Ducks win 71-68, despite second-half surge by Cardinal

Photo credit: gostanford.com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, February 25, 2021

Chris Duarte’s 24 points topped a balanced Oregon attack on Thursday, as the Ducks held off Stanford 71-68 in Pac-12 men’s basketball at Maples Pavilion.

Stanford’s Ziaire Williams had a chance to tie the game with 0.4 seconds remaining, but missed his 3-point attempt.

Oregon took the lead for good at 65-64 on a Duarte 3-pointer, Chandler Lawson’s dunk made it a three-point lead 48 seconds later, and the Ducks sank 4 of 6 at the foul line down the stretch to secure the win.

Williams scored seven points in a 13-4 run that gave Stanford a 56-50 lead with 9:06 left in the second half. In this competitive battle, there were four ties and five lead changes.

Duarte scored 17 of his points in the final 10 minutes. He also had two steals, two blocks and three rebounds while hitting 9 of 16 from the field. LJ Figueroa was next for the Ducks with 13 points and three assists. Figueroa and Duarte each made three 3-pointers.

Eugene Omoruyi scored 10 points, Eric Williams Jr. was next with 10 and Chandler Lawson added nine points for Oregon (15-5 overall, 10-4 Pac-12). Omoruyi pulled down 10 of the Ducks’ 32 rebounds.

Jaiden Delaire was the Cardinal’s top scorer with 15 points, followed by Daejon Davis with 13 points and Spencer Jones with 11 points. Delaire was 7 of 14 on field goals, while Davis and Jones each hit three 3-pointers.

Bryce Wills led Stanford with seven boards, with Delaire, Davis and Jones each grabbing five rebounds.

Oscar da Silva, Stanford’s leading scorer and rebounder, did not play due to an undisclosed injury.

Stanford (14-10 overall, 10-8 Pac-12) lost the game despite outscoring the Ducks 36-30 in the paint and 18-9 off the bench. Oregon outscored the Cardinal 14-8 off turnovers and 12-7 on second-chance points.

The Cardinal shot 53 percent from the field in the second half, 49 percent for the game. Oregon, meanwhile, shot 41.9 percent on field goals and 9 of 13 at the free throw line.

Stanford hosts Oregon State on Saturday for Senior Day with a 3:30 p.m. tipoff at Maples.

Buffaloes hold Cardinal to season scoring low, 69-51

Photo credit: gostanford.com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, February 11, 2021

Colorado held Stanford to its season-low scoring total on Thursday at Maples Pavilion, as the Buffaloes won 69-51 in Pac-12 men’s basketball.

McKinley Wright led the Buffs (16-5 overall, 10-4 Pac-12) with 14 points and nine rebounds. Eli Parquet was next with 10 points.

Oscar da Silva registered his third straight 20-point game, leading the Cardinal (12-8, 8-6) with a game-high 22 points to go with three blocked shots and six rebounds. Spencer Jones added eight points for Stanford, whose previous scoring low this season was 56 point at Oregon on Jan. 2.

Also, for Stanford, Ziaire Williams had seven points and Jaiden Delaire added six points.

Colorado outrebounded the Cardinal 32-23. The Buffs shot 49 percent (28 of 57) from the field, including eight 3-pointers. Stanford was held to 39.6 percent (19 of 48) shooting, including 3 of 15 behind the arc.

The Buffaloes led by 11 points at halftime, though Stanford got as close as 49-43 on a Jones 3-pointer eight minutes into the second half. Colorado pulled away for good with a 14-2 run, highlighted by back-to-back 3s by Jeriah Horne and Maddox Daniels.

On Saturday, The Buffs continue their Bay Area road swing at California. Meanwhile, the Cardinal play host to Utah.

Cardinal uses big second half to upend USF 64-56

Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Oscar da Silva and Daejon Davis each scored 18 points for Stanford Tuesday, as the Cardinal overcame the absence of injured point guard Tyrell Terry and slipped past San Francisco 64-56 in non-conference men’s basketball at Maples Pavilion.

Bryce Wills and Spencer Jones added 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Cardinal (10-1), who trailed 23-18 at halftime. Jones, da Silva and Wills each had five rebounds; Davis added four assists.

Terry was held out of the Cardinal lineup due to what Stanford called “an upper body injury” sustained during the pregame shootaround. Afterward, Stanford personnel said they didn’t think the injury was serious.

