The biggest piece of news from today, even moreso than the actual result of the game, was the announcement that Rosco Allen would be out indefinitely with a back injury. I'm not sure what the actual timetable is, but man, Stanford has had no luck on the injury front the last few years. This, along with Grant Verhoeven's injury and Schulyer Rimmer's transfer, will continue to test Stanford's post depth - Allen was obviously not at traditional back to the basket center or anything, but he did often play the '4' for Stanford and he was a big body/good rebounder. And tonight, in addition to Michael Humphrey getting the start, Elliott Bullock got a few minutes.
As for the game itself, beating Utah in Salt Lake City is one of the most difficult tasks in all of college basketball, so no surprise that the Cardinal struggled in tonight's loss.
What was a bit unexpected, however, was the production Stanford received from two of its seniors. Chasson Randle had probably his worst game of the season, scoring 10 points on 2-11 shooting. Randle was held scoreless until midway through the second half. By that time, Utah had distanced itself from the Cardinal.
Stefan Nastic had one of his least efficient games in a while, scoring only seven points on 2-9 shooting despite the fact that Utah's star big man, Jacob Poetl, was limited to 13 minutes due to foul trouble. (In fairness to Nastic, Poetl did get into foul trouble defending him.)
Anthony Brown did have an efficient night (15 points, 5-9 shooting, 3-6 3 pt), but Stanford was never going to have a chance in this game unless all three seniors played well, and that didn't happen.
I think the bigger concern at this point (aside from Allen's injury, of course), might be the recent play of Chasson Randle. Hard not to wonder if he's a bit fatigued at this point. He's made only 10 of his last 36 shots (27.7 percent) over the last three games. Per the broadcasters tonight, Utah really geared its defense to stop Randle, but he still missed some open looks, and he did force a few three pointers that were probably a bit ill-advised.
-Buoyed by six early points from Michael Humphrey, Stanford actually got out to a a 10-4 lead. Utah came storming back, but the Cardinal still hung within a few points for most of the first half, and tied things up at 27 with under two minutes left. But Stanford was very sloppy over the final few minutes (they committed four turnovers at the end of the first half), and Utah took a six-point lead into halftime. Utah continued to play well early in the second half, and before long, had a double digit lead. Stanford could the deficit to 10 points midway through the second half but could get no closer than that.
-Marcus Allen was a bright spot yet again tonight. He scored 13 points (including 2-2 from three-point range), and had five rebounds. He's been consistently productive for, what, five or so games now.
-In the first start of his career, Michael Humphrey also impressed. He scored a career-high nine points in what I believe was a career-high 19 minutes. He was limited due to foul trouble, but I think it's becoming increasingly apparent that he has a shot to be really good at some point. His progress this year, along with Marcus Allen's continued improvement, are certainly among the reasons for optimism moving forward.
-Reid Travis still hasn't entirely found his rhythm on the offensive end since returning from the stress fracture. He missed all three of his shots and both of his free throws (Stanford shot only 65 percent from the line tonight as a team), though he did grab six rebounds in 18 minutes.
Stanford will face Colorado on Sunday. Stanford's margin for error with regard to the NCAA Tournament is pretty slim (think they were No. 44 in the RPI heading into tonight), so that will be a very important game.
This post was edited on 2/12 9:48 PM by Andy Drukarev
As for the game itself, beating Utah in Salt Lake City is one of the most difficult tasks in all of college basketball, so no surprise that the Cardinal struggled in tonight's loss.
What was a bit unexpected, however, was the production Stanford received from two of its seniors. Chasson Randle had probably his worst game of the season, scoring 10 points on 2-11 shooting. Randle was held scoreless until midway through the second half. By that time, Utah had distanced itself from the Cardinal.
Stefan Nastic had one of his least efficient games in a while, scoring only seven points on 2-9 shooting despite the fact that Utah's star big man, Jacob Poetl, was limited to 13 minutes due to foul trouble. (In fairness to Nastic, Poetl did get into foul trouble defending him.)
Anthony Brown did have an efficient night (15 points, 5-9 shooting, 3-6 3 pt), but Stanford was never going to have a chance in this game unless all three seniors played well, and that didn't happen.
I think the bigger concern at this point (aside from Allen's injury, of course), might be the recent play of Chasson Randle. Hard not to wonder if he's a bit fatigued at this point. He's made only 10 of his last 36 shots (27.7 percent) over the last three games. Per the broadcasters tonight, Utah really geared its defense to stop Randle, but he still missed some open looks, and he did force a few three pointers that were probably a bit ill-advised.
-Buoyed by six early points from Michael Humphrey, Stanford actually got out to a a 10-4 lead. Utah came storming back, but the Cardinal still hung within a few points for most of the first half, and tied things up at 27 with under two minutes left. But Stanford was very sloppy over the final few minutes (they committed four turnovers at the end of the first half), and Utah took a six-point lead into halftime. Utah continued to play well early in the second half, and before long, had a double digit lead. Stanford could the deficit to 10 points midway through the second half but could get no closer than that.
-Marcus Allen was a bright spot yet again tonight. He scored 13 points (including 2-2 from three-point range), and had five rebounds. He's been consistently productive for, what, five or so games now.
-In the first start of his career, Michael Humphrey also impressed. He scored a career-high nine points in what I believe was a career-high 19 minutes. He was limited due to foul trouble, but I think it's becoming increasingly apparent that he has a shot to be really good at some point. His progress this year, along with Marcus Allen's continued improvement, are certainly among the reasons for optimism moving forward.
-Reid Travis still hasn't entirely found his rhythm on the offensive end since returning from the stress fracture. He missed all three of his shots and both of his free throws (Stanford shot only 65 percent from the line tonight as a team), though he did grab six rebounds in 18 minutes.
Stanford will face Colorado on Sunday. Stanford's margin for error with regard to the NCAA Tournament is pretty slim (think they were No. 44 in the RPI heading into tonight), so that will be a very important game.
This post was edited on 2/12 9:48 PM by Andy Drukarev
