Whether it was the free Chipotle for the 6th Man section, the prospect of seeing Lil’ Romeo or merely the excitement of a Pac-10 home opener, Stanford men’s basketball played to a full house at Maples Pavilion last night with 6,520 fans in attendance. Romeo didn’t show for the Trojans’ 54-53 loss, but the Cardinal combo of sophomore Jeremy Green and senior Landry Fields did – and they put on a better show than most expected after Stanford went 1-4 during winter break.
While the win, which pushed the Cardinal to 1-1 in conference play (7-7 overall), was by no means a runaway full of glitz and glamour, Stanford finally earned a victory in a meeting that came down to the final possessions – a much needed statement after the team lost two games this year by two points or fewer.
Coach Johnny Dawkins said the ball just bounced in Stanford’s favor during this trip down the stretch, while Fields offered a different explanation: sheer resolve.
When asked what was going through his mind as Stanford’s seven-point lead evaporated in the final minute, Fields simply said, “We’re not losing this game. Not this time.”
The Trojans were expected to be formidable opponents at 2-0 in the Pac-10 (10-4 overall), but this proved only partially true. USC came out flat offensively in the first half – falling to an early 11-3 deficit and shooting 42.3 percent to Stanford’s 48.1 – and hung back on defense, leading to what head coach Kevin O’Neill called “a complete lack of effort.” Still, with only two major producers for each team (guard Dwight Lewis and forward Alex Stephenson for USC, with 13 and nine points, respectively, and Fields and Green for Stanford with 12 and seven), the margin was only 31-28 at the break.
USC pulled things together defensively after halftime and was able to keep Fields without a field goal in the second half. But the Trojans couldn’t contain Green, who eventually led Stanford with 17 points.
With 3:48 to go, Green hit a three from deep in the corner, putting Stanford back up by seven. USC senior Mike Gerrity responded with a long ball of his own to make it 52-46 before Green hit another jumper 20 seconds later at 2:01.
In the end, though, it wasn’t Green’s or Fields’ scoring that put the nails in USC’s coffin, as their combined 31 was outdone by Stephenson’s and Lewis’ 35. Instead, it was contributions from sophomore big men Andrew Zimmerman and Jack Trotter – with 10 and six, respectively – that gave the Cardinal the edge.
“In a game where the final score is 54-53, 10 points is a heck of a lot of points,” Dawkins said.
Dawkins was pleased with the balance of the team, especially among the young players.
“I think some guys did some growing up tonight on our team by being put in that position,” Dawkins said. “For sophomores that never really played a lot of minutes, playing at this level is an adjustment. But they’re adjusting to the level of competition… They compete, they work hard for us and they come out every game and they give us what they have.”
As sophomore Jarrett Mann stepped up to have the final chance, he was, in fact, adjusting. With 10 seconds to go, after classmate Zimmerman had failed to convert either free throw at the 32-second mark, Mann took his own spot on the line on a reaching foul by Trojan forward Leonard Washington. Mann, who had missed back-to-back free throws at the same mark on Nov. 25 to send the game with then-No. 5 Kentucky to overtime – in which Stanford eventually fell 73-65 – missed the front end. However, his second fell and USC missed a jumper and its put-back at the other end, leaving Stanford on top.
In a season when a single conference win sometimes seemed like a stretch for the Card, this victory over USC will be a big momentum booster, especially going into Saturday’s 3 p.m. matchup against UCLA.
Dawkins said he was proud of the team and of the win, but that it hardly came as a surprise: “I think we can be as competitive as any team in the conference, and we have to believe that.”