Tag: Stanford
Utes outlast Cardinal 70-66 in crucial Pac-12 matchup
Photo credit: @StanfordMBB
By: Eric Epstein
PALO ALTO, Calif. — The Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball team hosted the Utah Utes on Thursday night in a crucial Pac-12 matchup. The Cardinal ended up falling to the Utes in Palo Alto for the first time since 1971, with a final score of 70-66.
Utah gained some separation in the crowded Pac-12 with their win as they move up to join the Arizona State Sun Devils for third in the conference. Stanford slides to 2-5 in conference play, where they now occupy the ninth spot in the conference standings.
The first half was played at a blistering pace, with a total of two free throws attempted in the half and with each team attempting close to 30 field goals. Stanford missed their first 5 three-point attempts and finished the half 1-6 from deep. On the other end, Utah closed out the first half with a three-point barrage en route to an incredibly efficient 5-7 clip from downtown. Utah went 7-9 for their last 9 field goal attempts of the half, and freshman forward Timmy Allen’s last-second layup stretched the Utes’ lead to 5 at the half.
Sophomore forward KZ Okpala opened the half off right for the Cardinal, slamming down a thunderous dunk on Stanford’s first second-half possession.
Despite Utah’s hot first-half shooting, they did not attempt a three-point shot until halfway through the second half.
After sophomore guard Daejon Davis hit a mid-range floater with 16:08 left in the game to give Stanford a 1-point lead, the Cardinal held the lead until senior Utah guard Sedrick Barefield got an extremely fortunate bounce on his 3-point attempt to give the Utes the lead with 2:12 remaining. The next possession, Okpala responded with a three-point basket of his own to even the score.
Senior Utah guard Parker Van Dyke finished a tough layup around senior center Josh Sharma to give Utah a 2-point lead with less than a minute left. After that basket, the Cardinal had to play the foul game in attempt to catch up with the Utes. However, Barefield cooly hit all 4 of his free throws down the stretch and Stanford could not make up the deficit.
Okpala led the game in scoring with 22 points on 7-15 shooting, but with a shaky 7-11 free throw performance. Davis, who started the game 0-6 on field goals, turned his night around in the second half and finished with 17 points on 7-16 shooting along with 4 assists and only 2 turnovers.
Sharma, who is very susceptible to getting in foul trouble, did not get into serious foul trouble until the final minute of the game. He ended up seeing the court for 34 minutes and finished with 12 rebounds and 9 points on 3-6 shooting.
Sophomore forward Oscar da Silva, who started the game, did not record a single point on 3 field goal attempts, despite seeing 28 minutes of playing time. Freshman forward Jaden Delaire picked up the offensive slack dropped by da Silva by scoring 7 points on 3-4 shooting.
Utah had three double-digit scorers in Barefield (18), Van Dyke (10), and sophomore forward Donnie Tillman (11). The Utes finished with a very impressive 64.3% of their 3-point shots falling and a respectable 47% general field goal percentage.
Stanford finished with more offensive and defensive rebounds, assists, fast break points, and points in the paint. The Cardinal also blocked Utah 10 times, where Utah did not record a single blocked shot all night. However, Utah’s more efficient scoring made the difference and helped hand the Cardinal their fifth Pac-12 loss of the season.
The Stanford will shift their focus to their eighth Pac-12 game where they will host the Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 5:00 PM PST.
Stanford turns it around for an 85-71 win over ASU
Photo credit: gostanford.com
By: Joey Friedman
PALO ALTO — Coming off three straight losses to open conference play, Stanford (8-8) welcomed the Arizona State Sun Devils (11-5) to Maples on Saturday afternoon and won by a final score of 85-71. Stanford has won seven of their last eight home games against the Sun Devils.
The Sun Devils, who are currently unranked, have had a turbulent season with highs like upsets of #1 Kansas and #15 Mississippi State and lows like losses to Princeton and Utah. Nonetheless, prior to the game, ASU led the Pac-12 in scoring offense and rebounding margin.
