The hottest team in the Pacific-10 Conference, the Stanford Cardinal, pays a visit to McArthur Court tonight to face the Ducks at 5:30 p.m.
The Cardinal (10-7 overall, 6-3 Pac-10), coming off an upset win over then-No. 10 Washington, has won three straight and six of its last seven games. Its last loss occurred Jan. 19 in overtime at Arizona.
Stanford’s current success appeared far-fetched after a rocky preseason and opening to the Pac-10 schedule. The Cardinal lost consecutive games to Montana and UC Davis before dropping two straight to USC and UCLA in its Pac-10 opening weekend.
But the Cardinal has repositioned itself in the Pac-10 race, evidenced by victories against both the Oregon and Washington schools as well as California and Arizona State.
The much-improved play of center Matt Haryasz has added to the recent surge. The 6-foot-11 senior, who never averaged more than 12.5 points per game in his three previous years, has averaged 19 points per game this season, tops among all Stanford scorers.
“You can see where he’s consistently grown, grown up, matured and gotten better,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. “Now he’s just a load for anybody to handle. You’re not going to shut him down.”
Haryasz earned his second consecutive Pac-10 Player of the Week honor last week following his 24-point effort against Washington and 22 points against Washington State. Haryasz previously received the award following a weekend where he averaged 26 points per game against Arizona and Arizona State.
He has posted 20 or more points in the last five games.
“It’s definitely going to be a challenge. He’s playing great right now, and we’re just going to have to try and contain him,” Oregon’s Adam Zahn said. “He has great ball control, he knows how to get to the basket, he’s good around the basket and you’ve got to guard his 15-footer. He’s pretty much got the all-around package right now.”
Haryasz returned from a sprained ankle for Oregon’s previous meeting earlier this season at Stanford. He scored 16 points, including six in the final 3:57 of the game, helping Stanford escape with a narrow 64-62 victory. The game ended with a controversial no-call when Aaron Brooks appeared to be fouled in the final seconds.
The Ducks committed a season-low seven turnovers in the game and outshot the Cardinal in the second half, making slightly more than 45 percent from the field.
“I think the first time around, we were a little impatient offensively in the first half, and we had a stretch where it kind of cost us, and they took control of the game,” Kent said. “Then we settled down and really started to grind it out and play defense.”
Stanford’s Chris Hernandez posted 12 points and four assists in the victory. He and fellow senior Dan Grunfeld have complemented Haryasz’s presence inside. Grunfeld (12.9 points, 5.8 rebounds per game) and Hernandez (12.5 points, 3.4 assists per game) are second and third in scoring, respectively, for the Cardinal.
“They both shoot the ball well. They’re both very skilled and have a good understanding of the basketball games,” said Oregon’s leading scorer Malik Hairston, who pitched in 21 against the Cardinal last time out. “It’s just a matter of us working with them, running them off of those screens and understanding the sets they run.”
Hairston and company will attempt to snap a three-game losing streak tonight and a six-game losing streak to the Cardinal. The Ducks (10-11, 4-5) returned home after a 78-59 loss to Washington and dropped the first two – against UCLA (56-49) and USC (84-78) – of a four-game homestand. Tonight marks the start of the second half of conference play.
“I think (the main thing) for us in the second half of the Pac-10 season is to clean up some things because we had a little bit of rhythm going when we won three games in a row,” Kent said, “and we just need to get back to that again.”
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