PALO ALTO–The Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball team returned home from Southern California (after getting defeated by Long Beach State 76-68 on Sunday, December 3) to face, and defeat, the University of Denver Pioneers.
Stanford, who recently endured four consecutive defeats before winning two of the three most recent matches, kept a lead over Denver the entire match, even though the Pioneers trailed close at various moments.
In addition to the Cardinal’s 75-62 win, this match also marked freshman Daejon Davis’ career-peaking game to date as his first college quarter comes to a close. The stars of the game were and Davis and Reid Travis, who each put up 20 points.
”With the long [5 day] stretch off, coach [Haase] really held us accountable on everything,” Davis said. ”The level of focus on the little things helped us.”
Even the Pioneers’ coach, Rodney Billups, had to acknowledge Davis’ acceleration.
“Davis got hot. We didn’t anticipate him making so many shots. If you look at his season stats from behind the arc, we would have bet that he would not make so many tonight. But good players make plays,” Billups said.
Isaac White was the runner-up for Stanford. He put up 17 points and contended that being under .500 is “unacceptable.” Losing teams do not make NCAA tournaments, White explained, clearly wanting to compensate for the Cardinal’s recent streak of losses.
”We got a win. That was the number one thing,” Jerod Haase, Stanford’s coach, said following the match, also noting that the team was much stronger offensively tonight.
The Cardinal will face the University of San Francisco Dons this Sunday, December 17, at 3:00 p.m.
The Sacramento State men’s basketball team (1-5) lost the second game of the Eastern Washington University Tournament on Sunday to the University of Denver 72-61. The Hornets finished 0-2 for the tourney.
The game was tied at 61-61 with with 3:05 to play. Denver went on an 11-0 run that lasted until the final final buzzer and the Pioneers walked away the 72-61 win to finish 1-1 in the tournament.
Too many 3’s and too many offensive rebounds
Denver (2-5) used the 3-point basket to its advantage in the game. The Pioneers went 7-for-20 (35-percent) from long range. The Pioneers hit five of those 3-point baskets in the second half. Sacramento went 2-for-11 from behind the line but had no 3-point field goals in the second half.
Denver also outrebounded the Hornets 40-32. Of those 40 Denver rebounds, 17 were offensive rebounds that resulted in 19 second-chance points. The Hornets had five offensive boards and six second-chance points.
Sacramento State led at the half
The Hornets had a strong opening half in the game. They did not shoot for a high percentage (40-percent), but the Hornets were able to take the lead and keep it the entire half. Sac State was able to keep Denver off-balance as the Pioneers shot just 32.3-percent in the first half. At the break, the Hornets were up 31-25 over their opponents.
Marcus Graves led the scoring attack for the Hornets
Junior guard Marcus Graves was the leading scorer for the Hornets. He put up 16 going 6-for-11 from the floor and hitting 4-of-5 from the free throw line. He also played a game-high 36 minutes for the Hornets.
Justin Strings scored 13 points and was the leading Sacramento State rebounder with eight. Nick Hornsby was the other Hornet to score in double figures adding 10 points.
Denver’s leading scorers were Daniel Amigo and Jake Pemberton who scored 17 points each in the game. Amigo posted a double-double by adding 10 rebounds. Pemberton went 4-for-6 from 3-point land.
Back on the road again
The Hornets will head out on the road again this week and travel to Stockton to face the Pacific Tigers who are currently 2-2 on the season. The Tigers travel to Reno to play a respectable Nevada team before returning home to host the Hornets.
The Aggies lost their final game of the GCI Great Alaska Shootout to the Oakland Golden Grizzlies of Michigan 79-66 on Saturday. The loss dropped the Aggies into sixth place in the tournament with a 1-2 record.
“I told the team that I was pleased overall with their effort, and I’m encouraged, not discouraged, by this tournament and where they are thus far.” said UC Davis head coach Jim Les , “This team has a huge ceiling, I love everyone’s competitive nature.”
Oakland’s 3-point shooting did the Aggies in
The Golden Grizzlies shot 41.7-percent (10-for-24) from 3-point range. They hit seven of those 3-pointers in the first half. The Aggies hit 4-of-10 from beyond the 3-point line. Both teams hit 25 two-point field goals.
Oakland also outscored UC Davis at the free throw line. The Golden Grizzlies scored 19 points from the charity stripe while the Aggies added just 12 points from the free throw line.
Oakland had four players in double figures; UC Davis had three in double digits
Chima Moneke of UC Davis led all scorer with 21 points
Mikey Henn had 11 points for the Aggies coming off the bench
Siler Schneider added 10 points bench points for UC Davis
Stevie Clark was the leading scorer for the Golden Grizzlies with 19 points
Martez Walker scored 16 points with four field goals, four 3-pointers and 4 free throws
Nick Daniels supplied Oakland with 12 points
Isaiah Brock added 10 points to the Golden Grizzlies total
“That is a good basketball team (Oakland) that is going to win 20 to 25 games, win their league (Horizon) and earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. I told my team that we went toe-to-toe with them; we have some things that we need to clean up, but I like where this team is as long as we stay healthy and continue to work,” said UC Davis head coach Jim Les.
What’s next for UC Davis
The Aggies will return to action on Saturday, December 3rd when they will travel to Moscow, Idaho to play the 3-2 Idaho Vandals.
Sacramento State loses EWU Tourney opener to USF
The Sacramento State Hornets lost their opening game in the Eastern Washington University Tournament to the University of San Francisco Dons 77-59 on Saturday. The win lifted the Dons to 4-0 on the season while the Hornets drop to 1-4.
The Dons had four players score in double figures
Chase Foster scored a career high 18 points in 23 of playing time to lead the USF scoring attack
Marquill Smith put up 12 points in eight minutes and was a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point land and 6-for-6 from the free throw line
Nate Renfro and Jordan Ratinho added 10 points each
The Dons shot 54.7-percent from the floor and 50-percent (11-for-22) from long distance
USF led this game wire-to-wire
Nick Hornsby led the Hornets attack
Forward Nick Hornsby put up 20 points and grabbed 9 points in 34 minutes of playing time
Justin Strings was the other Hornet who scored in double figures recording 18 points
Sacramento State struggled shooting in the first half going 10-for-30 (33.3-percent) from the field
It was the Hornets 3-point shooting – 7-of-17 (41.2-percent) – that kept them close in the half
The Hornets shot 42.8-percent in the second half but that was not enough of an improvement to catch the Dons
Sac State also hurt themselves at the free throw line by going just 8-for-15 (53.3-percent) from the stripe
The Hornets have no time to rest as they are back in action on Sunday
The Hornets will face the University of Denver Pioneers (1-3) on Sunday at 12:05 PM PST. The Pioneers lost to Eastern Washington on Saturday night 85-80 in overtime.
Informantion from the sports information departments of UC Davis and Sacramento State contributed to this report
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