Terry’s absence affected the Cardinal offense, which totaled only six assists while committing 19 turnovers. Stanford compensated for the lack of ballhandling by shooting 48 percent from the field while holding the Dons to 39 percent shooting.

Stanford outscored USF 46-32 in the second half. San Francisco averaged 84.6 points per game going into Tuesday’s contest.

Charles Minlend led the Dons (9-3) with 18 points, and Jamaree Bouyea added 15 points, while Minlend and Josh Kunen each grabbed seven of USF’s 29 rebounds.

The Dons are 1-2 against Pac-12 opponents this season. USF lost to Arizona State two weeks ago and earlier defeated California.

Next action for the Cardinal is on Saturday, when they face San Diego in the Al Attles Classic at Chase Center. The Dons play UC Davis on Saturday.

Four Cardinal score in double figures in Stanford’s 70-54 win over Cal State Fullerton

Photo credit: gostanford.com

By Ana Kieu

The Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball had hoped to make it two wins in a row. Did it happen? Yup!

Tenacious defense, that's what @StanfordMBB hung its hat on tonight. 🔒

The Card cruised to a 7️⃣0️⃣-5️⃣4️⃣ win at home for its second straight victory on The Farm. pic.twitter.com/7rq7Gbd4Kv

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) November 10, 2019

To be specific, four Cardinal players scored in Stanford’s 70-54 win over Cal State Fullerton at Maples Pavilion on Saturday evening.

Daejon Davis scored 15 points. Davis was one of four Stanford players to score in double figures. Davis’ efforts helped the Cardinal win their second straight to open the young season. With the win, Stanford improved to 2-0, 0-0 Pac-12, while Cal State Fullerton fell to 0-2, 0-0 Big West.

😤 SWAGGY SLAM 😤
✈️: @DaejonDavis

📺: @Pac12Network#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/INCAgQ36yN

— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) November 10, 2019

Oscar da Silva added 14 points for Stanford (2-0), which played the Titans (0-2) for the first time in seven years. Tyrell Terry and Spencer Jones each scored 12 points.

It's raining threes in Maples. @SKJones24 is to blame.

📺: @Pac12Network #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/PPfqGU7IsH

— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) November 10, 2019

Wayne Arnold scored 14 points, while Davon Clare had 15 rebounds to lead Cal State Fullerton. Brandon Kamga added 10 points.

The Titans were 4-of-23 from 3-point range, including 2 of 13 in the second half. The Cardinal were 5-of-17.

Jones entered the game midway through the first half and immediately hit a 3-pointer to give Stanford a double-digit lead at 17-5. The Cardinal led by as many as 19 before halftime and the Titans never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

NOTES: The Cardinal welcomed back former Cardinal and manager Olatunde Sobomehin as their honorary caption prior to tonight’s game. Sobomehin currently serves as the CEO of Streetcode Academy.

UP NEXT: The Cardinal host their second straight Big West opponent when Long Beach State comes to town for a Tuesday night contest. Stanford opens with six home games for the first time in 13 years.

The Cardinal host the Long Beach State 49ers on Tuesday, November 12 at 6 p.m. PT.

Stanford unveils men’s basketball schedule

Photo credit: gostanford.com

By: Ana Kieu

Nine home games, including a December 29 matchup with Kansas at Maples Pavilion, highlight Stanford’s 13-game nonconference men’s basketball schedule for the 2019-20 season. The Cardinal will play 11 games in the Bay Area, including a game at the new Chase Center in San Francisco.

The challenging slate includes six matchups with teams who appeared in the postseason last year, highlighted by the Dec. 29 date with Kansas. The Jayhawks, who won 26 games and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, will make their second ever appearance on The Farm.

Stanford will play in the inaugural Al Attles Classic at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The Cardinal will face San Diego as part of a quadruple header, scheduled for December 21 at the new home of the Golden State Warriors.

For the first time in 36 years, Stanford will play nine nonconference games at Maples Pavilion during the regular season. After playing more road games than home contests in one of the nation’s toughest nonconference schedules a year ago, the Cardinal will leave the Bay Area for just two of its 12 nonconference games. Stanford will be at home the first five weekends of the season (including Friday evening), including a season-opening six-game homestand.

The 2019-20 campaign begins Wednesday, Nov. 6 against defending Big Sky Champion Montana. The season-opening homestand also includes Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, Santa Clara, Maryland Eastern Shore and William & Mary.

