Tag: Maples Pavilion

San Jose State to take on Stanford on Tuesday night

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

San Jose State will look to stay hot and keep the momentum rolling this week as they take on road games vs. Pac-12 foes Stanford and Cal. First up is the Cardinal on Tuesday, Dec. 18, at 7:00 pm. Justin Allegri will have the radio call on KLIV 1590 AM, while Roxy Bernstein and Don MacLean will have the call on the Pac-12 Network.

Game #10
San José State (3-6) at Stanford (5-4)
Tuesday, Dec. 18, 7:00 pm PT
Maples Pavilion (7,233)
Stanford, Calif.

Live stats
Fans can view live stats of all SJSU men’s basketball games, home and away, by accessing the Live Stats feature at www.sjsuspartans.com. Click on the link on the men’s basketball schedule page to follow the action.

Two in a row
With a win over Northern Arizona, SJSU is on a 2-game win streak for the first time since winning the first three games of the 2017-18 season. It is the first win streak over D1 opponents since winning four straight in MW play during the 2016-17 season.

Down, but not out
SJSU picked up win No. 3 of the year against Northern Arizona, but it didn’t come easy. SJSU had to erase a 10-point halftime deficit and took their first lead of the game with 10 minutes left. From there, SJSU held on as the teams went back and forth for the remainder of the contest. SJSU outshot NAU 40.4% to 37.9%.

Noah Baumann and Oumar Barry led the charge in the comeback. Baumann finished with a career-high 23 points, including 18 in the second half, and was 5-of-6 from 3-point range. Barry recorded his first double-double as a Spartan with 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Steady Steadman
JUCO transfer Michael Steadman has made a big impact this season as a leader on and off the court. The 6’10” forward is averaging a team-high 13.1 points per game and ranks fourth in the MW with 9.2 rebounds per game. He also ranks in the top 40 nationally in the rebounding department. Steadman has three double-doubles on the season, ranking fourth in the conference and has scored in double figures in 8-of-9 games, including six straight.

Staff shakeup
Jean Prioleau made some changes to his staff in the offseason as he brought in former NC State All-American Julius Hodge as an assistant coach and promoted director of operations Ryan Cooper to assistant coach.

Familiar foe
Tuesday’s matchup will be 52nd installment in the Stanford-SJSU series, but the first meeting since 2006. The Cardinal leads the all-time series 38-13 and is 28-4 in games played in Stanford. The Spartans’ last win in the series came on Dec. 3, 1992 in San Jose.

The Cardinal, led by third year coach Jerod Haase, enters Tuesday’s game with a 5-4 record. Three of their four losses have come at the hands of ranked teams, including a 90-84 loss in overtime to No. 2 Kansas in Lawrence on Dec. 1. KZ Okpala leads the team at 15.9 ppg and 6.0 rpg.

Big game Baumann
Sophomore Noah Baumann is once again displaying his impressive 3-point shooting ability this season after finishing in the top-40 in the MW in 3 point percentage as a freshman. He is currently 20-for-34 from 3-point range (.588).

Baumann has come up huge for the Spartans in their last two games. In their win over Bethune-Cookman, after the team went 0-10 from 3-point range in the opening half, Baumann drained 3-of-5 attempts in the second half and finished with a then-season-high 12 points to help lead SJSU to victory.

Baumann followed up with his best performance as a Spartan in the win over NAU. He scored a career-high 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 18 in the second half to lead the Spartans to victory. He finished 5-of-6 from 3-point range and made four free throws in the final 37 seconds to close out the game.

Oumar plays his best basketball 
Senior center Oumar Barry is playing his best basketball as a Spartan as of late. Against Bethune-Cookman, he finished with a then-career-high 13 points and seven rebounds. He followed that up with his most dominating performance at SJSU as he recorded his first career double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds for his first-career game with double digit rebounds. Barry also blocked two shots and was 7-of-10 at the free throw line to help the Spartans to a win.

Barry entered the Bethune-Cookman game averaging just 5.7 points per game, but after averaging 15 points in the last two outings, he has increased his production to 7.8 ppg.

Bay Area road trip
The Spartans’ stop in Stanford is the first of three-straight road games against in-state foes. SJSU will make a quick turnaround to face Cal in Berkeley on Friday, Dec. 21, and will bookend their non-conference slate on Dec. 29 against Saint Mary’s in Moraga.

Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast with Joey Friedman: After loss to Kansas, Stanford looks to recover against Washington Eastern

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On the Stanford basketball podcast with Joey:

#1 Last Saturday, going to Kansas (8-0), you had to get that feeling the Stanford Cardinal (4-4) had their work cut out for them.

#2 The Jayhawks’ LaGerald Vick, one of the big threats, hit a three-pointer with just a second left in the game, Vick had eight of 27 points for the Hawks to lead them to a 90-84 win and the Hawks kept their perfect record in tact.

#3 For the Cardinal, KZ Okpala had 22 points and eight rebounds, Daejon Davis had 19 points and eight boards and Isaac White had 15 points and five threes.

#4 While the Jayhawks are still undefeated, they did make mistakes during their win over the Cardinal and just got away with a six-point win.

#5 The Cardinal have the home floor Saturday night against the Eastern Washington Eagles (1-7). The Eagles will be coming off a game against the USF Dons on Thursday night. The Cardinal could very well have this game in hand.

Join Joey each Friday for the Cardinal podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stanford handles Portland State to the tune of a 79-67 win

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By Joey Friedman

PALO ALTO, Calif.—Stanford came off a disappointing the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament (during which they could only pull off a single win) to face the Portland State Vikings on Wednesday Night at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal beat the Vikings by a final score of 79-67.

Stanford’s return to their home court got off to a slow start; despite how they held Portland State scoreless of the first four minutes, their own offense was slow to act. The Vikings quickly regained momentum and jumped out to a 14-10 lead with 12 minutes left to play in the first half. Momentum swung back the Cardinal’s way out of a timeout with a Lukas Kisunas layup, Cormac Ryan three-pointer, and Jaiden Delaire dunk on consecutive possessions to give Stanford a 17-14 lead.

With 5 minutes left in the half, Stanford would grind out a 7 point lead with the score 30-23 thanks to some scrappy basketball from bench players of the likes of Kodye Pugh and Lukas Kisunas. However, the Vikings would go on a 12-2 run to crawl back to a three-point lead with a minute left. Viking junior guard Michael Nuga did most of the damage; He would finish the first half with 17 points. Nobody else on either team would finish with more than seven. The Vikings took a 35-34 lead to the locker room at the break.

Stanford and Portland State shot 46% and 34% from the field, respectively, in the first half. In the same time frame, both teams combined to shoot 3-24 from beyond the arc, while Stanford was out-rebounded 28-16 overall (specifically 14-13 on their own defensive boards). Stanford turned the ball over 11 times, while PSU did so 5 times. KZ Okpala, Stanford’s team leader in both minutes and points per game this, only received 5 minutes of action in the first half, despite making the expected appearance in the starting lineup.

Stanford would start the second half reenergized and they would jump to a 7-point lead and an 8-0 run with the starting lineup of Cormac Ryan, Daejon Davis, KZ Okpala, Oscar da Silva, and Bryce Wills leading the way. The Vikings tied the game at 46 points each when a free throw fell with just over 11 minutes to play, but Stanford would inch their way forward, eventually edging out an eight-point advantage over the next 3 minutes. At the five minute mark, Vikings’ junior forward Sal Nuhu and Stanford traded contested slam dunks to settle the score at 63-53. Stanford’s lead lasted to a 79-67 final.

For the Cardinal, sophomore Oscar da Silva finished with 12 points while freshman Bryce Wills had a career-high 10 points. Jaiden Delaire and Josh Sharma each finished with 9. Josh Sharma also had 7 rebounds. 

For the Vikings, Michael Nuga finished with 19 points and 9 rebounds, Sal Nuhu had a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds, and Holland Woods had 18 points and 5 assists.  

Stanford finished with a 54% field goal percentage, they shot 2-16 from beyond the arc, turned the ball over 9 times, collected 36 rebounds, and blocked 9 shots. Portland State finished by shooting 32% from the field and shooting 2-24 from beyond the arc. They also had 9 turnovers and 51 rebounds. 

What’s Next?
Stanford will be back in action on the road on December 1st against the #2 Kansas Jayhawks. It will be their third time playing against a ranked opponent thus far in the non-conference schedule. They are 0-2 against ranked opponents this season.

Portland State will face Portland Bible at home on December 1st.

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.

