Stanford Shows Its Class in 78-65 Win
It wasn’t about graduation rates or grade-point averages.
But it was about basketball aptitude.
Stanford had more of it Thursday night, defeating Cincinnati, 78-65, before 18,008 at the Arrowhead Pond.
The victory advances Stanford to the West Regional final Saturday against Maryland, a semifinal winner over Georgetown.
It was a typical grind-it-out performance by Stanford, which trailed by four points at halftime but patiently and methodically wore down the smaller Bearcats in the second half to turn a tight game into a somewhat comfortable win.
One thing about Stanford: It doesn’t panic. The Cardinal is 31-2 overall and 19-0 away from Maples Pavilion.
It trailed by five points in the second half against St. Joseph’s in its West Regional second-round game last Saturday and and rallied to win by seven.
Whatever works. Whatever needs to be done.
Thursday, four Stanford players scored 72 of the team’s 78 points.
Starting guard Michael McDonald took only one shot in the game and finished with no points in 22 minutes and the bench contributed six points, four from Teyo Johnson and two from Tony Giovacchini.
Yet, while Stanford’s lack of depth has been exposed in the tournament, it still has had enough punch to get past North Carolina Greensboro, St. Joseph’s and Cincinnati.
Sophomore All-American Casey Jacobsen has played in the Pond a dozen times dating to his high school days at Glendora, and said before the game he didn’t particularly like the shooting background.
Jacobsen had no trouble Thursday. After a slow start, he recovered to lead all scorers with 27 points, making eight of 13 shots.
“Man, it’s been long way coming for us,” Jacobsen said. “We’ve been stepping up when we need to. When games are on the line, more often than not, we got guys that can make plays.”
Stanford led just 47-46 with 13 minutes left before going on a 15-4 run.
It wasn’t anything fancy. The Cardinal kept pounding the ball inside to get easy baskets or fouls.
Jason Collins finished with 15 points and eight rebounds. Brother Jarron had 14 points and seven rebounds.
Stanford was in the bonus with 13:15 left in the game. Six Cincinnati players finished with three or more fouls.
“Down the stretch, they threw it into their big boys and they converted,” Cincinnati guard Steve Logan said.
When Cincinnati tried to guard one Collins brother, Stanford just tossed it to another.
What’s an opposing team to do?
“I haven’t seen two big men play like that together,” Bearcat guard Kenny Satterfield said. “Maybe it’s because they’re twins and they’ve been playing together all their lives.”
Maybe.
Stanford also got important production from senior wingman Ryan Mendez, who made six of his seven field goals and finished with 16 points.
But 72 points from four guys?
Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery said he isn’t concerned.
“We didn’t need a lot of points,” Montgomery said of his bench. “We needed good solid efforts.”
Stanford led by as many as seven points in the first half, but Cincinnati went on a 21-10 run to take a 38-34 lead at the half.
At halftime, Montgomery decided to go back to plan A: Jason Collins and Plan B: Jarron.
In the second half, the twins, particularly Jason, played with unusual emotion.
“Basically, I didn’t want to lose,” Jason said. “Nobody on the team wanted to lose.”
Stanford’s big adjustment?
“We ran the same play almost every time down the court,” Jason said. “They had a lot of trouble stopping it.”
Cincinnati and 30 other opponents this year.
Cincinnati had no choice but to collapse its defense on the twins, and that left choice shots for Jacobsen and Mendez.
Mendez scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and Jacobsen 14 of his 27.
Stanford shot 62% from the field and held Cincinnati (25-10) to 39.7%
Satterfield led Cincinnati with 24 points. He also had six assists, seven rebounds, and made life miserable for McDonald, who couldn’t stay with the quicker guard.
But, in the end, Stanford was too big and too much.
The best team Cincinnati has faced all year?
“I hope so,” Satterfield said.
The Cardinal is now one win against Maryland from returning to the Final Four for the first time since 1998.
Maryland poses a formidable challenge, but Jacobsen says he’s been able to scout the Terrapins because they’ve been on so many ESPN games this year.
“I’ve seen them, Duke and North Carolina more than anyone in the country,” Jacobsen said. “That’s one thing Maryland has to deal with. We know a lot about their good players.”
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WEST REGIONAL
at The Pond
Maryland 76, Georgetown 66
Lonny Baxter had 26 points and 14 rebounds to help the Terrapins reach Saturday’s regional final. D2
Standing Tall
Stanford doesn’t back down from high expectations or a relentless Cincinnati defense. Diane Pucin’s column. D2
NOTES D2
