Tag: Stanford Basketball

Northeastern Trails Close Throughout, Stanford Comes Out With 73-59 Win

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Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By Alexandra Evans

PALO ALTO — The Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball team faced the Northeastern Huskies this afternoon, who traveled to the Golden State from chilly Boston.

Both teams were strong on offense and defense in the first half; almost no rebounds were missed on both sides. Stanford managed to exceed Northeastern in points by nine after the first 20 minutes. With Stanford’s six team fouls (compared to Northeastern’s four), Northeastern had three opportunities for free throws, all of which were missed. Northeastern’s Donnell Gresham Jr. made a three-pointer from the center of the court in the last three seconds. The ending score was 33-24 Stanford, who managed to keep a lead over the Huskies throughout the first half.

The second half commenced with fast-paced back-and-forth action. After a Stanford foul 18 seconds in, both teams took turns making each attempted basket in the first five minutes, bringing each of their scores up by more than 10 points.

Northeastern made numerous three-pointer attempts in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but none were successful until Huskies’ Bolden Brace notched one just after the 10-minute mark. Northeastern would then score three more three-pointers in the remainder (comprising part of their 59 points at the end of the match). Stanford only had two three-point shots, but managed to overthrow Northeastern with numerous two-pointers.

Almost three-quarters of the way into the second half (nearing the 14-minute mark), the Huskies only trailed the Cardinal by four points, and then only by two points at 14:30. Isaac White then made a three-pointer to bring the score to 60-55 Stanford at 14:45, then Michael Humphrey made both free throws after Brace was fouled.

A great block by (#13 S) prevented the Huskies’ Devon Begley from making a shot-clock beating basket. #13 then made a three-pointer with just under a minute left in the match, barely beating the shot clock.

The final score was 73-59 Stanford. Both teams finished with 36 rebounds (the only even statistic of the game).

Stanford forward Michael Humphrey and guard Daejon Davis shared their thoughts on the match in a post-game conference. Despite the win, both believed there is substantial room for overall improvement.

“In the middle of the second half [the whole team] got caught up in the emotions of the game,” Humphrey noted. “But all of us calmed down and ended the game strong, which is what we needed to do.”

“Northeastern is a great offensive rebounding team, but we can’t give up that many offensive boards. Especially with a team our size and our athleticism…If we don’t make the boards, we have a really good chance of winning.”

Davis added, “Any time we come out with a win, I’m always up, no matter who contributed and how we got it done. A win makes everyone feel good, but we, as a team, definitely have so many things to improve on. We can’t have that dip we had in the second half; we need to keep our energy up for 40 minutes. I am just waiting for us to put together a full game on both the offensive and defensive ends all the way through, with energy and effort.”

Coach Jerod Haase expressed excitement when Northeastern managed to score a buzzer-beating three pointer before halftime. Haase was curious as to how much effort the team would put into bouncing back and cultivating a lead in the double digits again. To him, this was the biggest testament.

“[Responses as such are] a very, very important step, when [the team] can believe that when things go a bit south, we can respond to that,” Haase contended.

Next up, Stanford will face the North Carolina Tar Heels on Monday, November 20 at Maples Pavilion.

Stanford Snaps Losing Skid in Dramatic Fashion Over Utah, Ends Pac-12 Play on High Note

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DSC_0004By Matthew Harrington

STANFORD, Calif. – With the overflowing talent on display on a nightly basis in the Pac-12, it’s only fitting that it took Stanford literally until the last tenths of a second of conference play to better understand its Pac-12 tournament placement. While the conference tourney picture got a little clearer, it’s still about as blurry as a Monet masterpiece from ten feet out. As for the Cardinal odds for making its first NCAA tournament appearance under coach Johnny Dawkins in six seasons, those are as crystal clear as the scrambled channels on the higher ends of your TV guide.

