Jeremy Green came into Saturday’s contest against UCLA with a sore ankle, a bruised finger bone and a pulled back muscle. The sophomore guard then proceeded to play one of the best games of his career.

Green scored 30 points in 37 minutes for the Cardinal (8-7, 2-1 Pacific-10 Conference), who earned a solid 70-59 win over the Bruins (7-9, 2-2 Pac-10) at Maples Pavilion Saturday afternoon.

“It’s all good,” Green said in regard to his injuries. “I’m all good.”

Green was definitely “good” — the sophomore guard went 11-of-18 from the floor and seemed to make big shot after big shot when the Bruins were trying to get back into the game. He banked in a running three-pointer as time expired at the end of the first half to give the Cardinal a 34-33 lead going into the locker room.

“That was just a huge performance by a great player,” said sophomore center Jack Trotter. “He’s really come into his own.”

Senior forward Landry Fields overcame a slow start to finish with 16 points and seven rebounds. He didn’t have the best shooting night of his career, but he found a way to get his points, both inside and out.

“I was as proud of any kid as I’ve ever been,” said Coach Johnny Dawkins of Fields. “He takes everyone’s best shot every night. He’s never once backed off a challenge. He got off to a slow start tonight, and the toughest thing for any good player to do is to be able to turn it around in that same game. For him to turn it around in the second half says a lot about who he is.”

Overall, it was a solid performance by the Cardinal, who led nearly the whole game and pulled away from the Bruins in the final minutes.

“I thought we played well,” Dawkins said after the game. “I thought our guys worked hard, followed the game plan and were prepared.”
Dawkins also had plenty of praise for Green.

“I give the young man a lot of credit,” he said. “He’s played through a lot of injuries. He contributes, he’s competitive and I’m starting to think he [plays well] so he doesn’t have to practice for me,” Dawkins joked.

“He’s got a big heart — he’s a big competitor,” he added.

The unheralded Cardinal big men — Trotter and fellow sophomore Andrew Zimmerman — also played well, finishing around the basket and making a number of hustle plays. Trotter, a walk-on, finished with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting.

“I thought our big men were terrific,” Dawkins said. “They grew even more tonight.”

Trotter emphasized the businesslike role he and Zimmerman have assumed for the Cardinal this season. “We’re going to defend, rebound and set screens,” he said. “We’re just setting screens and making good, strong fundamental plays.”

Sophomore point guard Jarrett Mann did what he needed to do as point guard, only scoring six points but dishing out an impressive eight assists. Though the Cardinal did not receive a single point from its bench, the contributions from the starters were more than enough to top the Bruins on Saturday.

UCLA shot 54.6 percent from the field while Stanford only shot 47.2 percent, but the game was won on turnovers and free throws — the Cardinal shot 13 more free throws and turned the ball over 10 fewer times. The Bruins may have shot the ball better, but the Cardinal’s execution on offense — namely, its ability to take care of the ball — was the difference in the game, whether UCLA threw a zone or man-to-man defense at it.

“This just happened to be a good game against a good team, and [we got] a great win,” Green said.

Stanford earned a much-welcome sweep of the Southern California schools with the victory, and it stands, for the moment, in the upper half of the conference before traveling to face the Washington schools this week.