Stanford falls to #14 Arizona by just two points in close 73-71 loss

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Photo: @StanfordMBB

By Alexandra Evans

PALO ALTO — After beating #16 Arizona State on Wednesday, the Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball team took on the #14 Arizona Wildcats, to whom they fell ,73-71, in front of a packed Maples Pavilion Saturday afternoon. With the loss, Stanford’s five-game winning streak was snapped by Arizona.

In a back-and-forth game among two Pac-12 leaders, Stanford failed to exceed Arizona. The Cardinal trailed by a maximum of 10 points at one time in the first period.

The Cardinal stepped up in the second period and even managed to exceed the Wildcats by more than 10 points. This was first facilitated by a jumper from Reid Travis four minutes in, and then the Cardinal were ahead 11 points after Dorian Pickens got a 3-pointer just over 10 minutes in. However, the latter team managed to take the lead again with 38 seconds left in the game, only exceeding them by one point.

It came down to the final shot (Rawle Alkins’ go-ahead layup with 38 seconds left in regulation), but the Cardinal came up just two points short in a 73-71 loss to the Wildcats.

“It was a battle and outside the first six, eight, ten minutes of the game we joined the battle and competed at a high level,” said Stanford head coach Jerod Haase. “There were a lot of positives that we’ll take away. Obviously there a lot of things we can learn from as well but at the end of the day I think we competed at a high level.”

Travis led the Cardinal in points with 20, and Allonzo Trier exceeded the Wildcats with 21 points.

“Winning on the road is hard, and I give Stanford a lot of credit,” said Arizona head coach Sean Miller. “Stanford’s resiliency was impressive. They scored 42 points on us (in the second half), and they had their starting point guard the entire second half.”

“Stanford’s game plan was good,” Miller added. “They have some big bodies, Humphrey’s a senior, a very good player; Reid Travis is not only one of the better players in our conference, but in college basketball.”

Next: Stanford will take on the USC Trojans in Los Angeles on Wednesday, January 24 at 6:00 pm PT.

Stanford Cardinal faces ASU Sun Devils, outshine them 86-77

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Photo: @StanfordMBB

By Alexandra Evans

PALO ALTO—The Stanford Cardinal Men’s Basketball team (11-8 overall, 5-1 in the Pac-12) returned home from a road trip across the state of Washington with two straight wins (their first road sweep since 2010) under their belt. On Wednesday evening, they faced the Arizona State Sun Devils (14-4 overall, 2-4 in the Pac-12) at Maples Pavilion.

Dorian Pickens made the first basket for the Cardinal and, within minutes, the first three-pointer of the match, both of which helped Stanford hit the ground running. The Cardinal managed to keep a lead over the Sun Devils for the whole the opening period, even within just one or two points.

An aggressive block from Stanford’s Josh Sharma kept ASU from tying the score with just over two minutes left in the first half, though he was later fouled, allowing ASU’s Romello White to score two free throws and tie the game 32-32. Reid Travis put up a three-pointer for Stanford, then Remy Martin for ASU, tying the score again. With 39 seconds left, Daejon Davis made a jumper to give the Cardinal a two-point lead (37-35) at halftime.

At the end of the first half, Pickens led the Cardinal with 10 points, and Travis had nine points and five rebounds. Oscar da Silva had six points, comprised of two three-pointers. White put up 10 points for the Sun Devils, leading the team after 20 minutes, and Martin added nine.

The Sun Devils caught up within two minutes, trailing only by two points (40-38), before Travis brought the Cardinal up to a seven-point lead with a three-pointer and a layup. Pickens chimed in and added a three-pointer, and Sharma dunked twice, and then the Cardinal exceeded the Sun Devils by the double digits (56-43). Sharma also dunked one of Pickens’ missed jumpers, eliciting an explosively enthusiastic reaction from both the bench and the stands.

ASU began trailing Stanford by single digits once again with 6:21 left in the match, when Mickey Mitchell got a layup. They trailed only by two points with four minutes remaining, courtesy of the Sun Devils’ leader in points, Tra Holder, who put up a three for his team.

After a nerve-wracking final four minutes, Stanford regained their multi-point lead and upset the #16-ranked ASU by nine points (86-77).

Pickens led the Cardinal in points with 19, and Travis in rebounds with 10. White put up 19 points to lead the Sun Devils, and Mitchell made the most rebounds with seven.

The Stanford Cardinal are back at Maples Pavilion on Saturday to face the Arizona Wildcats at 1:00 p.m.

