Just like old times Just like old times (February 19, 2003)

Stanford can plan on postseason with Davis back as starter

by Rick Eymer

Justin Davis made a triumphant return to the Stanford starting lineup on Saturday and that's tremendous news for the Cardinal men's basketball team as it enters the final phase of the Pacific-10 Conference season.

With a trip to USC on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and UCLA on Saturday at 2 p.m., No. 24 Stanford (10-3 in the Pac-10, 19-6 overall) can start thinking about the postseason.

And they can start thinking big. Davis, who led the Pac-10 in rebounding when he was injured against California in January, returned with a vengeance. He scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 72-54 victory over Washington State on Saturday - sending a message to the rest of the conference that Stanford won't be easy to push around any more. With Josh Childress, who scored 15 against the Cougars, Rob Little, and Nick Robinson, the Cardinal now have a formidable inside game to go with guards Julius Barnes and Matt Lottich.

"Justin had to earn his spot back," said Stanford coach Mike Montgomery. "The last two games he looked like he had forgotten about the knee and was just running around."

Jason Haas has also begun making an impact at point guard and that's great news for Barnes.

Meanwhile, the Cougars have lost 14 straight to Stanford.

Leading by eight points at halftime, Stanford scored the opening 13 points of the second half -- holding the Cougars scoreless for 5:48 -- to open a 48-27 lead. Washington State never got closer than 16 points the rest of the game.

Stanford's biggest lead was 22 points.

Davis, who tore a ligament in his left knee during the second half of a game at California on Jan. 4, came within three points of his career high. His scoring included a pair of big dunks, including one off a rebound during the Cardinal's big run to start the second half.

"I'm back. This is as good as I've felt for a long time," Davis said. "I'm not even thinking about (my knee). I'm just up there, doing my thing."

It has become a simple matter for Barnes. When he's the point guard and running the show, he doesn't shoot straight.

Bring Haas into the fray to run the offense and Barnes becomes a sharpshooter.

Barnes' shooting abilities was on display Thursday as he scored 29 points, just four days after going for a career-high 33 against Oregon State. The reason is a simple change of positions.

While Barnes still plays a lot of point guard, he's not nearly as accurate from that spot. When Stanford coach Mike Montgomery brings Haas to the point, Barnes becomes one of the deadliest shooters in the Pac-10. He scored 24 of his points as the shooting guard.

"When Jason comes in I can just move around the court wherever I want and let my teammates find me," said Barnes. "I know I'm going to get some touches and my thought process is to shoot. That's my only thought process."

Montgomery began making the change when Stanford visited the Oregon schools last week. He likes what he sees.

"This combination is something we will continue to look at," he said. "We miss (injured) Chris Hernandez for this very reason. But Jason is learning very quickly and our team knows he's going to pass and not look to score. That changes the whole mindset of the team."

Haas also benefits from the move. In addition to receiving quality minutes, he's beginning to rack up the assists. He had a team-high six against the Huskies, thanks in large part to his sharing the ball with Barnes.

"We knew if Barnes got hot we'd have a hard time stopping him," said Doug Wrenn, who led Washington with 23 points. "Hardly anyone can stop him cold. When he gets on a roll no one can stop him because he shoots from so deep."

Rob Little added 12 points and Childress had 11 as the Cardinal beat Washington for the 10th straight time at home.

Washington, which had just seven rebounds in the second half, has lost 21 consecutive games to ranked opponents on the road.

The Cardinal, picked to finish seventh in the conference, have the same record after 24 games as last year, when they were favored to win the title.

The teams exchanged the lead four times and were tied on three other occasions in the first nine minutes of the second half.

Sanford broke a 52-all tie with a 15-2 run that began with Barnes' jumper with 9:56 left. Barnes added three 3-pointers as the Cardinal opened a 67-54 advantage less than three minutes later.

"When Jason (Haas) comes in that puts Barnes in a completely different spot on the court and changes his thought process," said Montgomery.

Stanford took a 28-16 lead in the first 12 minutes but the Huskies roared back, making their last seven shots of the half and shooting over 59 percent from the field.

The Cardinal entered leading the Pac-10 in defensive field-goal percentage, allowing opponents to shoot just over 40 percent. The Huskies became just the second team to shoot better than 50 percent against Stanford.