December 23, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Stanford men roll over Princeton in tourney

by Rick Eymer

Stanford freshman guard Mitch Johnson has been getting meaningful minutes all season, and now he's starting to find his rhythm.

Playing a season high 23 minutes in Stanford's 58-34 victory over Princeton on Wednesday night in the Pete Newell Challenge at the Oakland Arena, Johnson played his best game yet and showed there's still plenty to come. He recorded a team-high four assists and three steals.

"It gets to the point where you stop worrying about making mistakes and realize it's still the same game I've been playing my whole life," Johnson said. "I'm just enjoying now and there's still a long season ahead. I'm feeling comfortable now and I feel like I belong on the court."

Johnson, who averaged 15.4 minutes in Stanford's first seven games, missed his first eight shots of the season before making a jumper midway through the second half of an eventual victory over Cal Poly.

He had more turnovers (7) than assists (6) after three games but Cardinal coach Trent Johnson kept running him out there as one of the first players off the bench. Mitch Johnson had obviously worked his way into the rotation.

Johnson's game began shifting in the loss at Montana, in which he recorded four assists and turned the ball over just once in eight minutes. During a four-game span which began in Missoula, Johnson had more than twice as many assists (13) as turnovers (6).

He's clearly the top backup to senior point guard Chris Hernandez, who Johnson credits for helping improve his game.

"It's always nice to know the coach has confidence in you," Johnson said. "And I'm playing alongside one of the premier guards in the country. I've been able to learn a lot."

The victory over Princeton squared Stanford's record at 4-4 with the Pac-10 season on the horizon. Stanford opens at 12th-ranked UCLA next Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. and senior center Matt Haryasz, for one, thinks the Cardinal is ready.

"Absolutely," he said. "These last three games we've been playing better. UCLA is a tough one to open with but I like where we're at right now. We'll go to UCLA and try to get one."

December had been a cruel month for the Cardinal until the past week. After ending a three-game losing streak with Monday's victory over Denver, Stanford heads into the Christmas break on a high note and ready to move forward.

"We stumbled a little bit and got down but we've pulled ourselves up," Haryasz said. "We needed to get some swagger, some confidence, back. Right now we're 0-0 going into the Pac-10."

Trent Johnson also likes what he sees.

"More than anything our guys are playing with a level of confidence," he said. "It seemed like we had a weight on our shoulders. This makes Christmas a little better. The guys are smiling again and we'll be going into the break with a good taste in our mouths."

Someone suggested that preseason hype may have added extra pressure on Stanford. The Cardinal was ranked as high as 12th in some preseason polls and was picked to finish second in the Pac-10 behind Arizona, which also struggled early in the season.

Johnson would have none of it.

"It takes time," he said. "All I dwell on is what we do every day. Rankings don't mean anything. Maybe guys put extra pressure on themselves but I'm just concerned with how we are improving every day. We're getting better, and we're playing better defense."

Hernandez and Dan Grunfeld each scored 11 points to pace Stanford's win over the Tigers. Haryasz added 10 points. None of the seniors - Haryasz, Grunfeld or Hernandez - played more than 20 minutes.

Freshmen Lawrence Hill and Anthony Goods also recorded season high in minutes played, and both Carlton Weatherby and Kenny Brown made their season debuts.

Hill led Stanford with nine rebounds and the Cardinal held a 33-16 advantage on the boards. Brown scored his first collegiate points - a 3-pointer - with 4:07 remaining to play.

Stanford held a 19-3 lead with 11:45 left in the first half after Princeton (28 percent from the floor in the first half) was held without a field goal for six minutes. The Cardinal led at halftime, 35-14.

"We got off to a good start," coach Johnson said. "The ball went down for us and it didn't go down for them."

Stanford remains undefeated at 8-0 in the event, and held Princeton to an event record low for points. It was also Stanford's first win ever over the Tigers in four meetings.

Stanford also improved to 4-1 when out-rebounding its opponents and won for the first time in five games when scoring less than 70 points.

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