Stanford Gets Off to the Right Start

Mark Madsen scored 18 points and Arthur Lee, making his first start at point guard since Brevin Knight’s departure to the NBA, added 11 points as No. 15 Stanford beat the University of San Diego, 87-57, Tuesday night at Palo Alto.

The Cardinal (1-0) won their 14th consecutive game at Maples Pavilion dating to the final contest of the 1995-96 season.

Lee had the Cardinal’s first points in the teams’ season opener, scoring on a driving layup, drawing a foul and making the free throw to complete a three-point play. He scored six more points in the first half, helping Stanford pull away to 53-28 halftime lead. The Toreros (0-1) scored the first four points in the second half, cutting the deficit to 19, but got no closer.

Ryan Williams led San Diego with 16 points, the only Torero in double figures.

No. 19 Oklahoma 81, Texas-Arlington 63--Corey Brewer scored 18 points to highlight a strong performance from the backcourt as the Sooners (2-0) defeated the Mavericks (0-2) at Norman, Okla.

Point guards Tim Heskett and Michael Johnson added 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Sooners.

Anthony Durham scored 21 for Texas-Arlington, including the Mavericks’ first 12.

Oklahoma shot 60% in the first half before making only 13 of 37 (35%) in the second half. But the struggles didn’t matter as the Mavericks never threatened--the lead was 18 at halftime and Texas-Arlington got no closer than 16 in the second half.

Wisconsin 80, No. 24 Illinois State 66--Sean Mason scored 20 points and Hennssy Auriantal 18 at Madison, Wis., to lead the Badgers (1-1) to a victory over the Redbirds (1-1), ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since 1983.

The Badgers, who won despite playing without three starters, shot 68% from the field in the first half.

Trailing, 54-42, at halftime, the Redbirds closed to 71-63 on a three-point basket by Dan Muller with 4:40 left, but Wisconsin scored the next seven points to pull away.

Rico Hill scored 19 points for the Redbirds before fouling out.

OTHER GAMES

Jason Williams, a transfer from Marshall, lived up to the hype in his debut for Florida (2-0), scoring 24 points and tying a school record with 12 assists in a 100-85 victory over visiting Central Florida (0-2). . . . Laron Profit scored a career-high 27 points and Rodney Elliott had 16 as Maryland (1-1) held off Fairleigh Dickinson (0-1) to win its 21st consecutive home opener, 81-70, at College Park, Md. . . . Michael Olowokandi scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as visiting Pacific (2-0) defeated San Jose State (0-1), 72-59. . . . Jamel Thomas scored 13 of his game-high 25 points in the second half and made 12 of 16 free throws to lead Providence past visiting Vermont, 67-63, in the season opener for both teams. . . . Freshman Matt Baniak had 20 points and 12 rebounds as Saint Louis (2-0) beat visiting East Carolina (0-2), 70-58. . . . Brian Williams scored 13 points to lead Alabama to an 81-61 victory over North Texas (0-2) in the Crimson Tide’s season opener at Tuscaloosa, Ala. . . . Richie Parker scored 26 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Long Island (1-1) to a 106-69 victory over Sacred Heart (0-2) at New York.