Borchardt Leads Stanford Over Michigan State

Curtis Borchardt scored a career-high 27 points as No. 16 Stanford defeated No. 13 Michigan State, 75-64, on Saturday night in the Pete Newell Challenge at Oakland.

Borchardt also had 10 rebounds and matched his own school record with six blocked shots as Stanford (7-2) won for the fourth time in five tries. Julius Barnes, of Rowland Heights, had a career-high 19 points for the Cardinal.

Marcus Taylor set a career high with 21 points for Michigan State (9-4), which had a five-game winning streak stopped and fell to 0-4 on the road.

The Spartans, already short-handed because of injuries, were forced to use a walk-on at times down the stretch after three players fouled out in the final minutes.

It was Stanford’s first game against a ranked opponent this season.

Borchardt sparked a Cardinal rally to open the second half with eight points as Stanford outscored the Spartans, 13-4, in the first seven minutes to build a 44-41 advantage.

The Spartans regained the lead four minutes later on a four-point play by Adam Wolfe, who finished with 11 points, and neither team could gain a significant foothold until the final minute.

Michigan State made 12 of its first 15 shots to open a 30-18 lead midway through the first half. Taylor scored 12 of his points during that stretch.

Stanford responded with 10 unanswered points--five each from Barnes and Borchardt--over the next five minutes.

Stanford All-American Casey Jacobsen was held to 10 points, on three-for-11 shooting. Jacobsen made only one of six three-point attempts and the Cardinal was two for 12 as a team.

The Spartans led, 37-31, at halftime.

With the Michigan State football team playing a bowl game in nearby San Jose on Monday, the Spartans had a full complement of 300 band members--40 with instruments--17 cheerleaders, a mascot and 15 bus loads of fans in attendance. Nearly half the crowd was pro-Michigan State.

Stanford, with school out of session, was represented by a 20-member alumni band, no cheerleaders and no mascot, making it seem more like a Spartan home game.

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California 76, Penn State 73--Dennis Gates made a three-pointer with four seconds left to give the Golden Bears a victory over the Nittany Lions in the championship game of the Golden Bear Classic at Berkeley.

Tournament MVP Solomon Hughes scored 19 points and Gates had 15 as the Bears (9-1) recorded their ninth consecutive home victory this season, fifth consecutive overall and 19th consecutive home nonconference game.

All-tournament selection Brandon Watkins had 19 points and Sharif Chambliss had 18 for the Nittany Lions (4-7), who tied the game at 73-73 on a Chambliss three-pointer with 1:17 remaining.

After two Cal misses, Penn State got the ball back with 24.4 seconds left for one final shot. But 6-foot-11 freshman center Jan Jagla was called for traveling with 12.7 seconds to go and California had the final chance it needed.

Gates, another all-tournament selection, pulled up well behind the top of the key and swished a jumper with four seconds left.

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Saint Louis 71, Washington 70--Ross Varner hit a three-pointer with 15 seconds left to lift the Billikens to a victory over the Huskies at St. Louis.

Varner finished with 12 points for Saint Louis (6-6), which trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half. The Billikens were led by Marque Perry’s 20 points.

Curtis Allen and Doug Wrenn each scored 17 points for Washington (6-6).

It was the fourth consecutive home victory for Saint Louis and Washington’s fourth consecutive loss overall.

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Arizona State 77, Northwestern 60--Chad Prewitt scored 22 points, including six during a key second-half run, as the Sun Devils won the ASU-azcentral.com Hoops Classic at Tempe, Ariz.

It was the 26th time the Sun Devils (7-4) have won the title in their own tournament in 35 tries and 10th in the last 13 years.

Prewitt had 15 of his points in the second half and was named the tournament MVP.

Winston Blake led Northwestern (8-3) with 17 points.