Tag: Stanford

Stanford holds off Cal to keep Pac-12 title hopes alive 17-14

Published on by jeremy2878Leave a comment

November 18, 2017: Stanford Cardinal running back Cameron Scarlett (22) tries to escape Cal’s defense, during a NCAA Football game between the California Golden Bears and the Stanford Cardinal at the Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California. Valerie Shoaps/CSM (Cal Sport Media via AP Images)

By Jeremy Harness

PALO ALTO – The Big Game has almost become an afterthought, with the Stanford Cardinal establishing itself as the clear dominant force in this annual rivalry game against the California Golden Bears, but it sure didn’t play out like it on Saturday.

Although it remained close for much of the game, Stanford avoided becoming a victim of the notorious “Pac-12 After Dark” trend, which has consistently featured big upsets and high drama during conference games after the sun had gone down, and held on for a 17-14 win over Cal at Stanford Stadium.

With the win, the Cardinal kept themselves in the running for the Pac-12 North title and the right to face USC, which has already claimed the Pac-12 South, in the conference’s title game on December 1.

Stanford has done all it can do at this point, and now they have to play the waiting game. The Cardinal will need Washington State–which, like Stanford, has two conference losses and owns the tiebreaker over the Cardinal by virtue of its head-to-head victory–to lose to Washington in the annual Apple Cup next Saturday to earn that berth.

In the process, Stanford got a real scare from Cal. The Golden Bears kept it close in the first half by limiting Heisman Trophy candidate Bryce Love to 17 rushing yards in the first half. Stanford, however, held a 10-6 halftime lead, thanks to K.J Costello’s 17-yard touchdown hookup with tight end Kaden Smith midway through the second quarter.

Love has been bothered by an ankle injury, which he re-injured in the fourth quarter and eventually gave way to Cameron Scarlett, who had several key runs to keep drives alive and allow the Cardinal to bleed out the clock down the stretch, as well as Trevor Speights.

However, there was a strong feeling that it was just a matter of time before he broke at least one long run to leave his imprint on the game, which he did midway through the third quarter. With some solid blocking from the offensive line that sealed the left edge for him, Love broke off left tackle and sprinted down the sideline untouched for a 57-yard touchdown that extended Stanford’s lead to 17-6.

Love finished the game with 101 rushing yards on 14 carries.

As it appeared that Stanford was starting to pull away, Cal used the legs of junior running back Patrick Laird to march right back down the field. Laird put the Golden Bears on the doorstep with a 39-yard run, and one play later, he punched it in from a yard out.

Laird had a big hand in giving Cal a realistic chance to win on Saturday, carrying the ball 20 times for 153 yards.

After quarterback Ross Bowers found the end zone on the ensuing two-point attempt, the Cardinal’s lead was trimmed to three.

As the Cardinal ventured into the red zone, they took a huge step back when guard Nick Wilson drew a 15-yard unsportmanlike penalty. That proved to be crucial, as Jet Toner missed a 41-yard field-goal attempt.

Cal then drove the ball in to Stanford territory when Bowers decided to take a shot at the end zone. His deep ball was underthrown and had a lot of air under it, allowing safety Ben Edwards to close the gap and pick the ball off, thwarting the Cal drive and set the stage for Stanford to play keep-away for the rest of the game.

The Cardinal host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday, November 25 at 5 pm on ABC.

Love runneth over: Arizona State bludgeoned by Stanford back’s record-setting performance

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment
AP17273845629528
Stanford running back Bryce Love, left, runs for a touchdown past Arizona State defensive back Demonte King (28) during the third quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, in Stanford, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

By Morris Phillips

PALO ALTO, CA–Less than a year after Coach David Shaw was forced to step out of character, and heap platitudes on one member of his Stanford football team, the coach who preaches selflessness and teamwork, had to do it again.

This time Shaw had a plan, one he executed in his first utterings to the media after Stanford bludgeoned Arizona State, 34-24 on Saturday.

“The opening statement is Bryce Love, and the answer to every question is Bryce Love,” Shaw declared.

Love had himself a day, rushing for a school-record 301 yards and three touchdowns, surpassing the previous record of 284 yards, set by Christian McCaffrey in November. Love also became only the third FBS back since 2004 to top 1,000 yards rushing in his team’s first five games, joining Northern Illinois’ Garrett Wolfe (2006) and Leonard Fournette (2015).

Folks, that 1,000 yards just days after the official end of summer. Given that, Shaw couldn’t help himself. Like he did when describing the running style of the Heisman trophy runner-up, McCaffrey, Shaw had a few, additional things to say about the guy who last season was merely McCaffrey’s backup.

“He runs physical, he runs tough, and if he breaks a tackle, he’s gone,” Shaw gushed. “I’ve never seen anybody get hit and stumble and then get back up full speed. I’ve just never seen that before. It’s unbelievable.”