Stanford jumped out to a quick start and was able to go on a 10-0 run capped by an Oscar Da Silva dunk to put the score at 12-4. That dunk five minutes into the game also gave Da Silva 9 points in just minutes.
Arizona State was able to crawl back, however, and on the back of freshman Luguentz Dort’s three consecutive three-pointers, ASU took a 16-14 lead with about 12 minutes left in the first half.
The two teams remained neck-and-neck for the rest of the half before Stanford took a two-point lead to the break with the score 40-38.
Stanford offense flowed well in the first half as they only turned the ball over three times, definitely an improvement from past performances. On defense, Stanford rolled and forced a number of shot clock violations which prevented ASU for gathering momentum. For the Cardinal, Oscar Da Silva finished the half with 14 points and seven rebounds while KZ Okpala and Daejon Davis each collected 10 points. For the Sun Devils, Luguentz Dort had with 15 points and shot 3-5 from beyond the arc.
Stanford opened the second half on a 12-0 run fueled by a Cormac Ryan three-pointer and an Oscar da Silva slam dunk. ASU scored their first points of the half on a jumper from senior Zylan Cheatham at the 14:33 mark which brought the score to 52-40 in favor of the Cardinal.
Freshman Cormac Ryan, who had 4 points, exited the game with a left ankle injury 5 minutes into the second half. He would return to the bench in the final minutes of the game, but he wouldn’t receive any further playing time. Jerod Hasse said he and his staff are highly concerned after repeated injuries to both of Ryan’s ankles in recent games.
The Stanford lead shrunk to as few as 5 points with 10 minutes left in the game but Daejon Davis quickly got the crowd back into it and shifted the momentum back in Stanford’s favor when, after he was doubled-teamed and got the back stolen away, he sprinted down the court and blocked an open ASU layup in transition.
With that momentum Stanford caught fire and pulled away once again and, with help for 8 straight points from KZ Okpala which included a pair of threes, the Cardinal stretched their lead to a deciding 19 points with just over 4 minutes left in the game and the score 76-57. Stanford would go on to win with the final score 85-71.
The Cardinal finished with a 53% field goal percentage and 39% three-point percentage while Arizona State finished by shooting 41% from the field and 45% from beyond the arc. Stanford forced 19 turnovers from the Sun Devils and turned those into 26 points— a deciding margin. The Cardinal’s 18 total assists and 3 first-half turnovers were noted by head coach Jerod Hasse as evidence of better offensive play which also received high praise from Da Silva and Okpala after the game. They credited a new mentality, which was caused by having their backs against the wall after starting conference play winless, for making the difference in tonight affair. Jerod Hasse called the ASU victory the best win for the Card of the season considering the energy and the execution of the game plan.
Oscar Da Silva finished a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. KZ Okpala also had 21 points and collected 9 boards. Daejon Davis collected 13 points and 9 assists.
For the Sun Devils, Luguentz Dort, who was held to a single point in the second half, had a team-high 16 points before fouling out. He sat for much of the second half after collecting four fouls early. Sophomore guard Rob Edwards had 13 points while Zylan Cheatham finished with 8 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore forward Kimani Lawrence collected 10 points and 6 rebounds.
What’s Next?
Stanford will take on the Washington schools on the road and will look to even their Pac-12 record on against UW on January 17 and WSU on January 19.
Arizona State will host the Oregon schools at home first with OSU on January 17 and then UO on January 19.
Stanford falls to Arizona in hard-fought contest 75-70
Photo credit: @StanfordMBB
By: Eric Epstein
PALO ALTO, Calif. — The Pac-12-leading Arizona Wildcats visited The Farm on Wednesday night, where they bested the Stanford Cardinal with a score of 75-70. Stanford’s conference record drops to 0-3 after this loss, with their previous defeats coming in their recent Southern California road trip to UCLA and USC.
The game was back-and-forth throughout both halves, with the largest margin of victory coming at the beginning of the game when Arizona jumped out to a 7-0 lead. The first lead change of the game occurred over 13 minutes into the first half, when Stanford briefly claimed a 2-point lead with two Daejon Davis free throws. After a short Arizona run led by sophomore forward Ira Lee and senior guard Justin Coleman, Stanford narrowed the Wildcat lead to 2 points when Davis sunk a running layup to beat the halftime buzzer.
