When games start early, the Stanford men’s basketball team substitute a walk through instead of a traditional shootaround. Perhaps that’s the reason for one of the slowest starts of the season.
Thanks to contributions off the bench from Marcus Allen and Rosco Allen, the Cardinal recovered from the noon tip-off by the intermission.
Chasson Randle scored 17 of his game-high 18 points in the second half, recovering from a poor shooting first half, and Stanford opened conference play with a 71-56 victory over visiting Washington State on Friday.
The Cardinal (1-0, 9-3) hosts No. 21 Washington on Sunday night at 7 p.m., which gives the players plenty of time for a shootaround.
Stanford played without freshman forward Reid Travis, out with a stress fracture in his left thigh. He had surgery on his left knee in July. Travis is expected to miss at least four weeks.
“It’s a huge hit,” Marcus Allen said of Travis’ absence. “He’s a great rebounder and a great player. We’ll need to come together, as a team, to pick him up.”
Anthony Brown helped pick up some of the slack as he recorded his second double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
“Losing Reid was a big blow,” Brown said. “He’s a big body and our leading rebounder. The bench did a great job. Rosco came in and got a 3, Marcus came in and made a basket and got a steal. They gave us energy.”
The two Allen’s combined to score 14 points in the first half, outscoring the starters.
“I think my job is to bring energy and create plays,” Marcus said. “With the slow start, I want to keep these guys going.”
Stefan Nastic added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinal, which won its fourth straight and five of six overall.
Washington State has not won a road conference game in nearly two years and has lost five straight to the Cardinal.
After missing all seven of his shots in the first half, Randle scored Stanford’s first seven points of the second half, including a long range shot that tied the school record (241, with Dion Cross) for made 3-pointers.
Washington State missed its first six shots of the second half and the Cardinal opened with a 13-3 run to go up 40-27 with 14:42 remaining to play.
Stanford was never seriously threatened the rest of the way.
The Cougars took a 14-4 lead on Ny Redding’s jumper midway through the first half. Stanford missed its first seven shots and was 1 of 10 before making nine of its next 21 shots to rally for a 27-24 halftime lead.
Travis, who started the first 11 games, averages 7.5 points and a team-best 6.9 rebounds. Grant Verhoeven made his first career start in Travis’ place.