Cougars snap Stanford's 8-game home win streak
Antonio Gonzalez | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 13 years, 10 months AGO
STANFORD, Calif. - Washington State can finally head home with a Pac-10 road victory.
Klay Thompson had 21 points, Faisal Aden scored 20 and Washington State ended Stanford's eight-game home unbeaten streak with a 61-58 victory Saturday.
"If we would have lost this one, it would have been tough to come back and get to .500 in the league," Aden said. "We sort of left our hearts out there tonight - that's what we came into the game with."
The dynamic guard duo helped the Cougars (13-5, 3-3) win a conference road after dropping their first three.
Jeremy Green had 13 points and Josh Owens added 12 points for the Cardinal (10-6, 3-2), who were coming off an upset of No. 17 Washington and looking to sustain some momentum. Instead, they had a letdown by blowing a nine-point halftime lead.
"I'm sure we will learn from this," Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. "We don't like to learn in losses, but we will learn from the experience and how competitive Pac-10 play is and how every night you have to be prepared to adjust and compete at the highest level."
Washington State's rally was long overdue.
After an overtime loss at California earlier this week, a Bay Area split could give Washington State some confidence. The Cougars had also lost conference games at UCLA and USC.
They took control in the second half with energy and effort that Stanford simply couldn't match.
"I think our zone defense was pretty good during that stretch," Cougars coach Ken Bone said. "That was probably the biggest difference during that time. And we scored some baskets, too. But we really, really needed to get some stops defensively, and we did."
Washington State hosts Arizona State on Thursday.
WASHINGTON ST. (13-5)
Casto 2-6 3-5 7, Lodwick 0-2 2-2 2, Capers 2-5 2-2 6, Thompson 9-20 1-1 21, Aden 8-19 3-4 20, DiIorio 0-0 0-0 0, Motum 1-1 0-0 2, Winston Jr. 0-0 0-0 0, Enquist 0-0 0-0 0, Simon 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 23-56 11-14 61.
STANFORD (10-6)
Owens 5-7 2-4 12, Powell 3-8 3-3 9, Bright 1-8 0-0 3, Mann 1-5 3-4 5, Green 5-16 0-0 13, Ant. Brown 4-9 0-0 12, Harris 0-3 0-0 0, Huestis 0-0 0-0 0, Zimmermann 2-3 0-0 4, Trotter 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-61 8-11 58.
Halftime_Stanford 32-23. 3-Point Goals_Washington St. 4-18 (Thompson 2-4, Simon 1-3, Aden 1-7, Capers 0-2, Lodwick 0-2), Stanford 8-25 (Ant. Brown 4-7, Green 3-11, Bright 1-5, Harris 0-2). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Washington St. 36 (Lodwick, Thompson 8), Stanford 41 (Owens, Powell 10). Assists_Washington St. 9 (Aden, Casto, Thompson 2), Stanford 13 (Mann 5). Total Fouls_Washington St. 15, Stanford 16. A_5,803.