Unquestionably, this was the perfect storm, but that didn’t necessarily mean that Love would be perfect.  But he was.  Two weeks ago, Arizona State’s beleaguered defense surrendered 216 yards to San Diego State’s Rashaad Penny, and ASU Coach Todd Graham conceded during the week that Love would provide an even bigger challenge.

From Stanford’s perspective, quarterback stability is often the last piece to the puzzle, and they appear to have that, with K.J. Costello, the sophomore who made his first college start on Saturday, after his eye-opening second half of football against UCLA last week. Combine Costello’s emergence with the Cardinal’s offensive line having what Shaw said was their best performance to date, and Love was basically off and running from the opening kickoff.

Less than two minutes into the game, Love went 61 yards for a score, motoring past Sun Devils’ defenders like a speeding commuter on 101 during rush hour.

Early in the second quarter, Love knifed through the line, then broke outside on his way to a 43-yard score down the sideline.

Then early in third quarter, Love broke free up the middle, and ran 59 yards untouched for his final score.

“Every play that he broke, we had someone there, unblocked, and couldn’t tackle him,” Graham said. “You have to give him a lot of credit. He’s very, very good.”

But the run that had everyone talking was Love’s final one of the afternoon, a 7-yard run that was all effort and will, and ended with three ASU defenders with hands on the running back.

 

Travis, Cardinal Overwhelm Cal State East Bay

Published on by bentleonard18Leave a comment

By: Ben Leonard

STANFORD, Calif. — Even for basketball players, finals week at Stanford is grueling.

Before overwhelming Division II Cal State East Bay 79-53 Friday night, Stanford had eight players with finals at nine o’clock in the morning, some pulling all-nighters to cram for their exams. The nearly two weeks off from games for finals period didn’t phase the Cardinal and junior forward Reid Travis, who recorded his fifth double-double of the season, scoring 24 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in just 22 minutes to pace Stanford.

“There’s definitely a lot of things we can work on, but I’m proud of the way we bounced back this week. We had a tough finals week, so definitely to refocus and have a game like we did tonight,” Travis said. “Defensively, offensively, we’re really starting to get our standards down and do everything we need to do to be successful in conference play.”

Stanford hadn’t played since falling 89-74 to No. 4 Kansas Dec. 3, and certainly showed some rust in the early going against the Pioneers (8-3, 0-0 CCAA). Stanford had been limited to five full practices during that time, taking several days off and only holding shootarounds on many occasions. After a dominant 18-3 run to start the game, the Cardinal (7-3, 0-0 Pac-12) lapsed on defense, allowing Cal State East Bay to cut the lead to 22-16.

But Travis and the Cardinal quickly became too much for the undersized Pioneers to handle. Led by eight points from the 6-foot-8, 245-pound forward, including a clean dish from sophomore guard Robert Cartwright for a thunderous dunk, the former McDonald’s American and the Cardinal surged to on a 15-0 run to take a commanding lead, never looking back.

Travis’ physicality, a product of an unmatched, almost excessive work ethic that ex-Cardinal head coach Johnny Dawkins in part attributed to his missing 22 games last season with a stress reaction in his left leg, paid off Friday, simply too much for the Pioneers to match. Only one of the Pioneers’ top six scorers was above 6-foot-5, presenting huge matchup problems for the lower-division squad.

Although they took just seven 3-point attempts, making one, Stanford dominated in scoring through the post, outscoring the Pioneers 42-20 in the paint and winning the rebound battle 42-30.

“Our identity is a team that gets the ball inside first by dribble or pass, hopefully gets some things in transition and on offensive rebounds, but we have to work from the inside out,” Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said. “Because it was working well and effectively, we didn’t have to go to the second part of that, which is shooting from the perimeter. As time moves on, we are going to have to shoot from the perimeter. We have to be more efficient than we have been from the perimeter.”

The Cardinal’s leader in 3-point scoring percentage, junior guard Dorian Pickens, made Stanford’s lone 3-pointer Friday in his only attempt. He was the only other Cardinal player to score in double-digits, scoring 11 points in 21 minutes on 3-of-5 shooting. The Phoenix native helped buoy a Stanford offense that shot 55.3% from the field (26-of-47 FG’s), even without contributions from one of their key contributors.

After starting all nine of the team’s previous contests, a familiar name was out of the starting lineup Friday: junior forward Michael Humphrey. The Phoenix native had seen his field goal percentage dip from nearly .500 to a meager .429 mark this season and his rebounds per game fall by two, which prompted Hasse to sit Humphrey and play him for just 12 minutes Friday, replacing him with senior center Grant Verhoeven.

“(The goal was) hopefully to light a little fire under Michael,” Haase said. “It’s not a secret, Michael isn’t playing his top performances right now. Grant has earned that right as well. He’s been a consistent performer and played well.”

