Arizona State (10-10, 2-5 Pac-12) is not among the top half of the teams in the Pac-12, but they're not awful, either. They're two days removed from holding Cal to only 35 points - including a 13-minute stretch where they held the Bears scoreless - and allow an average of 64.5 points per contest. And they're 0-5 in games decided by five points or less, so they could easily have a few more victories.
But after Stanford and ASU were pretty even through the first 15 or so minutes, the Cardinal used an 8-0 run to get some distance late in the first half (Stanford made 10 of its final 11 shots of the first half), and kept the lead at 10+ for most of the second. Then, Stanford went on an 11-0 run midway through the second half to erase any doubt.
So it was a very solid bounceback win after Stanford fell to Arizona on Thursday.
-The win was highlighted by superb shooting. Stanford shot 70 percent from the field in the first half (58.5 percent for the game). The Cardinal had four players in double figures (each on 50-plus percent shooting). The three seniors scored at least 20 apiece. Chasson Randle had perhaps his most efficient offensive game of the year (21 points on eight shots; 7-7 from the FT line), and Anthony Brown wasn't far behind (21 on 7-11 shooting).
-I don't know off the top of my head (and not sure if will be mentioned in the game notes), but hard to recall a better assist/turnover ratio than the 21-to-8 Stanford had tonight. Marcus Allen had six and several players (including Michael Humphrey, who's still incredibly raw and is still committing fouls at quite a high rate but seems to do something very positive every game) had three.
-You know it's your night when this happens.
-I was not able to make it to Maples tonight, but in his postgame press conference Dawkins reportedly said that Reid Travis, who has been out for a while with a stress fracture, will travel to Washington and could play this week. Will be interesting to see how Stanford tinkers its lineup when Travis does return. Perhaps they will initially bring him off the bench, but eventually do they move Rosco Allen back to the sixth man role? Marcus Allen has been pretty solid as a starter.
-Cool moment at the end of the game for Elliott Bullock, who scored his first points in nearly five years. Bullock served a two-year LDS church mission and has also struggled with a variety of injuries in Stanford career. Bullock last scored on March 12, 2010.
-Stanford held Arizona State to 29 points in the second half, and while there's not a ton to criticize from tonight, I'm not sure the Cardinal will be thrilled with its defensive performance in the first half, especially the first 15 or so minutes of the game. After allowing a season-high 89 points to Arizona they didn't get off the best of starts on the defensive end tonight.
But after Stanford and ASU were pretty even through the first 15 or so minutes, the Cardinal used an 8-0 run to get some distance late in the first half (Stanford made 10 of its final 11 shots of the first half), and kept the lead at 10+ for most of the second. Then, Stanford went on an 11-0 run midway through the second half to erase any doubt.
So it was a very solid bounceback win after Stanford fell to Arizona on Thursday.
-The win was highlighted by superb shooting. Stanford shot 70 percent from the field in the first half (58.5 percent for the game). The Cardinal had four players in double figures (each on 50-plus percent shooting). The three seniors scored at least 20 apiece. Chasson Randle had perhaps his most efficient offensive game of the year (21 points on eight shots; 7-7 from the FT line), and Anthony Brown wasn't far behind (21 on 7-11 shooting).
-I don't know off the top of my head (and not sure if will be mentioned in the game notes), but hard to recall a better assist/turnover ratio than the 21-to-8 Stanford had tonight. Marcus Allen had six and several players (including Michael Humphrey, who's still incredibly raw and is still committing fouls at quite a high rate but seems to do something very positive every game) had three.
-You know it's your night when this happens.
-I was not able to make it to Maples tonight, but in his postgame press conference Dawkins reportedly said that Reid Travis, who has been out for a while with a stress fracture, will travel to Washington and could play this week. Will be interesting to see how Stanford tinkers its lineup when Travis does return. Perhaps they will initially bring him off the bench, but eventually do they move Rosco Allen back to the sixth man role? Marcus Allen has been pretty solid as a starter.
-Cool moment at the end of the game for Elliott Bullock, who scored his first points in nearly five years. Bullock served a two-year LDS church mission and has also struggled with a variety of injuries in Stanford career. Bullock last scored on March 12, 2010.
-Stanford held Arizona State to 29 points in the second half, and while there's not a ton to criticize from tonight, I'm not sure the Cardinal will be thrilled with its defensive performance in the first half, especially the first 15 or so minutes of the game. After allowing a season-high 89 points to Arizona they didn't get off the best of starts on the defensive end tonight.
