pair of free throws with :20 left. Two seconds later, Pickens missed two free throws, and after Josh Sharma missed a layup, Justice sank 1-of-2 foul shots to cut Stanford’s lead to 84-83 with 5 seconds remaining.

“Daejon has done so many great things throughout the year and he made a key basket late again,” Haase said. “For a freshman, he has a level of poise and calmness about him that, I think, spreads to the rest of the team.”

After Travis turned the ball over on an inbound play, ASU had one final possession, but Martin missed a short jumper as time expired.

“We made some mistakes, but they made some too,” Haase said. “There were some tough shots, some tough 3s. I thought we played with a great deal of poise and I thought this game would have a lot of ebbs and flows. And it did.”

The Pac-12 Tournament starts Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Emotional return by Miller, Wildcats defeat Stanford 75-67

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gostanford.com photo: Stanford Cardinal Reid Travis (22) leads the Cardinal with 23 points but it’s not enough as Stanford drops it’s 14th game of the season

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, March 1, 2018

After a tumultuous week, Sean Miller returned to the University of Arizona sideline, and the No. 19-Wildcats responded with a 75-67 Pac-12 men’s basketball win over visiting Stanford at McKale Center in Tucson.

The victory, Arizona’s 17th consecutive over the Cardinal, gives the Wildcats at least a share of the league championship. Arizona (23-7 overall, 13-4 conference) also clinched the top seed in the Pac-12 tournament.

Dusan Ristic topped the U of A scoring with 21 points – 15 in the first half. Alonzo Trier, back in uniform after serving an NCAA two-game suspension, was next with 18 points.

Freshman Deandre Ayton, who leads the Pac-12 in scoring and rebounding, added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Reid Travis was Stanford’s top scorer with 23 points. The Cardinal (16-14 overall, 10-7 Pac-12) saw their hopes of a top-four finish dim, along with their shot at a first-round bye.

Miller received a rousing ovation upon entering the arena. Earlier in the day, he read a prepared statement denying he had approved a monetary payment to Ayton, or any other player, during his tenure at the U of A.

The university’s president also made a statement, saying that the school’s investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing, and that the university would stand by its coach.

ESPN, meanwhile, insists its report that a wiretap, alleging that Miller spoke about a $100,000 payoff to Ayton, is accurate. Ayton denies receiving any payment to attend U of A.

The Wildcats held a 37-28 lead at halftime, though Stanford battled back in the second half, cutting its deficit to 69-64 on a Daejon Davis dunk with 1:04 remaining.

Arizona put the game away on four free throws by Trier and two from Ayton.

Stanford travels to Tempe on Saturday to face Arizona State. A Cardinal win could help revive the team’s hope of a top-four finish in the Pac-12 race.

Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: After narrow win against WSU, Cardinal reboots for Arizona and Sean Miller fiasco tonight

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Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

On the Stanford Cardinal Men’s Basketball podcast with Jerry:

1 Stanford Cardinal (15-13) hosted the Washington State Cougars (11-17) had quite a week in the Bay Area beating Cal and just losing to the Cardinal 86-84

2 The Cardinal got past the Cougars in double digits the highest 12 points and finished beating them by two points

3 The Cardinal’s top offensive players Reid Travis, Michael Humphrey, and Dorian Pickens were key in helping the Cardinal get by the Cougars who are the bottom of the Pac 12

4 The Cardinal are in the Tucson to face the Arizona Wildcats as the Wildcats head coach Sean Miller is going to be front and center as the game maybe secondary to the Miller story. The big question is will Miller return to Arizona next season?

Jerry does the Stanford Men’s basketball podcast each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com