Humphrey was effective in limited time, matching Verhoeven’s scoring total with seven points on 2-of-3 shooting and grabbing three rebounds.

On the whole, Verhoeven thought it was fairly solid showing for the Cardinal, albeit a work in progress before it takes on a talented SMU squad (8-3, 0-0 AAC) on Monday.

“It’s good to have a game like this where we can just focus on getting better, working on our offense and defense,” Verhoeven said. “There was a lot out there that wasn’t pretty on our end of the court, but we have a lot we can work on in these next couple days before our game against SMU.”

 

 

 

Cover Image: Stanford’s Reid Travis (22) scores against Cal State East Bay during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Friday, Dec. 16, 2016, in Stanford, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Stanford thumps Rice, finishes regular season with five-game win streak as McCaffrey and Thomas face NFL decisions

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

thomas-pounces

(Photos courtesy of Eric Taylor/1st String Sports)

By Morris Phillips

After thumping Rice, 41-17, in their season finale, the Stanford Cardinal had a story to tell, it just wasn’t the story the assembled press was prying and probing after.

The Cardinal capped a nine-win season with a dominant performance against the Conference USA Owls, finishing their regular season with a five-game win streak, after the talent-laden team found itself embarrassed by three mid-season losses to the Pac-12’s upper tier.

During that stretch in which Stanford came up short against both Pac-12 Championship Game entrants—Pac-12 South champion Colorado and North winner, Washington–as well as a sobering home loss to Washington State, a whole lot of soul searching went on, and the Cardinal had to rebuild themselves quietly and outside the spotlight of the BCS championship race.

But the young team stocked with inexperienced talent in its freshman and sophomore classes did it, and for that, Coach David Shaw couldn’t be more proud.

“Even when the season wasn’t going the right way, even when we were booted out of the top-25, whatever that means, we still practiced hard,” Shaw recounted.  “We practiced well, we practiced with energy and passion.  That’s what I’m most proud of.  Because it can’t just come from me.”

“It has to come from the team.  You have to have the right group of guys.”

Stanford’s unquestioned best players—Christian McCaffrey and Solomon Thomas—stand right at the top of the list of that “right” group.  The Heisman runner-up last season suffered through an injury-plagued season, missing most of the WSU game and the entirety of the Notre Dame game amid the losing streak.  But once he regained his health, Stanford soared.  McCaffrey outclassed Rice with more than 200 yards all-purpose yardage—his fifth, consecutive such outing and the 19th of his illustrious career.

Thomas was a nightmare for Rice, repeatedly blowing up plays Rice ran to their right and into Thomas’ wheelhouse.  Thomas was in on five tackles on Saturday night, and added a sack of Rice quarterback, Jackson Tyner.  Rice’s freshman quarterback, replacing normal starter Tyler Stehling, had a miserable outing, missing on 27 of his 37 pass attempts, once again illustrating Thomas’ imprint on Stanford’s easy win.

But for both McCaffrey and Thomas it started at practice, as Shaw described, repetition after repetition without a bunch of verbal stuff, and filled with selfless acts.

“Solomon Thomas is a leader, pure and simple,” safety Justin Reid said.  “The way he plays, his enthusiasm, his effort, his leadership, everything about him just screams a leader to this team.  And he makes huge plays for us, comes up big in the red zone, and in third downs and with the sacks that he’s made.”

Both Thomas and McCaffrey face decisions to turn pro, or return to Stanford for their senior seasons.  Both project as first or second round picks so big money factors into their decisions.  The fortunes of the team—stacked with younger talent, an emerging quarterback in Keller Chryst, and the stability provided by Shaw, who continues to reject offers from other programs and the NFL—hinge on their decisions.

So what will the pair do, especially McCaffrey who prompted all the initial questions, asked in varied and creative ways, during the postgame presser?

“Hope springs eternal,” Shaw said, when asked about McCaffrey and the possibility he would return when there’s very little new for him to accomplish as a collegian.  “Hasn’t crossed my plate yet.”

McCaffrey spoke as well, saying he has not yet decided.  In fact, his roommate, Chryst, swore that the pair haven’t even casually discussed the tailback’s pro prospects.  But that all adds up, given McCaffrey’s team first attitude.

“I’ve just been focusing on the season now,” McCaffrey said.  “I have people and mentors in my life that I trust that I’ll go to.  But at the end of the day it is my decision and I’ll make whatever’s best for me.”

Among those mentors, McCaffrey’s father Ed, has a place on the wall at Stanford Stadium where the program’s previous All-American’s are pictured and honored.  Christian will soon join his father there, as well as his mom, Lisa, in the pantheon of great athletes to come through Stanford.  Undoubtedly, it will be tough for McCaffrey to leave, but again, he’s done it all, and other challenges await.

