First, it was all about getting the offense started, shaking off
the first half doldrums that held the Cardinal to 27 percent
shooting.
Then it was the time to strip down the 19-point deficit. Next
came the necessity to get within single digits.
After that, and a 17-3 scoring run, it was time to get the game
to within one, 67-66. Then, a free throw was all that was needed
for a tie game and the chance to remain undefeated.
Stanford didn’t stop there. It took the lead with 3:49 remaining
in the game for the first time since the 19:46 mark of the first
half. Thirteen points later and less than four minutes, the
evolution of Stanford’s game against Oregon came full circle.
The Cardinal scored on its last 15 possessions en route to an
83-80 victory over the Ducks Saturday in front of a raucous,
sold-out McArthur Court.
“That was quite a second half by our guys,” Stanford head coach
Mike Montgomery said. “Oregon is a great basketball team. They
play with a lot of emotion, but there is something about our
guys. They never give up and they rallied back for a great win.”

The Cardinal rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit and broke
down an Oregon offense that outplayed them in the first half.
The Ducks shot 42.9 percent from the field in the first and kept
the Cardinal to 24 points.
Stanford turned the tables in the second half, seemingly making
shot after shot down the stretch. After Oregon jumped out to a
19-point lead — its biggest lead of the game — at 16:52, the
Cardinal got hot.
“The momentum just shifted,” Oregon guard James Davis said. “We
weren’t getting stops in the end. I’m just real disappointed.
That was a game we should have had.”
Stanford pulled to within 12, 48-36, after Matt Lottich made a
layup on a fast break with 13:42 remaining.
The Ducks kept Stanford relatively at bay until Josh Childress’
three-pointer with 7:33 remaining made the lead single-digits.
From then on, it went downhill for the Ducks, giving No. 2
Stanford its 18th win of the season, keeping the Cardinal
unbeaten.
“First half, we executed the amount of productivity we needed in
order to win,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “In the second
half, we had some lapses with our defense and box outs.
“I am proud of the team. Hopefully we can learn from this.”

Stanford (18-0 overall, 9-0 Pacific-10 Conference) was without
the services of forward Justin Davis, injured during the
Cardinal’s game with Oregon State on Thursday. In his place was
Matt Haryasz, a 6-foot-10 sophomore.
He had the biggest game of his career, scoring 19 points — 13
coming in the second half.
“Not being a starter, and in this hostile environment, I was
really impressed with (Haryasz’s) play,” Montgomery said.
However, the Cardinal did lose Davis’ rebounding ability and it
showed, allowing the Ducks to pull out to five more in the first
half. Stanford ended up leading the game on the board, 35-31.
Chris Hernandez led the Cardinal with 22 points and Matt Lottich
pitched in with 15 on the strength of 3 of 8 shooting from
beyond the three-point line. As a team, Stanford shot 45.6 from
the field, including 64.3 in the second half.
Luke Jackson countered with 25 points and James Davis had 19.
The Ducks shot just a shade under 50 percent for the night —
47.5.
The Ducks (10-6, 5-4) were plagued by inconsistent free throw
shooting, connecting on 54 percent of their attempts (12 of 22).
Jackson, particularly, was off his season average, making 7 of
10. Previous to the game, he had made 81 percent of his free
throw attempts.
“I don’t know,” Kent said. “We are the best three-point shooting
team in the country, so why we shot so poor from the free-throw
line … I don’t understand.”
Employing an eight-man rotation, the Ducks did not get a point
from their bench. Jordan Kent, Brandon Lincoln and Jay Anderson
combined to play 45 minutes, going 0 of 3 from the field and
contributing six rebounds and two assists.
Conversely, Stanford’s bench scored 15 points.
And so went Oregon’s chances to upset the second-ranked team,
pull itself into a tie for second place in the Pac-10 and win
its 37 game in 39 at Mac Court.
“We knew (Montgomery) was going to have his guys come out and
play,” James Davis said. “That’s why they’re the No. 2 team in
the country. They came into an environment like this and came
out with a win.”
“We played hard all the way through but made mistakes we
shouldn’t have,” Oregon forward Mitch Platt said.
At the midway point of the Pac-10 season, the Ducks sit in third
place, one game back of Arizona, which narrowly defeated
Washington State on Saturday.

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