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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted at 12:05 a.m., Sunday, January 25, 2009

CBKB: Stanford falls at home as Obama's brother-in-law gets another standing ovation

By Darren Sabedra
San Jose Mercury News

STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford knew this wasn't the same Oregon State team as last season, when the Beavers failed to win a conference game, but the Cardinal couldn't do anything about it.

Two days after their shocking upset of Cal, the Beavers stormed into Maples Pavilion on Saturday night, cruised to a double-digit advantage in the opening minutes and withstood a handful of runs en route to an impressive 77-62 victory.

The loss was Stanford's first at home against Oregon State since 1993, which was the last time the Beavers returned to Corvallis with a sweep of the Bay Area schools.

It was an especially crippling defeat for the Cardinal, which travels to USC and UCLA this week. If Stanford (13-4, 3-4) doesn't win one in Los Angeles — a very tall order — it will be 3-6 halfway through the Pacific-10 Conference season.

The Cardinal managed Thursday without injured point guard Mitch Johnson (bruised calf) in a rout of hapless Oregon. But there was no surviving without Johnson against Oregon State, which gave the Cardinal fits with its 1-3-1 zone and torrid shooting (31 of 50, 62 percent).

"They played with much more energy and more confidence than we did," said Stanford guard Anthony Goods, whose team shot 8 for 33 from three-point range and 23 for 54 overall. "They threw the first punch and played tough for the full 40 minutes. We let their zone get us thinking too much, and we weren't contesting their passes."

The Beavers scored on a layup off the opening tip and never surrendered the lead. Oregon State missed just one of its first seven shots to put Stanford in a 16-2 hole. The Cardinal slowly climbed back once it went away from its frigid perimeter shooting, but the surge didn't last long.

"We settled too much against their zone," Coach Johnny Dawkins said. "We didn't attack. I thought (reserve guard) Jarrett Mann did the right thing, came in understanding the value of getting some penetration and finding guys. But that's a lot on a freshman, to have to make those plays in this type of environment."

Stanford trailed only 34-28 at halftime, which was amazing given that its top three scorers — Goods, Lawrence Hill and Landry Fields — combined for six points through 20 minutes.

The Cardinal pulled to within five twice in the second half, but the Beavers' Calvin Haynes (25 points), Seth Tarver (19) and Roeland Schaftenaar (18) wouldn't allow it to get closer.

"We made those runs, but it felt like we were trading buckets," said Fields, who had 12 points and 11 rebounds. "We didn't get any defensive stops. The runs we needed to make were on defense, and we didn't make that."

Oregon State (8-10, 3-5) had lost 18 consecutive conference road games before its upset of Cal. Saturday, the Beavers improved to 2-0 post-presidential inauguration.

Stanford rooters greeted Oregon State Coach Craig Robinson — President Barack Obama's brother-in-law — with applause during pregame introductions. Minutes later, those same fans were wondering what hit the Cardinal.

"It wasn't just luck," Robinson said. "It's because our guys are getting better at what they're supposed to do."

Stanford could have used Johnson's calming presence. But would the point guard have made a 15-point difference?

"It's always tough playing without a senior leader like Mitch," Goods said. "We just didn't take care of the ball, and that was on everybody."

Dawkins said he hopes Johnson can play Thursday at USC, but added, "Still not quite sure."