With a 61-60 win over visiting Utah (20-10, 9-9 Pac-12) Saturday afternoon at Maples Pavilion, the Stanford Cardinal broke a tie in the standings with their guests in a game with must-win implications. Also entering play with an identical 9-8 conference record were Oregon and Cal, a four-way tie for fifth in the Pac-12 standings. With Arizona State and Colorado boasting 10-7 entering Saturday, the Cardinal (19-11, 10-8 Pac-12) could secure a first-round bye in Las Vegas if Colorado, Oregon and Oregon State come away with wins in their regular-season finales. They could finish as high as tied for third, or as low as fifth depending on the rest of the weekend’s action.

“I know it’s important to finish at over .500 in conference,” said Dawkins after the game. “We’re in one of the best conferences in America. To finish over .500 should give you an opportunity to see what happens. That’s out of our hands. We just need to keep winning games.”

Stanford opened the morning with a heartfelt pregame ceremony honoring the senior stalwarts, players like all-time Cardinal blocks leader Josh Huestis and Dwight Powell, but after 40 minutes of basketball it was a junior, Chasson Randle, being lauded for his play while weathering the maelstrom of emotion.

“It’s a little emotional because of what the game meant and also because it’s Senior Day,” said Dawkins. “There’s a lot of family here. Senior Day is always interesting because of all the emotion. Our guys remained focus, stepped up and helped, the Chasson Randles, the Marcus Allens. I thought those guys really stepped up and helped the seniors.”

After an eye-popping 24-point night Wednesday in a loss to Colorado, Randle dropped 22 points over 39 minutes of play against the Utes, snapping Stanford’s season-high three-game losing streak to wrap up the last home game of the regular season.

“Chasson’s played terrific for us,” said Dawkins. “He’s doing everything for us. He scores. He makes guys better on our team based on how he goes out there and approaches it. I love coaching him. I’m proud of him because of the bounce back he had from last year. It says a lot about him, about his character, about who he is.

NBA draft hopeful Dwight Powell found himself in foul trouble for the second-straight game in a row, playing only 26 minutes Saturday after the forward saw action in only 24 Wednesday. He managed seven points on 3-of-8 shooting to accompany five rebounds. Stefan Nastic owned the paint in his absence, going 6-for-6 from the field to finish with 14 points. Guard Brandon Taylor led the Runnin’ Utes charge with 14 points, while fellow guard Delon Wright and center Dallin Bachynski notched 12 and 10 respectively.

Despite hitting over 55.6 percent of shots in the first half, Utah found itself trailing the Cardinal 33-25. Stanford made 14 shots on 31 attempts, only four fewer makes than Utah’s 18 attempts in the first. The Cardinal never trailed over the first 20 minutes of play, scoring on a Powell jumper 34 seconds in to take the 2-0 lead. Stanford outscored the Utes 27-16 over the first 14-plus minutes of play for the largest lead of the afternoon, but Utah finished the half with a 9-6 run to head into intermission trailing 33-25.

The Utes opened the second half with back-to-back field goals, including a Jordan Loveridge three, to cut the Cardinal lead to 33-30 just 1:05 in. It would be over ten minutes before either side made consecutive attempts from the floor after going nearly shot-for-shot when Nastic and Randle finally dropped consecutive jumpers to bolster Stanford’s edge 52-43. Nastic then took a Randle feed to the rim for a 11-point gap with 7:51 left in regulation.

“It was frustrating,” said Nastic. “We knew we had to come out with a higher energy level but for whatever reason, there were plays were weren’t making that the other team was making. It was very frustrating but we’ve been through a lot this season sticking together. We really tried to seize the opportunity at hand.”

Persistent Utah refused to yield with Wright and Taylor hitting shots from beyond the arc then Jeremy Olsen laid one up to cut the deficit to three points for the second time in the half. Randle made a pair from the stripe after Bachynski fouled the guard, but Olsen hit a jumper with 4:34 left in the half to make it 56-53. Nastic would hit one of two shots after Olsen fouled him on the floor with Stanford in the Bonus but Taylor ’s shot from downtown at the other end put Utah within one, the closest Utah disadvantage up to that point. Bachynski then hammered home the Utes first lead of the day, 58-56, with a heavy dunk after an offensive board 2:40 from a win.