Stanford’s only trip outside the Bay Area during nonconference play is a trip to Kansas City to compete in the Hall of Fame Classic. The Thanksgiving-week tournament (November 25-26) also features Oklahoma, Butler and Missouri, with specific matchups to be announced at a later date. The evening prior to the games, Cardinal great Todd Lichti (1985-89) will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

The December slate includes four games, all in the Bay Area. The Cardinal will host UNC Wilmington December 1, matching head coach Jerod Haase with his college teammate at Kansas in UNCW head coach C.B. McGrath. Stanford earned a 72-59 victory against UNCW in Wilmington last season.

The lone true road contest of the nonconference schedule is a December 14 matchup in the South Bay against San Jose State. The Cardinal defeated the Spartans 78-73 at home last season.

Continuing the Bay Area theme, Stanford will host San Francisco December 17, completing a three-game series with the Dons.

The nonconference slate concludes with Kansas, completing a four-game series with the Jayhawks. Stanford dropped a 90-84 overtime thriller at Allen Field House last season. The December 29 matchup marks Kansas’ first trip to Stanford in 56 years. The Cardinal earned a 69-64 victory over the Jayhawks on December 23, 1963 in their only other visit to The Farm.

The Pac-12 portion of the schedule, along with game times for all games will be announced in September, once television agreements are finalized.

Season ticket membership renewals begin in mid-July, the only opportunity for season ticket members to guarantee their seats for the full home schedule, receive loyalty pricing (9-10% off the regular price), early access to discounted tickets for all regular season home events and enjoy a growing list of other membership benefits. To learn more about 2019-20 memberships, including placing a deposit to secure seats as a new season ticket member, call (800)-STANFORD (option 2).

Stanford closes out the season against Cal Thursday night

Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By: Ana Kieu

Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball fought all the way, but came up just short in Sunday’s 62-61 loss to the Washington Huskies at Maples Pavilion. Stanford had a chance to win on the game’s final possession, but KZ Okpala’s shot at the buzzer was no good and Stanford fell to Washington.

Josh Sharma scored 16 to go along with 14 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. The teams traded baskets down the stretch, before Washington forced a pair of turnovers in the final 2:37 to gain an advantage. A Sharma basket put Stanford back on top with 1:51 to go, but Washington got consecutive baskets from Nowell to go on top for good.

The @Pac12's field goal percentage leader, @Josharma20, was at it again yesterday. #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/UUxrB9RP74

— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) March 4, 2019

Oscar da Silva added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Cardinal.

Now, Stanford (15-14, 8-9 Pac-12) has another conference foe, Cal (7-22, 2-15 Pac-12), to host at Maples Thursday night. Well, it’s not going to be friendly, as these two teams are conference foes and the same thing will be applied to their respective fanbases. Stanford has one goal in mind and that’s to beat Cal, but that’s easier said than done. Although Cal is the equivalent of San Jose State in the Pac-12, Cal might unleash their anger on Stanford. But you never know which Stanford team will show up so this may turn out to be a down-to-the-wire Pac-12 clash.

By the way, Stanford teamed up with Coaching for Literacy in Sunday’s game. Cardinal head coach Jerod Haase and company wore green ties, lapel pins and wristbands to raise awareness and support the #Fight4Literacy cause.

Oh, and before I forget, Cardinal guard Cormac Ryan ranks third among freshmen in school history with 47 three-pointers.

Washington escapes Maples with a 62-61 win over the Cardinal

Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By: Eric Epstein

PALO ALTO, Calif. — The Stanford Cardinal fell to the Pac-12-leading Washington Huskies by 1 point on Sunday afternoon. KZ Okpala’s missed 3-point attempt as the buzzer sounded would have given Stanford the win had it been good, but with its miss, Washington walked away with a narrow victory.

Coming off a 3-point loss to Cal, yet still clinching the Pac-12 regular season title on Thursday, Washington was never able to fully pull ahead from Stanford and establish itself as the dominant team. In the first half, Stanford held a single-digit lead for the first seven minutes, until Washington took over and held a lead for all but a minute and a half of the remainder of the period. In the second half, Stanford managed to grab some brief leads throughout the first 15 minutes, but the scoreboard was still mostly controlled by Washington. However, down the stretch, the teams traded off buckets and experienced 4 lead changes—no margin higher than 3 points. 2 straight jumpers by sophomore Husky guard Jaylen Nowell in the final minute and a half of play proved to be too much for Stanford to come back from as they could only scrape together one basket in the rest of regulation.

