Stanford had only lost once in its last seven home games this season before the Oregon men’s basketball team came in and stunned the Cardinal, 67-59, Thursday night in Palo Alto.
It was the first time in 25 years that Oregon won in Stanford’s Maples Pavilion.
With the win, the Ducks improved to 10-10 overall and 3-5 in Pacific-10 Conference play. Oregon has won three of its last four games, with two road victories to its credit. The loss dropped Stanford to 10-9 overall and 3-5 in league play.
The Ducks opened with a 9-2 run to start the night, picking up buckets from four of the five starters, forcing Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins to call a timeout at the 15:23 mark.
Back-to-back three pointers by junior guard Jeremy Green got the Cardinal back on track, but later in the opening half Oregon’s Garrett Sim responded with two big threes of his own. The Ducks shot a season-high 52.9 percent from behind the three-point line on Thursday.
Sim’s second make from beyond the arc put Oregon up seven with 4:33 remaining. Stanford tacked on a quick seven points over the last several minutes to send the game into halftime tied at 29.
The Cardinal came out firing in the second half with a 7-3 run to go up 36-32, and first-year head coach Dana Altman called a quick timeout to get the Ducks refocused defensively.
Oregon held Stanford scoreless for the next 4:17, allowing enough time to regain a four-point lead midway through the second half.
Junior guard Malcolm Armstead came off the bench to provide a spark, finishing with 10 points, four assists, and five rebounds. Fellow guard Jay-R Strowbridge also contributed quality minutes in reserve, chipping in 13 points on 3-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
But even with a 10-point lead with 7:15 left to play, Oregon let Stanford crawl back in late, but wouldn’t reach within four as the Ducks sealed the victory.
Senior Joevan Catron, whose status prior to the game was unknown after missing practice with an illness this week, gave Oregon a much-needed lift in the paint. He helped contain Cardinal forward Josh Owens, holding him to just four points and four rebounds, while adding 15 points and six boards of his own.
Oregon will look to keep the strong play rolling when they head to Berkeley on Saturday to face the California Golden Bears at 6 p.m.
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