Stanford completes comeback to edge USC 77-76

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Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By: London Marq

PALO ALTO–The venue was packed at Maples Pavilion as Stanford hosted the USC Trojans in a much-anticipated PAC-12 matchup. After their best performance of the season last Thursday against UCLA, the Cardinal would have an opportunity to improve to .500 on the season.

It was a tail of two halves, as the Trojans were in control early. Metu was the leading scorer from USC. His 20 points helped the Trojans gain an 11-point halftime advantage. Four total players from USC scored in double digits.

The Cardinal came alive in the the second period. They were strong particularly on defensive. Holding an explosive Trojan team to less than 30 points in the second half, they were able to close the gap. The Cardinal defense fueled their offense. Reid Travis pulled in a double-double with 29 points and 10 boards.

His strong performance put Stanford in position for a spectacular finish. At the tail end of the game, the Trojans scored a go-ahead basket to lead by two. With 1.7 seconds left on the clock, Stanford in-bounds the ball to Dajeon Davis. Davis nailed a walk-off 3-pointer from beyond half court before being mobbed by his teammates.

This makes two big wins in a row for the Cardinal, against two notable conference foes. The look to keep up the consistency against Washington State on Thursday.

Stanford defeated USC 77-76.

Up Next: The Cardinal visit the Washington State Cougars on Tuesday at 6 pm PT.

Stanford Cardinal Podcast with Matt Harrington: After Thursday’s UCLA stunner Cardinal hope to top act with win over USC on Sunday

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Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By Matt Harrington

PALO ALTO–It was a little bit of a stunner what Stanford did in their victory over the UCLA Bruins 107-99. They have to look at their potential UCLA is upset with their performance but Stanford needs to look at the game on Thursday as this is your potential. In the final minutes of that double overtime game the Cardinal had four freshman on the floor including the Cardinal’s Dorian Pickens.

The Cardinal shouldn’t be under pressure anymore and after going through a game like that and a lot of time to develop they’ve have grown into the role. Stanford has to look at that as their potential. The Cardinal have got Dorian Pickens back. This is his second game back now. He had a career night that’s what the team’s capable of when they’re healthy.

Matt Harrington does the Stanford Cardinal podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Stanford defeats Pac-12’s #1 UCLA 107-99 in double OT

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Photo: @StanfordMBB

By Alexandra Evans

The Stanford Cardinal Men’s Basketball team (now 7-8) kicked off 2018 with a match against the visiting UCLA Bruins, who went into the match 11-3 (first place in the Pac-12 Conference).

After UCLA took the lead for the first part of the game, Dorian Pickens tied the score 22-22 (with a three-pointer) with six minutes left in the first half, as the shot clock reached zero. Travis then got a layup and a free throw to give the Cardinal the lead once again (25-24), and Dorian Pickens got another three-pointer just after the Bruins’ Jaylen Hands got a jumper, and the Cardinal trailed by only one point.

For the remaining minutes of the match, the Bruins managed to re-tie the score each time the Cardinal took a lead. After Hands’ basket, Michael Humphrey shot for Stanford, then 30 seconds later, UCLA’s Gyorgy Goloman made a three-pointer and tied the score 30-30. Oscar da Silva got a layup, but Aaron Holiday (who leads UCLA in points per game) made both free throws and gave the Bruins a 34-32 lead.

Then, it was Stanford who had to catch up. Kris Wilkes got a layup for UCLA to give them a 36-32 lead. It took two layups from Okpala to tie the score again (36-36). The Bruins clearly weren’t having it, determined to keep their lead. Prince Ali (not to be mistaken with the Disney character Aladdin’s alter ego) got a three-pointer and a layup within 30 seconds of one another. The Bruins led the Cardinal 41-36 at halftime.

The Cardinal, moved to make a comeback against the conference’s first-place team, inch their way up on the scoreboard each time the Bruins took a lead, which the latter team managed to keep. Shots alternated between both teams, beginning with Travis, then UCLA’s Thomas Welsh, a three-pointer from Stanford’s Daejon Davis, two free throws from Holiday, another three-pointer by Pickens, then one from Holiday, a layup from Okpala, and two completed free throws from Holiday which put the Bruins four points ahead at 50-46.