GAME NOTES: McCaffrey has 30 rush attempts for 205 yards against Rice, one week after he crushed Cal with 30 carries, 284 yards.  Fully healthy, the junior won’t face many questions about durability after carrying the ball 60 times in what could be his final two regular season games at Stanford.

“We knew coming in here, you had to tackle Christian, and not let him have a big game,” Rice coach David Bailiff said.  “We didn’t do that.  Not a lot of people have done that.”

“Every time he touched the ball there was a collective gasp to see what he’s going to do next,” Shaw said.

Bryce Love, the emerging back behind McCaffrey, had 114 yards rushing on seven carries, including a blazing reverse that went 50 yards for a touchdown in third quarter.

Chryst finished 11 for 16 for 154 yards and joins a short list of Stanford quarterbacks that have won their first four, career starts.  In those four starts, Chryst has thrown nine touchdown passes and only one interception.

Kicker Conrad Ukropina capped his Stanford career with a pair of made field goals, from 28 and 23 yards, despite the persistent rain and muddy field.

The Cardinal are expected to accept a bowl invitation to the December 28 Foster Farms Bowl at Santa Clara or the December 30 Sun Bowl at El Paso, Texas.  The Las Vegas Bowl on December 17 also remains a possibility.

Giants Minor League Spotlight: RHP Sam Coonrod is a fast rising star

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

Coonrod 2

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Right-handed pitcher Sam Coonrod is ranked the fifth best player in the Giants farm system, and Sam is having a very good 2016 season.

Coonrod started the year off in San Jose in the high Class-A California League. That assignment had him right on schedule for player development as he had spent 2014 the in short-season rookie league and 2015 at Class-A Augusta.

By June 12th, Coonrod had made 11 starts for San Jose and had posted a record of 5-3 with 1.98 ERA. That outstanding start earned him a promotion to the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels in mid-June.

Since being promoted to Richmond, Coonrod has continued to be successful. He has made 10 starts and has posted a record of 4-2 with a 2.80 ERA. In 61.0-innings pitched, he has 19 runs (14 earned) off 45 hits. Coonrod has allowed just five home runs. The one area that needs immediate improvement is his walk to strike out ratio. He has walked 29 and struck out 34 batters in those 10 starts for the Flying Squirrels. Coonrod has a WHIP of 1.21 and a batting average against of .209.

The 23-year old Coonrod is 6-foot-2 and weights 225 pounds. He was selected by the Giants in the fifth round (148th overall) of the 2014 MLB Draft out of Southern Illinois.

The fastball is is Coonrod’s number one pitch. He throws it in the 91-96 mph range with good command. His second pitch is a plus-slider that hits the mid-80’s. The change-up is Coonrod’s third pitch and it is a work in progress. He will need to master that change-up in order to remain a candidate to be a starter.

Coonrod’s accelerated progress to the Double-A level has moved up the timeline for him to make it to the major leagues. Based on his current success, fans should expect to see Sam Coonrod in a San Francisco Giants uniform sometime in 2017. That would mean he would start the year in Triple-A at Sacramento and move up the show sometime after the All-Star Break and no later than the September call-ups.

York, Arizona fashion a 3-point nightmare for Stanford in regular season finale

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

Stanford-Arizona

By Morris Phillips

AP photo credit

Gabe York and Arizona, apparently channeling their inner Steph Curry, couldn’t miss from distance, canning 18 threes on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Rosco Allen and Stanford couldn’t shoot straight, missing 19 shot attempts from three-point range.

The outcome? Need you ask.

Stanford fell in their regular season finale, 94-62 at Arizona, just another reminder that the Cardinal’s offense—minus Reid Travis and others—isn’t where it needs to be, heading into the Pac-12 tournament and hopefully, the NIT. The Cardinal concluded the regular season with losses in seven of 11 games.

Defensively, Stanford wasn’t where it needs to be either as York canned a school-record tying nine 3-pointers and Arizona shot 55 percent after halftime on their way to an easy win on Senior Day in Tucson.

“We have to go back and look at the film and see areas that we need to improve on,” Coach Johnny Dawkins said. “Our defensive rebounds were not as good as they needed to be and we need to get better at defending at the 3-point line.”

Arizona will enter the Pac-12 tournament with a first-day bye while Stanford will be seeded ninth, with their eight-seeded opponent on March 9 to be determined after the outcome of this evening’s games. The Cardinal will enter the conference tournament looking to avoid a second straight season without an NCAA tournament appearance.

York’s record performance capped an about-face weekend for the Arizona senior, who had been criticized for taking and missing big shots late in the team’s recent road losses at Utah and Colorado. York almost single-handedly pulled out Arizona’s improbable win over Cal on Thursday by hitting three 3-pointers in the final 2:32 as the Wildcats overcame the Bears’ eight-point lead.

Then on Saturday, with his family in attendance and in front of a nationally televised audience, York hit 9 of 14 from distance as the sold-out McKale Center howled its approval. Had coach Sean Miller been informed, he would have kept York in the ballgame to attempt to break the school record for made threes, established in 2005 by Salim Stoudamire.

