Publication Date: Friday, March 19, 2004
Stanford men roll to win in NCAA hoop opener
Stanford men roll to win in NCAA hoop opener
(March 19, 2004) by Rick Eymer
Josh Childress helped kick Stanford into overdrive with a spectacular shooting exhibition in a 71-45 victory over Texas-San Antonio on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Seattle's Key Arena.
Childress scored 26 points, including 10 in a critical five-minute stretch of the second half that allowed Stanford to pull away from the stubborn Roadrunners. He also grabbed nine rebounds.
The 26 points is the most by a Stanford player in a tournament game since Arthur Lee scored 26 against Kentucky in 1998.
Texas San Antonio (19-14) came into the game with a seven-game winning streak.
Top-seeded Stanford (30-1) meets No. 8 seed Alabama (18-12) on Saturday at 2:50 p.m. in Seattle for the right to advance to the regional semifinal on Thursday in Phoenix.
The Crimson Tide defeated ninth-seeded Southern Illinois, 65-64, in an earlier first-round game.
Alabama defeated Stanford, 80-75, in the first round of the 1992 NCAA tournament.
The top-ranked Cardinal will be battling history on Saturday, as they haven't advanced past the second round since reaching the Elite Eight in 2001.
Stanford has lost in the second round in four of the last five years, and six of the past nine. Of course, the Cardinal weren't the No. 1 seed in any of their previous trips to the postseason.
"There are just so many quality teams in the tournament," said Stanford coach Mike Montgomery. "That's really what makes it so interesting; no clear-cut, dominant teams."
Justin Davis, Joe Kirchofer and Matt Lottich joined 12 others as the other Stanford players to participate on four NCAA tournament teams.
Should Stanford reach the third round, its opponent would be either defending national champion Syracuse or 2002 national champion Maryland. No. 2 seed Connecticut is also on track to play in Phoenix.
Texas San Antonio drew within 44-38 with 12:16 remaining to play after John Millsap hit a jumper.
That's when Childress and Stanford took over. The Cardinal scored 14 unanswered points during a 19-1 run that put them up 63-39.
Stanford's defensive effort was extraordinary during the run that lasted the final 12 minutes of the contest. The Roadrunners missed 17 consecutive shots while Stanford was building its big lead.
The Roadrunners were within three points of Stanford at 9-6 with 14:54 left in the first half. Just under six minutes later, after Matt Haryasz, who had 10 points, finished off a basket, the Cardinal were ahead 23-9 and in control.
Childress scored 14 of his points on 5-of-9 shooting in the first half as Stanford took a 37-23 halftime lead. Stanford shot 27-of-52 from the field for 52 percent.
When the Roadrunners' Leroy Hurd completed a three-point play with 1:30 left in the game, it ended an 0-17 drought in field-goal shooting. During Stanford's 27-7 run to finish the game, UTSA was two of 20 from the field.
In the women's NCAA Midwest Regional on Saturday, sixth-seeded Stanford (24-6) will take on No. 11 Missouri in Tempe, Ariz. Game time is approximately 8:30 p.m. (ESPN2).
Stanford is making its 17th consecutive trip, and 18th overall, to the NCAA tournament and is 37-18 all-time in the postseason event.
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