Huestis responded at the other end with a three to put the Cardinal up by two with 180 seconds remaining before Bachynski hit a pair of free throws to knot the game at 60 just 55 seconds from the final buzzer. Powell drew a foul with 36 seconds remaining and hit one of two freebies, the eventual game-winner, for a 61-60 edge. In total, Stanford hit only four of ten free throws over the closing five minutes.

“Utah is a very good basketball team,” said Dawkins. “They’ve been on the road, they’ve won six out of their last eight games. We knew it was going to be a tough game, we knew it was going to come down to the wire. Defensively, we got the stops that we needed. It offset some of the free throws we missed. Our guys didn’t hang their heads.”

With the shot and game clock down to one second, Brandon Taylor turned the ball over on a traveling call, seemingly icing the game for Stanford. Powell couldn’t find a way to inbound the ball, turning it over with .8 seconds of play, breathing new life into the Utes comeback bid. They would fail to get the ball back in play for a desperation heave, firing the inbound pass into two Stanford players’ grasp as time expired.

Dawkins predicted this game would be close, but even he had no clue how slim the margin of victory would be when he gathered his team at center court Friday to address some of his players for the last time on Stanford’s home floor.

“We stood at center court yesterday with the seniors,” said Dawkins. “I said ‘You know what, the game is about finding a way, finding a way to win, whatever it takes. All through your lives, you guys have worked hard. You worked hard to get into Stanford academically. You worked hard to play at this level in the Pac-12. It feels good because you were able to do something hard. The things you appreciate most as a player, as a coach, as a human being are the things where you had to fight and to struggle to make something work.’ It’s only fitting to win that way tonight.”

For now, Stanford will be scoreboard-watching as it waits to see who will try their luck against in the Cardinal in Las Vegas this Wednesday, or potentially Thursday if the cards fall just right for a first-round Stanford bye. With eyes on an uncertain bid for March Madness, Dawkins’ squad will look to leave the desert the big winners in the bracketology jackpot. Count Coach among the rare few not looking at the big board with bated breath.

Quipped Dawkins, “I may be the only person in the world, but I promise you, I’m not paying attention to it”.

Huestis King of the Block on the Farm as Stanford Rolls Past USC 80-59

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By Matthew Harrington

At the time of the year when teams are piecing together the final bullet points of their March Madness resumes, the Stanford Cardinal did exactly what it needed to do Thursday night; It won. The 80-59 victory over visiting University of Southern California at Maples Pavilion didn’t captivate audiences like North Carolina’s stunner over Duke earlier in the evening, but Stanford still managed to finish just good enough to come out ahead against the Trojans (10-16, 1-12), firmly entrenched in the Pac-12 standings cellar, to continue to roll towards an at-large bid in the big dance.

The Cardinal shooting touch appeared to be more or a flail Thursday, as Stanford (17-8, 8-5 Pac-12) finished 28 of 69 from the floor, including a lackluster 2 of 19 from beyond the three-point line. Stanford turned that negative into a positive however, besting USC in the rebound battle 45-40. Stanford’s tenacious forward Josh Huestis led the boards barrage, picking up almost half (7) of the Cardinal’s 18 offensive rebounds. USC finished with 10 off their own glass. The Cardinal owned the turnover battle, forcing 18 Trojan errors to 7 of its own.

For Huestis, the night proved a memorable one as the senior stalwart notched a double-double with 11 points and while setting a new career-best in rebounds with 18. With his denial of a Strahinja Gavrilovic lay up two minutes into play the Great Falls, Mont. native moved past Tim Young as the Cardinal all-time blocks leader. Huestis finished the night with three rejections for a career total of 169, two more than Young.