Although there were only 3 lead changes in the second half, the lead for either team never rose above 6 points. Sophomore KZ Okpala showcased his offensive firepower as he scored 16 second half points on 6-9 shooting and going 4-5 from the free throw line. Although Arizona did not shoot efficiently in the second half with a 36.7% field goal percentage, their consistent free throw shooting and ball security gave them just enough to pull away with a five-point win.
Senior Josh Sharma started the game at center for the Cardinal, but when he committed two fouls in the first two minutes of play, Head Coach Jerod Haase gave freshman Lukas Kisunas a chance at the five off the bench. Although Kisunas contributed nicely in the first half with 5 rebounds, he did not see much time on the court in the second half, where Sharma played a larger role for Haase.
The Arizona frontcourt dealt with foul trouble of their own, with Lee as well as senior forward Ryan Luther picking up 3 first-half fouls. Junior center and the team’s second-leading scorer Chase Jeter fouled out with 2-and-a-half minutes left in the contest.
Although Stanford attempted 8 more free throws than Arizona, the Wildcats shot 89% from the charity stripe, a much more efficient clip than Stanford’s 58%. Arizona also had more team assists, bench points, offensive rebounds, and points off turnovers. The Cardinal only made 1 three-point shot out of the 8 that they attempted, whereas the Wildcats made 7 of 12 of their threes.
KZ Okpala led the game in scoring with 29 points on 11-16 shooting and 7-12 from the foul line, although he did not make either of his three-point attempts. Daejon Davis pitched in 15 points of his own, but he had a subpar assist-to-turnover ratio with 3 assists and 6 turnovers. The Cardinal as a team were not too careful with the ball, as they coughed the ball up 19 times over the course of the game.
Stanford will have a few days of rest and practice before hosting the Arizona State Sun Devils in a Pac-12 matchup on January 12 at 3:00 pm.
NCAAB podcast with Daniel Dullum: Costly losses for UCLA, ASU, Illinois, Wisconsin; Good day for Stanford, UCSB, Saint Mary’s; plus more
bruinsnation.com photo: UCLA Bruins (7-6) head coach Steve Alford contemplates as the Bruins drop their fourth straight game to Liberty (11-4) on Saturday.
On the NCAAB podcast with Daniel:
1 Men’s Hoops: Potential costly losses by UCLA, Arizona State, Illinois and Wisconsin
2 Good day for Stanford, Pacific, UC Santa Barbara and Saint Mary’s
3 Rick Pitino picks up win in EuroLeague debut with Panathinaikos
4 Women’s Hoops: UConn still No. 1 after tough road trip
5 There’s no need to expand the D-1 Football Playoffs
Catch Daniel each week for the NCAA podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
San Jose State podcast with Ana Kieu: Thoughts on Early National Signing Day; Men’s basketball loses to Stanford on Tuesday night
Photo credit: @SJSUSpartanFB and sjsuspartans.com
On the San Jose State podcast with Ana:
1. Early National Signing Day began this morning. Have any football players caught your undivided attention?
2. Location appears to important as SJSU has been dubbed the No. 1 underrated school in America in more ways than one on Forbes’ most recent list of underrated colleges and universities.
3. SJSU men’s basketball wrapped up its homestand vs. Northern Arizona last Saturday night.
4. SJSU played Stanford last night and will take on Cal on Friday.
Ana does the San Jose State podcasts each week for SportsRadioService.com
Effort isn’t enough as San Jose State falls to Stanford 78-73 at Maples Pavilion
Photo credit: @SJSUMBB
By: Ana Kieu
Most recently, San Jose State wrapped up its homestand on a high note with two wins in a row. Fast forward to Tuesday evening when SJSU searched for its third straight win against Stanford at Maples Pavilion.
Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau announced a starting lineup consisting of Brae Ivey, Noah Baumann, Craig LeCesne, Michael Steadman and Oumar Barry. SJSU won the tip and the MWC vs. Pac-12 game went underway at Maples.