Washington outscored Stanford 29-33 in a slow-paced first half that featured 17 total turnovers and a combined 29.8% shooting percentage from the field. Sophomores KZ Okpala and Oscar da Silva, as well as senior Josh Sharma, saw limited playing time in the first period as they all picked up 2 personal fouls.

Out of the 10 players that saw first-half time for the Cardinal, only 5 recorded points, and only 4 of those connected on any of their field goal attempts.

The teams played much cleaner basketball in the second half, shooting a combined 52% from the floor, including a remarkable 56% from downtown.

The Pac-12 leader in field goal percentage in Josh Sharma led the second half in total points with 10. He also pitched in 6 rebounds to finish with game-leading 16 points and 14 rebounds. Freshman guard Cormac Ryan caught on fire during the second half, shooting 3-4 from deep, finishing with 13 points. Da Silva was the third double-digit scorer for Stanford, totaling 15 points on 5-8 shooting along with 9 rebounds and 3 assists.

Overall, Stanford shot 40% from the field and after going 0-8 on threes in the first half, they shot 6-9 from deep in the second period to bring their percentage up to 35%.

Nowell, who finished with 13 points on 6-11 shooting, was the leading scorer for Washington. Disturbed by primary ball handler and point guard David Crisp’s assist-less effort, Washington did not pass the ball well at all and finished with only 7 points at 14 turnovers.

Like Washington, the Cardinal also dealt with passing and playmaking struggles. Stanford played the whole game without their starting point guard in sophomore Daejon Davis, who is still hurt from a foot injury that he suffered in Stanford’s last game against Washington State. The Cardinal greatly missed Davis’ playmaking abilities, as they tallied a terrible assist to turnover ratio at 10:19.

To round out their regular season and make one final push for Pac-12 tournament seeding, Stanford will host Cal on Thursday evening at Maples.

Stanford continues homestand against No. 25 Washington on Sunday afternoon

Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By: Ana Kieu

Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball lit up the scoreboard, got the conference win and snapped a two-game losing skid with a 98-50 rout of the Washington State Cougars inside Maples Pavilion Thursday evening. Moreover, it’s safe to say that the Cardinal clobbered the Cougars after suffering back-to-back defeats in the Grand Canyon State at the hands of the Arizona State Sun Devils and Arizona Wildcats on February 20th and February 24th.

In the win over WSU, Stanford (15-13, 8-8 Pac-12) was led by KZ Okpala, who scored 22 points.

“I made the right plays tonight,” Okpala said. “We were all locked in with each other. We came out and did what we had to do.”

Cormac Ryan hit four 3-pointers as well. This led to the Cardinal earning their chance to extend their winning streak against the Cougars to six games.

“I thought our energy level was off the charts,” Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said. “I loved our energy defensively.”

No. 25 Washington watched their three-game winning streak come to an end Thursday night as the Cardinal’s rival, the Cal Golden Bears, edged the road team 76-73 for the upset. Not only that, Cal finally snapped their 16-game losing skid, which was a great feeling for the players and coaches to say the very least. But as you might’ve guessed, this will likely be a challenge for Stanford, who has been rather wishy-washy this season. Stanford can put on a show or simply freeze into ice on the hardwood.

The Cardinal’s second to last home game at Maples will be against No. 25 Washington Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm PST on the Pac-12 Network. Yes, Stanford has home court advantage, but there’s a reason or two on why Washington found its way back into the AP polls, so the Cardinal has to put on another spectacular performance to prove that they can, too, be a hot-shooting team.

I predict that the Cardinal will fall to No. 25 Washington 75-73. After all, No. 25 Washington likely wants to be crowned as Pac-12 Champions. All they need is one win in the Bay Area to do just that.

Stanford routs WSU at Maples 98-50

Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

by Joey Friedman

PALO ALTO — The Stanford Cardinal (15-13, 8-8 in Pac-12) routed the Washington State Cougars (11-17, 4-11) by a final score of 98-50 on Thursday night after dropping two consecutive road games to the Arizona schools last weekend. They looked to redeem themselves against the 11th-seeded Cougars with the Pac-12 tournament just a 3-game home-stand away.

Stanford looked focused on both offense and defense to start the game. On the back of 6 forced turnovers, 4 steals, and 3 blocks and they stretched their lead to 24 points with the score 31-7 with 10 minutes left in the first half. In that time, Cormac Ryan made 3 of his first 4 three-pointers and KZ Okpala led the Cardinal with 11 points. Okpala finished the half with 16 points and 8 rebounds.