But as soon as York departed, senior walk-on Jacob Hazzard took over, hitting three 3’s in the game’s final seven minutes. Hazzard’s unexpected contributions allowed Arizona to set the new school record for made threes in a game at 18.

Meanwhile, Stanford was left to figure out what went wrong down to their decision to don black uniforms for the occasion. The Cardinal trailed by 19 in the first half, and by 39 in the second half before falling by 32.

Rosco Allen and Marcus Allen led Stanford with 16 points each, but Rosco Allen missed all eight of his 3-point attempts. Among Stanford’s starters, only Dorian Pickens hit a three-pointer, but Pickens, returning to his prep roots in Arizona, missed eight of 10 shot attempts from the field.

Defensively, the 37-27 rebounding disadvantage caught Dawkins’ attention, but Stanford failed to take Arizona out of any of its offensive attack as the Wildcats amassed 24 assists on 29 made baskets.

With their opponent still to be determined, Stanford will open the Pac-12 tournament Wednesday in the session opener scheduled for noon in Las Vegas.

 

 

 

Stanford Trips Up Ranked Runnin’ Utes in OT

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit: AP photo Utah Kyle Kuzma tried to stop a Stanford forward Rosco Allen shot on Friday night

STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford has a habit of making New Year’s Day memorable whenever they take the court. Prior to Friday night’s contest, in its lone January 1st appearance in 1938 Hank Luisetti set single-game school records in points (50) and field goals (23). Nobody scored 50 points at Maples Pavilion Friday, but the game was a standout showing in its own right.

The Stanford Cardinal came from behind to upset no. 21/22 Utah 70-68 in overtime, opening the New Year and Pac-12 play with a 1-0 record.

“Our guys have a big heart,” said Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins. “It’s not always pretty but they seem to find a way to give us a chance to win. That’s all you can ask for from a group.”

Rosco Allen and Marcus Sheffield scored 17 points for Stanford (8-4, 1-0) to give the Cardinal its 5th win in game 6 of a season-long 7 game homestand.

The freshman Sheffield stepped up big for the Cardinal in his first exposure to conference play. He was the only bench player to hit a field goal, going 7-for-13 from the floor.

“Growing up as a kid, I always dreamed of this,” said Sheffield. “Now that it’s coming to fruition it feels good.”

While Sheffield’s dreams are unfolding in front of him, for his coach and teammates visions of the forward’s potential are shining through.

“I think that will do wonders for his confidence,” said Dawkins. “To have that type of game on that type of stage. We believe in Marcus, it’s why we had him in there. I think he’s starting to realize some of the things he’s capable of doing. I still don’t think he’s fully realized how good he can be. He’s starting to figure it out.”

“He’s a super smooth player,” said Rosco Allen of Sheffield. “He’s really talented offensively. He has all the skills, all the moves in the books. He has the ability to take on guys one-on-one.”

While Sheffield wowed in regulation, Allen had an average regulation contest. The Hungarian-born baller battled foul trouble to produce just 10 points on 5-for-11 shooting. The senior turned it on in overtime however, scoring 5 of the Cardinal’s 7 points in the extra session.

“Rosco’s grown into that role,” said Dawkins. “He’s someone that everybody is confident in down the stretch.”

“I knew I had to come up clutch” said Allen. “We’ve done it before as a team, we did it against Arkansas so we had some experience with that.”

Stanford held Utah (11-3, 0-1) to 5 points in OT. But the Cardinal nearly didn’t make it to overtime.

Utah’s Brandon Taylor stepped up to the free throw line with 2 seconds left and the game tied 63-63. Taylor missed both shots from the charity stripe though and Stanford’s Dorian Pickens missed a heave at the buzzer to keep both teams knotted at 68-68 after 40 minutes.

Both Dawkins and Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak had to entrust major minutes to their reserves, with both teams finding their top players in danger of fouling out. Both team’s starting centers, Stanford’s Michael Humphrey and Utah’s Jakob Poeltl fouled out in the first 40 minutes. Poeltl was Utah’s leading scorer with 16 points but made himself unavailable for overtime after fouling out.

7 players in total, 3 from Stanford and 4 from Utah had 3 or more personal fouls in regulation. Both teams struggled from the free throw line, with Stanford going 14-for-25 and Utah hitting 11 of their 24 from the stripe.

“Maybe a little hangover from the Holidays,” said Dawkins with a chuckle.

The two teams engaged in a defensive dogfight in the first half, with Stanford hitting only 7 of 29 field goals. Utah was more successful from the field, hitting 12 of 23 would-be buckets but the Cardinal forced 10 Runnin’ Utes turnovers.

“Both teams defensively played exceptionally well,” said Dawkins. “They average 82 points a game. I thought our guys did a great job with their effort and energy to slow them down a bit.”

