Publication Date: Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Shocking loss by Stanford men's basketball team
Shocking loss by Stanford men's basketball team
(December 07, 2005) UC Davis sticks it to the Cardinal again
by Rick Eymer
Final exams will likely occupy the minds of the Stanford men's basketball team for a week or so, and that's probably a good thing after stumbling twice on the road over the weekend, including yet another loss to UC Davis.
The Cardinal (2-3) will have to wait another 10 days before playing basketball again, and after losing 88-69 to Montana on Friday night and 67-58 to UC Davis on Sunday, that could be a long, painful wait.
Stanford meets Virginia Tech in the Las Vegas Showdown on Dec. 17, but if things don't get turned around, it will probably be more like a mow-down, as in Stanford getting cut up into pieces.
"We have to get right back at it and we have to get batter," Stanford guard Tim Morris said. "We didn't knock down shots and we didn't hit the boards."
The Stanford football team was humbled by an early season loss to the Aggies, and now the basketball team can share in the misery.
"Not only do we loss to them in football now we lost to them in basketball," Morris said. "That's definitely going to hurt. We didn't defend our best and they got a lot of offensive rebounds."
Morris was one of Stanford's bright spots against UC Davis, scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Matt Haryasz had 20 points and nine rebounds.
The Aggies won the rebounding battle, 40-33.
"This is a team effort," Morris said. "They were sending their wings in to rebound. You can't blame our big guys for not getting the rebounds. We have to block out from all over. That game hurt."
It doesn't get any easier for the Cardinal either. Following Virginia Tech, Stanford plays at home against Denver, and then goes back on the road for games against Princeton (at the Pete Newell Challenge in Oakland) and conference foes USC and UCLA.
It was part of a lost weekend overall for Stanford's athletic teams. The women's volleyball team was knocked out of the NCAA tournament, the men's water polo lost in the NCAA title game, and the women's basketball team lost at home to Tennessee. Stanford's loss to UC Davis was just the final slap in the face.
Stanford was 1-of-15 from 3-point range, finally nailing one in the closing minutes. Cardinal point guard Chris Hernandez was 1-of-9 from the field and Dan Grunfeld was 4-of-14. Hernandez also found himself in early foul trouble and eventually fouled out.
"It can only go up from here," Morris said. "We won't go 1-for-15 from the 3-point line every night and Chris won't be in foul trouble every night."
Stanford jumped out to a 20-8 lead but the Aggies worked that to a mere 4-point deficit by halftime. The lead changed hands several times early in the second half. Fred Washington gave Stanford a 47-46 edge with 6:49 left to play but that didn't last long as the Cardinal missed its next six shots and went 4-of-18 the rest of the way.
The loss to Montana was even more lopsided as the Grizzlies jumped out to a 13-0 lead and never looked back.
Stanford drew within seven points with 7:11 to play but that was the last hurrah. Haryasz led Stanford with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Grunfeld finished with 16 after having just three at halftime. Hernandez added 12 points and four assists.
Cross country
Stanford's Arianna Lambie has been named the Pac-10 Conference women's Athlete of the Year in cross country. Lambie, a sophomore from Harvard, Mass., took top honors at the Pac-10 Championships with a clocking of 20:20, and finished first (19:29) at the NCAA West Regional.
Lambie was the Pac-10's top finisher at the NCAA Championships with an eighth-place finish (20:00) in leading the Cardinal to its third national championship in the sport. Lambie is the sixth different Cardinal to earn Pac-10 Athlete of the Year honors.
Stanford's Peter Tegen was honored as both the Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year and Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year.
Tegen, in his first year at Stanford, led the Cardinal women to their third NCAA title. Along the way, the Cardinal women picked up their 10th consecutive Pac-10 title, and their 12th league title overall. On the men's side, Tegen guided the Cardinal to its sixth consecutive Pac-10 crown, and its ninth league title overall. The Stanford men were the top finishing Pac-10 team at the NCAA Championships with a sixth-place showing.
University of Washington freshman Tori Tyler, a Gunn High graduate, was named the Women's Cross Country Newcomer of the Year. Tyler was the top finishing Husky at the Pac-10 Championships, earning second-team all-conference honors with an eighth-place finish (21:05). Her finish helped lead the Huskies to a fourth-place showing at the Pac-10 meet. She is the first Washington runner to earn either Athlete of the Year or Newcomer of the Year honors.
The honors were decided by a vote of the conference's cross country coaches.
Wrestling
Stanford sophomore Tanner Gardner finished fourth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in the Cashman Center on Saturday. He won five of seven matches. Gardner lost in the semifinals to Arizona State's Jeremy Mendoza.
Stanford is entered in the Reno Tournament of Champions at the Reno Livestock Events Center on Dec. 18.
Gardner and Scott Loescher each recorded four wins on Friday.
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