Stanford men’s basketball (9-6, 2-2 Pac-12) saw its first conference road trip end in a split on Sunday as the team fell 71-58 to Oregon (13-3, 2-1 Pac-12).
Oregon sophomore Dillon Brooks was three assists away from a triple-double as the Ducks simply wore out the Cardinal with their energetic passing and intensity on the boards. Oregon outshot Stanford 47 percent to 38 percent and out-rebounded the Cardinal by a 38-22 margin, ultimately doing more than enough to preserve their unbeaten record in Eugene this season.
“We knew we had to out-rebound them because they out-rebounded Oregon State,” Brooks remarked to ESPN after the game. “We had to get good shots, and I was [just] trying to get my teammates into it.”
The Cardinal came out strong and managed to keep things close in the first half, riding an 11-point performance from sophomore Michael Humphrey to stay within four at the break. The team looked to gain ground early in the second and twice drew within a single point of the Ducks, but Oregon answered with a 17-5 run that seemed to break down the Cardinal’s discipline on defense and put the home team in a strong position coming down the stretch.
Stanford hung around for most of the rest of the game, but the team couldn’t get the stops it needed to mount a comeback effort like in its recent games against Utah, Texas and Colorado. Oregon’s domination of the offensive glass and consistent ability to find good looks forced Stanford to send the Ducks to the free-throw line, but Oregon missed just one of its final twelve attempts to effectively remove the chance of any late drama.
Humphrey finished with 18 points, while senior Rosco Allen scored 13 and junior Marcus Allen added 12 before fouling out with 2:34 to play. The rest of Stanford’s squad combined for just 15 points, however, as Oregon enjoyed a 20-11 advantage in bench points and saw just one of its players out-scored by the Cardinal’s next highest contributor after Humphrey and the two Allens.
Brooks led Oregon with 15 points, but it was Dana Altman’s signature pass-based attack that generated most of its offense. The Ducks had six different players score at least eight points, effectively reversing Stanford’s playmaker-centered offense and forcing the Cardinal to play catch-up late in the evening.
Stanford now returns home to Maples Pavilion where its tough run of play will continue against rival California on Thursday and No. 7 Arizona on Jan. 21. The Cardinal will hope to grab at least one victory out of these two games to keep their conference play going on a positive note.
Contact Andrew Mather at amather ‘at’ stanford.edu.