Green leads Stanford to last-minute win

For 30 minutes of play last night, it looked as if the Cardinal might as well have been playing in Pullman, Wash. collapsing on the road under the weight of a hostile environment and a Pac-10 foe. But, for every close game Stanford has dropped on the road, the team has somehow rallied for victories on the floor of Maples Pavilion.

Last night, the home court advantage saved the Card again. Stanford dropped to a significant early deficit, but slowly clawed its way back against Washington State. In the end, the Card made its largest comeback since Jan. 28, 2007–when it trailed UCLA by 19–to finally winning the nail-biter against the Cougars, 60-58.

In the battle with Washington State, this season’s trend of homestand redemption was challenged closely by the Cougars (15-9, 5-7 Pac-10), who gave Stanford (11-13, 5-7) the contest’s first bucket–a layup by senior forward Landry Fields–and not much more in the opening period. Washington State took off on a 19-4 run, and didn’t allow Stanford closer than five.

Cougar forward DeAngelo Casto had nine of his eventual 15 before the break, and fellow guard Klay Thompson added another eight. Meanwhile, the Cardinal’s best responses came from the usual suspects–fields and sophomore guard Jeremy Green with five and six, respectively.

Green said that he, Fields and the rest of the team tried not to let poor shooting (33 percent) discourage them.

“As a basketball player, you have to always compete no matter what is going on in the game,” he said. “Making baskets doesn’t define you as a player, so if the shot isn’t going, you’ve got to find other ways to help the team. You’ve got to keep competing.”

By the half, though, Washington State led 33-18, and Stanford went into the locker room looking for new energy–and more than 18 points of offensive production–in the back half of the play.

Head coach Johnny Dawkins said he used halftime to help the team “settle” back into playing at home, but that his pep talk was full of more disappointment than anger.

“[My] pep talk at halftime wasn’t a loud one, to be quite frank,” Dawkins said. “It was a little more subdued. I was a little more disappointed with how we played the first half, so it came across that way instead of fire and brimstone.”

“It was probably one of the first times it hasn’t been fire and brimstone,” he added with a laugh.

After Dawkins addressed the players, Green said the team made an executive decision to win, setting a new tone for the second period.

“In the locker room, we all talked it out and said we had no choice but to win,” said Green. “It was mandatory. And we came out and had a better performance in the second half.”

Immediately after the break, though, signs of life were few, far between and brief. When Thompson opened the half with a three that could have been the nail in the coffin for Stanford, senior guard Drew Shiller responded with a long ball of his own at 19:17, and followed it up with a layup to earn five of his nine points–and his only two field goals of the half–during the two-minute stretch.

Stanford then fizzled for nearly 10 minutes, not earning another field goal until Green hit again from behind the arc at 11:32.

Sloppy possessions from both teams made production slow: the Cougars shot only 41 percent on the game, edged by Stanford’s hard-to-believe 47. The teams also finished with 11 and 17 turnovers, respectively, making play especially rough.

But, as the clock dwindled–or occasionally didn’t on a Washington State possession at 10:06, when no one seemed to notice the old ticker wasn’t working–the Cardinal snuck back into the game, finally breaking a double-digit lead with 9:18 to go.

Fields and Green spearheaded the 10-2 run to get Stanford there, culminating in Fields’ drive of a crowded lane, collecting a bucket and a foul to earn three the old-fashioned way. Fields eventually finished with 15 points and nine boards, but the Cardinal got important additions from Shiller (9 points), senior guard Emmanuel Igbinosa (5) and junior guard Da’Veed Dildy (5).

More importantly, though, were the efforts given by Igbinosa and sophomore guard Jarrett Mann down the stretch, holding the Cougars’ key scorers, like Thompson and guard Reggie Moore, at bay–Moore finished with only five points–and keeping Washington State scoreless from 7:27 to 1:49, in which time the Cardinal finally took the lead.

At 5:31, Stanford really made it a game. Igbinosa hit both free throws from a transition foul by Thompson to pull within five and Shiller earned two more at the stripe 30 seconds later.

In the string of turnovers and fouls that ensued, WSU’s Casto missed his own free throws at 4:32, opening the door for the Card. In the doorway stood Green, who picked one off at other end, only to get the ball back on Stanford’s possession to hit a three that put the Card up, 53-52.

Fouls and free throws continued to fly, and Stanford hit an uncharacteristically impressive 10 of its last 11 from the line to give the Cardinal an edge down the stretch.

With 24 seconds to play, Dildy broke the streak of made shots from the line to keep the Cardinal’s lead at two, and Casto took full advantage, tying the score at 58 with a dunk with 12 seconds left.

With the final possession, Stanford turned to the game’s steady hand, Green, who already led the team with 22 points. It proved to be the right call, as a screen by Fields left the guard open for a long jumper, solidifying the win for Stanford.

Despite the downs of the first half, Dawkins was proud of the final stretch, especially of Green’s composure on the final play.

“Jeremy Green at the end was terrific,” he said. “I had a decision with 11 seconds: do I call a timeout or go with the ball already in his hands? I decided to go with the ball in his hands…and I’m pretty proud of the outcome.”

Green was also pretty proud of the decision, and rightfully so.

“I was hoping [Dawkins] didn’t call a timeout,” Green said. “I thought that the defense was scrambling, they were trying to get back, they were backpedaling. I was just hoping to make a play. Landry set a great screen, got me open free for the J and I hit it…I was surprised I was open and that Landry’s man didn’t step up and help, but that’s their fault. So I made the shot.”

Landry’s man, Thompson regretted the play as well, saying, “I was supposed to switch. I didn’t. I just had a bad lapse at the worst part of the game.”

“I thought it was a tale of two halves,” Dawkins reflected. “It was similar to the game we played up at Washington State [a 77-73 loss for Stanford]. They got out to another great start, and our guys responded in the second half and were able to whittle the lead down. And this time, fortunately, we were able to overcome.”

Stanford will look to overcome again on Saturday, though hopefully not so narrowly. The team takes on Washington–who fell to Cal last night, 93-81– at 5 p.m. at Maples Pavilion.