At the first media timeout of the game, SJSU held a 13-12 advantage over Stanford. At the second media timeout, SJSU upped its lead to 18-12, thanks to Baumann and Steadman scoring five points apiece.
The Spartans continued to hold onto a 22-13 lead over the Cardinal with 7:42 left in the first period. SJSU shot 45 percent from the floor.
The Spartans’ lead remained in tact, but the Cardinal hit five of their last six shots to make it a one-point game 28-27 with 2:49 left in the period. SJSU held a lead for 19:58 as Stanford hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to snatch a 34-33 lead at the end of the period. Obviously, that was rough for the Spartans, but they did shoot 42.9 percent from the field for their best mark in the first half since shooting 58.3 percent against Central Michigan at the Junkanoo Jam in Bimini, Bahamas.
SJSU got off to a good, if not great, start to open up the second period. Barry drew attention to himself by blocking his third shot on the game and converted it to the other end of the court for his 10th point of the evening. The Spartans were back in front 39-37.
Barry upped his totals to 12 points and eight rebounds for his fourth consecutive game in double figures. The Spartans led 42-40 at the 15:44 mark of the period.
Though, the game reverted back to a one-point game. Stanford hit three triples over four possessions to snatch a 52-51 lead at the 10:56 mark of the period. Still, Ivey and Steadman led the Spartans with 11 points apiece.
And, once again, the game was tied at 54 apiece. Then, Oscar da Silva hit a three to lift the Cardinal up 57-54.
Things began to improve when Steadman laid one in to help the Spartans maintain a one-possession game. Yet, Stanford was up 61-58 with 7:36 left in the period at the under-eight timeout. Stanford then upper their lead to 66-58 for their largest lead of the evening. That large lead occurred as a result of the Spartans turning the ball over five times in a span of 2:43. So in order for the Spartans to get back into the game, they had to take care of the ball.
At the final media timeout of the game, Stanford led 70-61 with 3:45 left in the period. SJSU wasn’t out of it yet, but they had a lot to do to close out the game in a positive manner. SJSU trailed Stanford 72-67 in the final minute of play.
The game went down to the wire as LeCesne knocked down a jumper with 3.21 seconds left in the period. The score decreased to a three-point game with 20.6 seconds left in the period. Moreover, goaltending was the call on the Cardinal. The Spartans gave the Cardinal every bit and piece of effort, but lost 78-73. SJSU fell to 3-7 while Stanford rose to 6-4.
SJSU heads to Cal to take on the Golden Bears Friday, Dec. 21 at 7:00 pm PST on KLIV 1590 AM and the Pac-12 Network.
San Jose State to take on Stanford on Tuesday night
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
gostanford.com photo
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 Cardinal basketball podcast with Joey Friedman: Cardinal get roughed up in the Bahamas in Battle 4 Atlantis tournament
Photo credit: gostanford.com
On the Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast with Joey:
#1 Wisconsin Badgers (5-0) held off a Stanford Cardinal (2-3) comeback on Wednesday as Wisconsin got a convincing 62-42 win in the first game of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas.
#2 Ethan Happ led the Badgers with 16 points and 12 rebounds, Nate Reuvers blocked 9 Cardinal shots, and Wisconsin earned a semifinal date with Oklahoma (4-1) on Thanksgiving Day.
#3 Wisconsin did not score a single 3-pointer until the final minute. Stanford, meanwhile, fared much worse, hitting 27 percent from the field – 11 percent behind the 3-point arc (2 of 18). Happ did the job defensively, holding KZ Okpala to 2-of-12 field goal shooting and 11 points, well short of the 22.7 points per game he was averaging.
#4 The Cardinal struggled with the Florida Gators (3-2) on Thanksgiving, dropping behind the Gators at the half, traveling to the Bahamas and playing Wisconsin and Florida and struggling against both. Was it a matter of both teams dominating Stanford or was it the travel, time difference and exhaustion for the Cardinal?
Joey does the Cardinal podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsadioservice.com
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