Along with Huestis, three of Stanford’s other four starters hit double-digits in scoring, with guards Anthony Brown (13) and Chasson Randle (18) joining forward Dwight Powell (14) on the list of scorers with ten-plus points. USC guard Pe’Shon Howard led the Trojans with 13 points, while Julian Jacobs chipped in 11. The Trojans were without junior guard Byron Wesley, team leader in scoring (17.6) and rebounds (6.9) due to a violation of team rules.

The Cardinal suffered an early scare when USC’s Strahinja Gavrilovic fouled Powell hard in the head at the 5:36 mark of the first. Powell would leave the game but ultimately returned with about seven minutes left in the half sporting a headband wrapped around some stitches and a new number. Powell’s traditional 33 jersey, now blood-soaked, was shed in favor of one with a 32 stitched on back.

The preeminent fear after Powell’s injury was a continuation of dismal first-half shooting display as the Cardinal only hit 10 of 35 field goals in the first 20 minutes. They managed to hold a 32-23 at the half on the strength of their ability to force turnovers, nab offensive rebounds and a six-point outburst from Powell’s injury sub, Robbie Lemons.

The Cardinal finished the final 20 minutes with a much better shooting performance by outscoring the visitors 48-36, including a stretch where the Trojans were limited to one basket and three free throws made. With Stanford leading 51-42 7 minutes in to the half, the Cardinal went on a dominant 21-8 run till Roschon Prince hit a lay up with 4:17 left in regulation. Stanford coasted from there on out for the 80-59 win to sweep the season series against their Southern California rivals.

Next on the schedule is the University of California Los Angeles for a Saturday tilt at Maples, game number two of the remaining four games at home. The Cardinal also have two road games sandwiched between Saturday’s contest and a return home March 5th against Colorado, the final two-game home stretch of the campaign.

Stanford Remains Unbeaten at Home

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By Joe Lami

Stanford (24-2,13-1) returned to action just two days after one of their most impressive performances of the season, defeating the Arizona State Sun Devils 61-35.  On Sunday, the sixth ranked Cardinal played host to the struggling Arizona Wildcats (5-20, 1-13).  Stanford defeated Arizona 74-48.

Arizona was coming into the contest with just five wins on the season, with a record of 5-19.  Only one of those wins has come in Pac-12 play.  The Wildcats started the game strong as they got the first bucket of the afternoon.  They would be able to keep up with the Cardinal for the first 5:30 of the game.  The game was tied at 11-11 before the Cardinal would take over.  Stanford would go on a ten minute 24-4 run before Arizona would hit their next field goal.  Arizona was only able to mustard up another field goal and two free throws to end the half.  Stanford was on top at the half by the score of 48-19.

Stanford would cruise to victory in the second half.  Arizona outscored the Cardinal in the second half 29-26.  However, Stanford played their reserves for most of the second half.  Chiney Ogwumike, who plays as much time as possible, only saw 22 minutes in the win, being her season low on minutes played this season.  The starter who saw the most minutes played was Amber Orrange, and she capped out at 24 minutes.

Bonnie Samuelson led the Cardinal in scoring with 17 points, 15 of which came from beyond the arc.  Ogwumike finished with 15 points.  Lili Thompson and Orrange both had nine points in the game.  Orrange also had an astonishing nine assists.

Only six Wildcats played for Arizona.  Candice Warthen, Kama Griffitts and Keyahndra Cannon all played 40 minutes.  LaBrittney Jones led the team in scoring with 11 points.  She was the only Wildcat to get into double digits in scoring.

The Cardinal will finish off the road portion of their schedule next weekend as they travel to Los Angeles to take on USC on Friday and UCLA on Sunday.