Ryan, battling two ailing ankles, played tonight game assisted by what appeared to be heavy-duty ankle braces.

Sophomore point guard Daejon Davis injured his knee midway through the first half. Although he didn’t return to the court, he did return to the bench with crutches later on. No update had been made available since.

Stanford’s lead only grew, as everything appeared to be going right for the Cardinal. They took a 52-15 lead to the locker room at the half. Stanford converted a remarkable 64% (7-12) of their three-pointers in the first half after combining for a 15% 3 pointer percentage in the two games against the Arizona schools on the road last week. They also smothered the Cougars who shot just 23% from the field in the first half and were kept scoreless from beyond the arc (0-8).

The second half was more of the same. Sophomore Isaac White hit 3 3-pointers of his own in the second half. He finished the game tied with Cormac Ryan for second on the team in points with 14.

Freshman Jaiden Delaire finished with 12 points, 8 of which came in the second half. Fellow freshman Bryce Wills also finished in double digits with 10 points to pair with 5 assists. Senior Josh Sharma had 8 points and 7 rebounds while freshman Lukas Kisunas had a career-high 7 rebounds. Two of Stanford starters, Deajon Davis and Oscar Da Silva, didn’t score.

Stanford finished the game shooting 60% from the field and 54% from 3-point range. Stanford also collected a total of 20 assists. They forced 15 WSU turnovers and collected 26 points off those turnovers as a result. Head coach Jerod Hasse praised Stanford’s energy level tonight, especially on defense.

What’s Next?
Stanford will host the 25th ranked Washington Huskies on Sunday at 1:00 PM before they host the rival Cal Bears to close out the season. Washington is the 1-seed in the Pac-12 and the only school in the conference to be ranked.

Washington State will travel across The Bay to the 12-seed California Bears on Sunday at 4:00 PM before they host the Oregon schools to close out the regular season.

Stanford kicks off final homestand of the season vs. Washington State Thursday

Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By: Ana Kieu

Last week, Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball toured the Grand Canyon State with two conference matchups against the Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe, Ariz. on February 20th and the Arizona Wildcats in nearby Tuscon, Ariz. on February 24th, respectively. Stanford got swept by both teams by the final scores of 80-62 and 70-54 in that order. It was unfortunate as the Cardinal had just built up a two-game win streak in Palo Alto, Calif. prior to boarding the two flights. But what can the team do? They can only move on and learn from previous mistakes.

Anyways, Stanford (14-13, 7-8 Pac-12) has been slated to open the final homestand of the season at Maples Pavilion. Game one has been scheduled for Thursday evening versus the Washington State Cougars, who currently sit second to last in the conference with a 11-16, 4-10 Pac-12 record, at 6:00 pm PT on the Pac-12 Network.

Yes, Stanford sits two spots above Washington State, but that won’t automatically mean that the Cardinal will win the conference matchup. Just take a look at my alma mater, San Jose State Spartans, this season under second-year head coach Jean Prioleau, who mustered a measly 3-23, 0-14 MW. As you can see, those three wins weren’t conference wins, so there’s a thing or two that makes conference games a tad bit tough, like, say, opposing team strength and quality of game site. If I missed anything, please contact me directly on Twitter @AnaKieu. Thank you!

Stanford was exposed to the hot-shooting Sun Devils and Wildcats, who both managed to get hot at the right times to down the Cardinal by far-fetched routs. Stanford was without Daejon Davis in Tempe. While Davis returned just in time for the Tuscon tilt, Stanford needed more than Davis’ leadership with 14 points for double figures to rise above Oscar da Silva’s 12 points, Josh Sharma’s 11 points and KZ Okpala’s 10 points.

Stanford’s stats were extremely poor as they shot just 39.6% from the field overall and finished 4-of-20 from beyond the arc in Tuscon. That being said, Stanford proved to be significantly better in the second half, shooting 52.2%. However, Arizona shot 50% in the second half to keep up and outlast the Cardinal in the end.

Oh, and in other news, Milwaukee Bucks center and Stanford alum Brook Lopez hosted a block party Monday night against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. The Bucks downed the Bulls 117-106. Lopez scored 13 points and four rebounds in 27 minutes played. Lopez, a North Hollywood, Calif. native, played college basketball at Stanford from 2006-2008 and was selected 10th overall by the New Jersey Nets in the 2008 NBA Draft.