Despite forcing the visitors to mismanage the rock, Stanford still found itself down 30-21 at the half. The two teams were tied 10-10 halfway through the period, but Utah went on a 9-0 run to break the stalemate 19-10 with just under 7 minutes left in the half. The two teams would trade baskets down the stretch, each scoring 11 points to draw the half to an end.

“It was a match-up zone,” said Allen on the Utes defense. “We haven’t seen a lot of that this year. Give credit to them, we haven’t really seen it and we were stumped by it in the first half.”

The second half started much the way the first half ended, with the two teams trading baskets to maintain a double-digit Utes lead at 44-34 with 13:22 left in the game. The Cardinal roared back, scoring 11 of the next 12 points to tie the game at 45-all.

“Our defense was much more active in the second,” said Allen. “We got a lot more deflections. That gave us easier shots on the offensive end.”

Utah would regain the lead, but only get as far ahead as 5 points. With Stanford trailing by 4 in the final 34 seconds, Rosco Allen slammed home a dunk. After Jordon Loveridge missed a pair of free throws, Allen hit a floater over a pair of Utah defenders to tie the game up with 13 seconds. Marcus Allen was called for a foul on Utah’s next possession, and with both teams in the bonus, Brandon Taylor went to the line for his fateful free throw attempts.

With a close win in hand to open Pac-12 play, the Cardinal now turns its focus to a Sunday afternoon match-up with Colorado, another conference showdown.

Our conference is one of the toughest in the country,” said Dawkins. “We expect a battle every single night.”

For now though, Stanford knows it can hang with some of the tougher teams in the Nation.

“When you win a game like that I think it shows the possibilities,” said Dawkins. “As a coach we can always say ‘We believe in ourselves. We can win games like that.’ Until you do, kids will look at you like ‘I hear you coach’. But when you win one you have a reference point.”

 

Randle’s Career Night Against Rhode Island Pushes Cardinal Into NIT Quaterfinals

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

STANFORD, Calif. — Chasson Randle and the Stanford Cardinal live to see another day, topping the University of Rhode Island Rams 74-65 Sunday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the National Invitational Tournament.

Randle, a senior playing in a do-or-die contest to keep his days in cardinal alive, scored a career-high 35 points to lead his team to victory. With his career-best night, Randle moved to 2,310 career scorers, nine shy of Adam Keefe’s 2,319 for second-best in school history. Randle is 26 shy of matching the school record set by Todd Lichti from 1985-189.

“I just want to keep winning to be real,” said Randle. “It’d be a great achievement, to be the all-time leading scorer but I just want to go out on the right note with this team. We didn’t achieve what we wanted to, to make the NCAA tournament but we’re granted an opportunity here in the NIT.”

It was a opportunity all the more significant because Randle’s father was in attendance at Maples Pavilion.

“My dad was here tonight,” said Randle. “So for him to be here and see that is special to me. Over the course of my career he’s probably been to 3-4 home games a year.”

The guard started the game red-hot, netting the first seven points of the game while hitting three-straight field goals. The Pac-12 All First-Teamer ultimately hit 9 of 16 shots total over 39 minutes, picking up three steals and four rebounds along the way.

“My teammates told me stay aggressive from the beginning,” said Randle. “I just tried to follow their advice. They told me they were going to lean on me. I just tried to will them to a win.”

Randle, one of the nation’s best free-throw shooters, also went 15-for-19 from the charity stripe.

“I’m kind of upset I missed those four free throws,” said Randle with a smile.

Fellow seniors Anthony Brown and Stefan Nastic scored 16 and 7 points respectively while Nastic pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. As a team, Stanford hit 34 percent of shots, sinking 18 of 53 attempts. The Cardinal went 2-13 from beyond the three-point line.

“Last game we shot pretty well from three, in this game we didn’t,” said Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins. “For the year we’re shooting over 38 percent from the three-point line which means we’re top-50 from beyond the arc so I never really worry about our ability to shoot the ball.”

Sophomore guard E.C. Matthews, a burgeoning star in the Atlantic 10, topped the Rams (23-10) with 23 points. Fellow southpaw sophomore Hassan Martin pitched in 16.

“I love his team,” said Dawkins of Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley’s squad. “I think he has a very good team. They’re young but they’re very talented. Both of those kids will be high-level players, not just in college. I think they have the chance to play at the next level.”

In total, both teams committed 56 fouls combined Sunday. The final total was aided mightily by Rhode Island’s 35.

“It was going to be a physical game,” said Dawkins. “I watched a lot of tape (of Rhode Island). They’re a very physical team. They’ve been successful with that brand of basketball. I know our guys would really focus and concentrate.”

Randle was the recipient of one of the contest’s nastier fouls when Rhode Island guard Jarvis Garrett delivered an elbow to his head with 4:33 left to play. “I’m not sure,” said Randle when asked if he thought the elbow was accidental.

