January 28, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Stanford responds to a test

by Rick Eymer

Even facing a first-half deficit against a team that was outplaying them in most areas of the game didn't seem to faze the Stanford men's basketball players as they gathered around coach Mike Montgomery for their halftime strategy session on Saturday night.

"We knew we had some good looks in the first half, but the ball just wasn't falling," said Stanford point guard Chris Hernandez. "We just had to come out and play."

And play the Cardinal did, suddenly finding their rhythm out of thin air and turning that into their best second half of the season to date en route to a 77-67 victory over USC.

"All of a sudden in the second half shots started going down for us," said Cardinal Nick Robinson, who scored all 13 of his points in the second half. "During the shoot-around I wasn't making anything."

Stanford, which remained No. 2 in the AP poll after receiving 26 of the 72 first-place votes, started last week by manhandling UCLA, 67-52, on Thursday.

Stanford (7-0 in the Pac-10, 16-0 overall) hasn't faced many deficits this year, but has been able to respond each time. Somehow they find the magic.

"It was a turn around because we figured out how their zone worked and managed to get into their weak spots," said Robinson.

Credit the coaching staff with the ability to redirect the game plan. Credit the players for making it work. Stanford shot an astounding 72 percent from the field in the second half to spark the comeback.

"I think we rebounded the ball and got out on the break better," said Hernandez, who hit a key 3-pointer to jump start the second half and later put Stanford up for good with another 3-pointer. "We got better penetration and just let it go."

Stanford heads to Oregon State for a 7 p.m. game on Thursday before going to Oregon on Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest televised by Fox Sports Net.

"It doesn't matter if you're favored or by how much or where you're ranked," Hernandez said. "The bottom line is every Pac-10 team will come at you with their best shot. These are not going to be pushover games; either one."

Oregon, in particular, will be a good test for the Cardinal. The Ducks are just two years removed from their Pac-10 championship and they won the conference tournament title last year. They've been in the NCAA tournament in three of the previous four years.

Stanford has lost in its last two visits to Eugene.

"Oregon is always a tough place to play," said Robinson. "We have to stick together."

Stanford has a two-game cushion over Arizona as the conference season hits the halfway mark this weekend. That's a nice place to be with a return visit by Arizona looming 10 days away.

Should Stanford sweep the Oregon schools, it would be just the seventh time since the current configuration of the conference that a team will reach the halfway point unbeaten, and the first time Stanford will have done it.

The Cardinal have already put their stamp on the Stanford record book with the third fastest start to any season and the fourth longest winning streak. They aren't even close to being satisfied despite being just one of two (with St. Joseph's) unbeaten Division I teams in the nation.

"We can't think we're too good when we're down at halftime and only beating teams by 10 points," said Hernandez. "We are definitely aware that we need to improve. We'll keep getting better and better and hope we peak by March."

In coming back to beat USC, it wasn't so much that the Trojans played any worse, but that the Cardinal played that much better. Hernandez and Robinson, who combined for 26 of Stanford's 49 second-half points, were the poster boys for that comeback.

Call Hernandez the instigator as he nailed all three of his 3-point shots and finished with a team-high 18 points and seven assists. Call Robinson the finisher as he darted and weaved his way to the basket for five crucial points during a run that put Stanford up by 13 with just under five minutes to play.

"Being down at halftime didn't hurt us," said Montgomery. "The question was are you going to be right yourself and make some plays? I think we did that."

Josh Childress added 11 points and seven rebounds and will undoubtedly be a huge factor as he continues to work himself back into playing condition. Rob Little added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Stanford quickly took the mystery out of their game against the Bruins, going on a 31-7 run to cruise to the win.

Justin Davis sparked the Cardinal's big start by scoring 15 of his game-high 21 points in the first 12 minutes. He made his first nine shots and finished 10-of-11.

"We were really hot in the first half," said Davis. "A lot of things were falling."

Just imagine if Stanford could put the first half against UCLA together with the second half against USC.

There's a reason Stanford took control of the game early: the defensive intensity never faltered even as the offense struggled early. After taking a 42-21 lead by halftime, though, it's a wonder the "Sixth Man Club" didn't lose interest and start searching for keg parties.

Childress, who came off the bench his five games, added 14 points, including three 3-pointers and a mind-blowing slam dunk off a lob pass from Rob Little that raised the roof.

Matt Lottich added 10 points as the Cardinal shot nearly 47 percent and outrebounded a taller Bruins team, 36-25.

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