After a time-out just before the five-minute mark, Pickens got his fourth three-pointer of the night, bringing the Cardinal down by only one point. Despite a consistent number of baskets  for the Cardinal at the 30-minute mark of the match (10 minutes into the second period), they remained inferior to the Bruins, who were up by 10 at that point (71-61).

UCLA increased their double-digit lead as soon as Goloman got a three-pointer, and they stayed ahead even after Okpala made two free throws (the Cardinal trailed 74-63). Davis cut Stanford’s trail to single digits (after making a layup and a free throw, and after a dunk from Travis right after Holiday’s layup. Though Ali made a three-pointer and gave the Bruins a 12-point lead, Humphrey got a three pointer followed by a dunk, and the Cardial only trailed by seven, then only by five when Pickens got a layup with four minutes left in the game.

After a free throw from UCLA’s Alex Olesinski and two from Davis, Stanford trailed only by four. Wilkes was fouled for the Bruins, giving Davis two free throw opportunities. He made only one, after which the Cardinal were only a three-pointer away from tying the Bruins.

Da Silva got a layup assisted by Pickens with 46 seconds left in the game, and then the Cardinal were only a basket away from exceeding the Bruins. However, a layup from Holiday allowed the Bruins to keep their lead. Humphrey was fouled with 18 seconds left, but Ali missed both free throws for UCLA. Miraculously, Pickens got another three-pointer, his fifth of the night, with six seconds left to tie the score 85-85.

In overtime, Humphrey made two free throws to give the Cardinal their first lead since the opening minutes of the first half, but the Bruins quickly came back when Thomas Welsh made a layup and a free throw. Davis got a layup and gave Stanford a one-point lead (89-88), but after Goloman made a free throw, the score was tied again, and then the Bruins regained their lead after a jumper from Holiday (91-89).

Okpala tied the score with two and a half minutes left (91-91), and then it was up to the Cardinal’s defense to ensure the Bruins would not surpass them yet again, which they managed to do. And then, with only half a minute left, da Silva dunked and gave the Cardinal the lead. After a successful free throw from Okpala, they were ahead 94-91 until Holiday made a buzzer-beating three-pointer. The score was tied once again (94-94), sending the match into a second overtime period.

It was all defense for the Cardinal as the Bruins had possession of the ball when the second OT period began. Okpala was fouled, and then Ali made two free throws to give the Bruins a two point lead. Josh Sharma got a layup for the Cardinal and tied the score 96-96, but then he was fouled. Ali made one free throw and the Bruins were only one point ahead. There was hope for the Cardinal, until Sharma was fouled again, giving Ali two more free throw opportunities. He made both, and the Bruins led the Cardinal 99-96.

Pickens made two free throws after Holiday was fouled, cutting the Bruins’ lead to only one point. Sharma was fouled again for Stanford, after which Hands failed to make both free throw opportunities. Goloman was fouled for UCLA, giving Isaac white two free throw opportunities, which he missed. Pickens made his sixth free throw of the evening, and the Cardinal were in the lead again (101-99).

Davis saved the day (or, rather, the evening) when he got a layup with half a minute remaining to give the Cardinal a four point lead (103-99). White again received two free throw opportunities when Hands was fouled, both of which he made. Pickens also made two free throws, and the Cardinal took home a 107-99 victory.

Pickens and Davis led the team in points with 26 and 22 points, respectively, and Travis (who had 18 points) led the team in rebounds with 11.

Next, Stanford will face the USC Trojans (10-5) on Sunday, January 7 at home.

Stanford Cardinal Podcast with Alexandra Evans: Pickens returns from foot injury; Okpala’s defense good looking forward to tuning up on offense

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Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

On the Stanford Men’s Basketball Podcast with Alexandra:

Stanford Cardinal head coach Jerod Haase has expressed his concerns about the defense particularly after dropping a home game against Cal on their home floor at Maples Pavilion last weekend. The Cardinal held a 17-point only to see it dissolve in 7.5 minutes of the first half. Haase was also concerned about their 6-8 record and how to pull out of it but laying defense as a big factor.

The return of Dorian Pickens is key for the Cardinal, Pickens was out after missing seven weeks due to a foot injury, and Kezie Okpala, who missed the first 12 games of the season due to improving his academics and made his first appearance at Sacramento for the neutral site game against the Kansas Jayhawks. It was a game that Okpala remembered with mostly Jayhawks fans, but Okpala–despite losing the game by 21–pushed hard throughout the game.

Alexandra Evans is Stanford Cardinal beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com