Stanford Scares Arizona, But Cardinal Upset Bid Falls A Basket Shy

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By Matthew Harrington

The Stanford Cardinal nearly achieved what 20 other teams could not this season, taking undefeated Arizona (21-0, 8-0 Pac-12) to the brink Wednesday night at Maples Pavilion before ultimately falling 60-57 to the top-ranked team in the nation. The Cardinal (13-7, 4-4) held a one-point lead over itsPac-12 rivals at the half and had as much as a seven-point cushion over the visitors, but only two Stanford field goals in the final 10 minutes foiled the Cardinal upset bid.

National Player of the Year candidate Nick Johnson of Arizona was held in check by the Stanford defense to 16 points. The Cardinal also stymied another Wildcat on the mid-season 25 Players to Watch list, former Archbishop Mitty High School stand-out Aaron Gordon, to a scant five points. Stanford forwards Josh Huestis and Dwight Powell had 13 points each to lead the home side, while guard Chasson Randle pitched in with 12. The Cardinal finished with a 37.5 shooting percentage to the Cats 36, but Arizona’s six three-pointers to Stanford’s three proved a difference maker. Johnny Dawkins’ squad out-rebounded the top squad in the country 38-36.

Stanford dominated the early going, limiting the Wildcats to a lone field goal in the opening seven-plus minutes en route to a 9-4 lead before the visitors went on an 11-5 run to take their first lead of the night 15-14 with 9:45 left in the half. The two teams traded blows down the home stretch of the first twenty minutes with the lead changing hands three more times before a Randle jumper with two seconds remaining flipped the lead to Stanford 31-30 for the final time in the half.

Stanford picked up where it left off on the other side of the intermission, outpacing Arizona 18-12 capped by a Dwight Powell layup nearly seven minutes in to give Stanford its biggest lead of the night 49-42. The Cardinal couldn’t finish off the Cats who closed out the game on an 18-9 surge for the conference play victory, avoiding a defeat at the hands of Stanford for the second time since 2003 when entering play as the no. 1 team in the polls.

Stanford will continue its home stand, facing off against Arizona State Saturday before traveling to Berkeley to open up the second half of the Pac-12 schedule next Wednesday. The Cardinal lost to Cal 69-62 January 2nd on the Farm to open conference play.

Nastic’s Career Day, 79-62 Win Over Cal Poly Wrap Up Cardinal Non-Conference Play

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By Matthew Harrington

STANFORD, Calif. – Away from the lights of the Barclays Center, removed from name-brand universities Michigan, Pittsburgh or Connecticut on the opposite side of the marquee, the Stanford Cardinal quietly tuned up for conference play with a 79-62 win over Cal Poly (4-8) at Maples Pavilion Sunday afternoon. Stefan Nastic set a career-high with 20 points for Stanford (9-3) on the eve of Pac-12 play and a showdown with rival Cal.

“I was really happy with the win,” said Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins. “I thought it was against a quality team, a team that’s going to do well in league play. We’ll benefit from having that type of challenge as we go forward.”

Cal Poly forward Chris Eversley netted a game-high 25 points in defeat, while Nastic ended the night a flawless seven for seven from the field and six of six from the free throw line in 26 minutes of play to top his previous personal high of 14 points.

“We wanted to get the ball inside,” said Dawkins. “Stefan’s really done a good job of getting inside and anchoring our post position. We want to go inside to him when we can. He did a good job of really producing for us.”

Senior center John Gage, coming off the bench to rest Nastic, dropped a tidy eight points on Cal Poly on a pair of threes and a field goal in ten minutes of play. He was also perfect from the field.

“John is a really good counter to Stefan,” said Dawkins. “He’s a total opposite to Stefan at that position. One guy is really more a face-up guy who can shoot jumpers, the other guy is a dominant low post scorer, so I really do think they play off each other nicely.”

“It’s always good to have a player like John,” added Dawkins. “He’s a terrific teammate. He’s a senior. He’s battled a lot of injuries early in the season. He pretty much wore a cast the first seven, eight games this season. He took that off during the break we had before finals and he’s really found his stroke again. He’s starting to blossom. He’s playing with confidence.”