Second-seeded Stanford (21-13) never trailed in the contest after building the 7-0 lead, but the Rams did keep the contest close. They scored 7 of the next 8 points to pull within one of their host. Stanford then went on a 23-14 run to build a game-high 13-point lead at 31-18. Over the final two minutes of the half, Rhode Island scored nine points while shutting out Stanford to head into the half down by only four at 31-27.

Stanford, aided by 35 trips to the charity stripe in the second half, once again built up the 13 point lead with just over a minute left in regulation. In total the Cardinal outscored the Rams 43-38 in the second half for the final 74-65 margin. The previous three contests between these two teams, all won by Stanford, were decided by five points combined.

By virtue of the victory and a first-round upset of top-seeded Colorado State, the Cardinal receives the privilege of a third-straight playoff contest at Maples Pavilion.

“It’s gratifying because we don’t have to travel,” said Randle. “We’re not on the road, we can sleep in our own beds. We’re fortunate enough to stay here.”

Stanford will welcome fifth-seeded Vanderbilt Tuesday night, with the winner advancing to a semifinals at Madison Square Garden.

Vanderbilt upset the no. 4 team St. Mary’s in Moraga to open the tournament then toppled the eight seed South Dakota State 92-77.

“I don’t know much about Vanderbilt at this moment,” said Dawkins. “I’ll spend lots of time when I leave here studying them, but I can’t say anything. I haven’t watched them play once this year. I’ll look at them starting tonight and study up on them. I know (Vanderbilt coach Kevin) Stallings does a great job. He’ll have some talented players ready to compete when they come in here.”

For Dawkins, the same will hopefully be said of his team Tuesday as they seek a second NIT title in five years after winning in 2012.

“The thing I saw in that team that I still see in this team,” said Dawkins. “They’re not ready for the season to be over.”

Randle, Allen lead resurgent Stanford past UC Davis in the NIT

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

Marvelous Marcus

By Morris Phillips

Of the various storylines entering the meeting of UC Davis and Stanford in the NIT on Tuesday, Marcus Allen’s had to be among the least.

First, there was senior guard Chasson Randle, attempting to put the finishing touches on his career at Stanford, universally hailed as quietly one of the best in the history of the Pac-12.  Could Randle eventually catch Todd Lichti and Adam Keefe at the top of the school’s career scoring list by leading the Cardinal on a deep run in March Madness’ secondary tournament?

And could Coach Johnny Dawkins coax a focused effort out of his bunch in a half-empty Maples Pavilion, loudly populated by UC Davis fans that had very determinedly made the two-hour drive to the game through mid-week, commuter traffic?  Stanford finished its season with losses in eight of 12 games to turn a certain, second straight trip to the NCAA tournament into a pumpkin of a NIT bid.  Historically, success in the NIT hinges on whether a team is engaged and desirous of the opportunity to continue to compete.

Also, UC Davis’ Corey Hawkins was competing for the final time opposite Dawkins, his godfather and a teammate of Hawkins’ father, Hersey, in the NBA.  The first four meetings didn’t go well with Hawkins missing a combined 23 of 28 shots in a pair of lopsided Stanford victories over UC Davis as well as a pair of games between Stanford and Arizona State, Hawkins’ home in his freshman season.  But with Hawkins’ father in attendance on Tuesday, the Big West Player of the Year figured to have a much better showing in what could be his final appearance as a collegian.

Piggybacking that storyline was the basketball conclusion of the full circle relationship between Corey, Hersey and Jim Les and his son, Tyler.  Jim Les and Hersey Hawkins comprised Bradley University’s heralded backcourt for the 1986 team that went 32-3 and won a game in the NCAA tournament.  Les, UC Davis’ head coach in his second season, inherited a team last season that already included Tyler, and soon thereafter added Corey, a transfer from Arizona State.

Still with all that going on–most significantly the presences of the high-scoring Hawkins and Randle–Stanford sophomore Allen stole the show.

Allen, presumed to be Randle’s heir apparent in Stanford’s backcourt of the future, scored a career-best 22 points in Stanford’s 77-64 win that sends them to NIT’s second round.  The Aggies’ turnaround season ended that saw them go 14-2 in the Big West only to lose in the semis of their conference tournament.  Meanwhile, Stanford advances to host Rhode Island on Friday or Saturday at Maples Pavilion.

“For our guys to bounce back from a tough loss and play the way we played—I’m just really proud of their character,” Dawkins said.  “I thought they really stepped up and showed how much they want to be in this tournament and how much they want to compete.”

“For us to win the game, we didn’t have to be perfect, but we had to be close to perfect as possible,” Jim Les said.  “We had some opportunities, some missed shots that we normally make that we didn’t make.  We had some defensive miscues that we made that we can’t afford to make against a good team that’s going to take advantage.”

