Cardinal Cardinal (December 17, 2003)improve to No. 9

Without Hernandez and Childress, Stanford finds ways to win

by Rick Eymer

With Chris Hernandez joining Josh Childress on the sideline, the Stanford men's basketball team found yet another way to win, beating visiting UNLV, 86-71, on Saturday.

The ninth-ranked Cardinal (5-0) are preparing for their next big game, which arrives on Saturday at the Oakland Arena against No. 13 Gonzaga at 6 p.m. in the first game of the Pete Newell Challenge.

Hernandez, who was scheduled to miss Monday night's game against visiting Florida International, hopes to return to the starting lineup against the Bulldogs.

"I don't think it's going to be a big issue," said Hernandez, who spent the afternoon lying on the court while his teammates waged their contest against the Runnin' Rebels.

Stanford, who began the season ranked No. 20 in the polls, jumped to ninth in two weeks, making a pit stop at No. 13 last week.

Hernandez, the team's leading scorer and the director of the offense, has a bulging disk in his back which occasionally causes him problems. Childress is recovering from a stress reaction.

Playing without two of his top players - again - begs the question: Has any one asked Stanford coach Mike Montgomery what to do about the federal deficit? The way Montgomery has used a depleted roster the past two seasons, it seems he seems like he has all the answers. He gets more out of his team, no matter who takes the court, than the most fiscally responsible CEO.

"One thing we've proved over the years is regardless of who is hurt we have found ways to win," said fifth-year senior Justin Davis, who has seen how Montgomery and his coaching staff operate within strict parameters (which also includes recruiting) up close and personal for several years now.

Davis helped ease the pain of Hernandez's absence with another great effort against the dudes from Las Vegas. Davis was locked in from the field, making his first nine shots, and scoring a season-high 21 points while grabbing 10 rebounds to lead the charge.

"Justin certainly is capable of playing like that," Montgomery said. "He got his confidence early. We just want him to get consistent with that kind of performance."

That's what happened against the Runnin' Rebels last year when Davis went for 21 points and 16 rebounds. He followed that performance with a 24-point game against Gonzaga in last year's Pete Newell Challenge.

"I just slowed it down a notch," Davis said. "I realized by looking at film that I was going too aggressively to the basket most of the time."

Steady Matt Lottich contributed 17 points to the effort, and seems to be shooting with much more ease and consistency than last year. He's scored in double figures in four of the first five games. He was in double figures in five of the first 13 games last year.

Lottich, who started 33 games last year, isn't likely to fall into the same kind of shooting slump that besieged him last year at this time. He was 1-for-17 from the field in the first three games following Christmas and did not score against Gonzaga.

Not having Hernandez around didn't bother Lottich, who was 5-of-11 from the field and made all five of his free throw attempts in addition to dishing out a game-high six assists.

Without Hernandez, Montgomery turned to sophomore Jason Haas, and handed him his first starting assignment. The transition was smooth though Haas had to shake off a case of the nerves.

"I was really nervous," Haas said. "Once the ball tipped off, I was fine. I was relaxed."

Before the season, Montgomery said he was concerned about the lack of depth at the point guard position. Haas' effort had to ease his mind a little bit. Nick Robinson, who has been filling in for Childress, served as Haas' backup.

"He came in and they didn't miss a beat," UNLV coach Charlie Spoonhour said of Haas. "Stanford is big and strong and they have a very economical game. They don't try to do anything outrageous out there."

Stanford also got key efforts from role players such as Matt Haryasz and Dan Grunfeld, who combined for another 19 points. The Cardinal bench matched their counterparts from UNLV, each scoring 25 points.

"That was a pretty good team effort, coming after finals and losing a player," said Montgomery.

Haryasz gave Stanford a lift when he scored eight straight points in a 10-2 run. He finished with a career-high 10 points in 13 minutes.

"It's definitely a great feeling we can be this good without Josh," Davis said. "And we're going to be even better once he gets here."

E-mail a friend a link to this story.