Nastic, Gage and Dwight Powell (all listed at over six foot ten inches tall in the media guide) used their height advantage to pick apart the Mustangs, whose tallest player Zach Gordon is a six-foot-eight forward. Powell came a pair of rebounds shy of a double-double and, with three blocks in the game, passed Brook Lopez for seventh all-time in school history with 103 rejections.

The Cardinal frontcourt trio man-handled their undersized opponents in the post, drawing the focus off guard Chasson Randle. Randle struggled in the first half, with only one field goal in four tries and six points before igniting in the second half to tie Nastic for the team-lead with 20 points.

Stanford never trailed in the contest, leading by as much as 16 points in the first half before Cal Poly guard Kyle Odister nailed a trey with less than ten seconds till the hallway point for a 33-20 Cardinal lead. Stanford held the visitors to nine baskets on 35 attempts, including limiting Eversley to only seven points.

The Cardinal continued to put the game out of reach after the intermission, picking up its largest lead of the night with a 24 point edge on an Anthony Brown free throw with 5:45 left to play. Cal Poly would chip away at the margin, forcing Dawkins to put some of his starters back on the court late to ensure the win.

“You have to play for forty minutes,” said Dawkins. “We subbed out late. We subbed out with six minutes to go. Those kids kept fighting and playing. We ended up subbing our guys back in, some of our starters. That says a lot about their group.”

With non-conference play wrapped up and the Cardinal looking at a 9-3 record including an upset over no. 10 Connecticut on the road, Dawkins and co. have an idea what to expect from their squad when they take on Cal January 2nd for Pac-12 play at Maples Pavilion.

“I think the teams we played have really helped us prepare for conference play,” said Dawkins. “Our conference, from top to bottom, is one of the best conferences in the nation. I think it’s been proven by how preseason has gone for all of our teams. I think the way we scheduled is reflective of what we thought our conference schedule would be like.”

Stanford Continues Dominance of Davis in 83-56 Win as Huestis Moves Up Cardinal All-time Blocks List

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By Matthew Harrington

Stanford continued its dominance over UC Davis Saturday night at Maples Pavilion, with the Cardinal (7-2) crushing the visiting Aggies 83-56. The victory stands as Stanford’s 17th triumph against Davis (3-8), while the Aggies’ lone victory in the series came in December of 2005.

Stanford forward Dwight Powell registered a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds while guard Chasson Randle netted a game-high 16 points, all but one of them coming on his five three-pointers. The Cardinal nailed 31 of 53 field-goal attempts, including 11 shots from beyond the arc. Forward Georgi Funtarov led the Aggies on the stat sheet, dropping 13 points for an otherwise offensively-stymied UC Davis squad. In total, the visitors connect on only 20 of 58 field goal tries.

Forward Josh Huestis had 15 points on the night and swatted away four Aggies shots to continue his climb up the Cardinal all-time blocks list. The four rejections places the senior from Great Galls, MT into a tie for third-best alongside Curtis Borchardt who ended his Stanford career with 146 denials.

With UC Davis trailing 8-0 four minutes in to the game, Darius Green made the first Aggie basket, a three-pointer to cut the Cardinal advantage to five points. Corey Hawkins would add the only other two points Davis would score in the next eight minutes of play, as Stanford went on a run to expand its lead to a commanding 22-5 edge. By the half the hosts held a 40-23 lead and did not let up. The closest Davis came to catching up with Stanford came 2:30 into the half after a Hawkins trey trimmed the Cardinal lead to a 16-point, 46-28 margin. That would be the closest they got as Stanford coasted to its second-straight victory.

The Cardinal next travels to Hartford to take on perennial power Connecticut in a Wednesday night tilt that will air on ESPN2. Following the contest, Stanford will travel to Brooklyn for a Saturday marquee match-up against Michigan, the team that nearly upset top-ranked Arizona Saturday afternoon, in the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports 1.