Despite the presence of the Aggies’ numerous supporters, Stanford jumped out to an early lead, led by Allen and Randle.  The Cardinal took their first double-digit lead less than eight minutes in, and led 30-19 with 6:10 remaining before halftime.  The Aggies made a run at that point, with Tyler Les’ 3-pointer tying the game at 30 with 3:35 remaining.

Allen picked Stanford up to start the second half, scoring a trio of buckets in a run that put the Cardinal up 46-38 with 16:53 remaining.  At that point, Allen had already surpassed his previous career-best 14 points achieved March 1 against Oregon.  Allen made 10 of 12 shots on the evening.

Stanford, using their superior size and quickness in spreading the floor to create driving lanes to the bucket, extended their lead to 57-42 with 11:50 remaining.

Hawkins, who came in averaging 20.4 points a game while shooting 49 percent from three, finally posted decent numbers against Dawkins and Stanford.  He finished with 34 on 12 of 22 shooting, but most of it came after Stanford jumped out to their early lead and then surged after halftime.

“I told myself I finally wanted to play well against my godfather,” Hawkins said.  “I’ve come here a couple of times and haven’t played that well, so I told myself to go out and be aggressive.  I feel like I can compete with anybody.”

The Aggies fell in their first Division I post-season appearance in school history.  While the loss was disappointing, it doesn’t diminish UC Davis’ big turnaround season that saw them finish 25-7 one year after they were 9-22 in an injury-marred campaign.

The NIT is experimenting with a 30-second shot clock reduced from the standard 35 seconds and that helped Stanford speed up the more methodical Aggies.  Also, Stanford kept UC Davis from getting hot from distance where they missed their first five attempts and finished 9 of 24.

Arizona takes care of struggling Stanford; Cardinal falls to No. 6 in the upcoming Pac-12 tournament

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

McConnell

By Morris Phillips

With 137 college basketball games under his belt, as well as his undergraduate college degree earned in just three years, Chasson Randle could never be described as unprepared or inexperienced.

Yet, it wouldn’t be unfair to say that the Stanford senior leader appeared a bit rattled dealing with No. 5 Arizona, their sold-out McKale Center crowd and the gnat-like presence of Wildcats’ guard T.J. McConnell on Saturday afternoon.

In a game that Stanford had to win, they couldn’t even manage one lead.  And Randle needed to come up big, but more often looked spent, rattled and ineffective before fouling out with five minutes remaining.  Both circumstances had much to with Pac-12 regular season champ Arizona, who rolled to a 91-69 victory.

“You almost said to yourself, ‘This is going to be our day’ right after the first play,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said in reference to his team’s first basket coming just 19 seconds after the opening tip.

As anticipated, Stanford had their hands full just trying to score against stingy Arizona, who surely remembered that the Cardinal scored 82 points against them in a close-call win on the Farm in January.  The season-worst points allowed was out of character for the Wildcats, who have limited opponents to just 58 points a game. With McConnell hounding Randle, and Arizona’s big front line protecting the paint, Stanford was forced into one tough shot after another this time in shooting just 37 percent along with commiting 15 damaging turnovers.

After falling behind 21-8, eight minutes in, the Cardinal rallied to pull within 29-27 with six minutes remaining before halftime.  But the mental and physical fatigue of facing a bigger, formidable opponent may have already been showing as Arizona then surged to a 16-point lead at the break.

The final exchange of possessions before halftime said it all: Randle needed most of his ball handling tricks and more than ten seconds to get past McConnell and into the lane for a high-arching, short bank shot over a trio of defenders.  But Arizona’s Gabe York came right back, attacking the winded Randle in transition before burying a 3-pointer on the run, an answer that took less than five seconds to realize.

Coach Johnny Dawkins was already limited by the injury to and absence of freshman Michael Humphrey.  But foul trouble exacerbated things, forcing Dawkins to play his other young players for long stretches.  Needless to say, the attrition wasn’t the recipe to ending Arizona’s 37-game home winning streak, the nation’s longest.

“Those kids gave what they had, but in this type of environment and under these circumstances, it’s a little bit difficult,” Dawkins said.

Randle led Stanford with 16 points, despite missing nine of his 13 shots.  Stefan Nastic and Anthony Brown contributed 14 points each.  The Cardinal fell for the seven time in their last 10 games, erasing any NCAA at-large hopes they may have had.

Brandon Ashley led Arizona with 15 points, one of five Wildcats to score in double figures.

Two losses in Arizona dropped the Cardinal to a No. 6 seed in the conference tournament.  Instead of earning an opening-round bye, Stanford will open play on Wednesday against No. 11 Washington.  The Huskies provide their own unique challenge as a downtrodden team that’s capable of pulling an upset.  Washington beat ranked Utah on Saturday, the third time this season they’ve beaten a Top 25 opponent.