Huskies Handle Stanford 64-53
By Ben Renner
The Huskies handled Stanford 64-53 with a suffocating defensive effort in a must-win.
The Huskies beat Stanford in a must-win at Hec Ed, overcoming a rare off-day for Andrew Andrews, who scored only 8 points, all from the free throw line. Andrews and perimeter shooters Dominic Green and David Crisp went a combined 0 of 18 from the floor. Luckily, Dejounte Murray carried the Huskies with 25 points.
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Stanford couldn’t get anything going offensively against the Huskies. Rosco Allen scored 20 points, but no other Cardinal player could manage double figures. Despite the Huskies going scoreless for five minutes early in the second half, the Cardinal couldn’t build a lead. While the defensive effort of the Huskies is encouraging, their inability at times to solve the Stanford zone defense is a bit disconcerting.
Still, the Huskies found a way to win largely without their star senior guard Andrews, who still leads the Pac-12 in scoring. In a game they had to have to keep their waning NCAA tournament at-large bid chances alive, the Huskies came through and put an end to any possible dramatic comeback by the Cardinal late in the game. Beating an inferior opponent at home won’t turn any heads in the NCAA Selection Committee, but a loss would have effectively torpedoed any chance they Dawgs had left.
The Huskies now have two more games on the road against the Oregon schools before returning home to face the lowly Cougars to close out the season. The Dawgs will need to win at least two of three of their final games to have a chance at an at-large bid. If they can beat number 16 Oregon on February 28th, don’t count them out of tournament discussion. No one knows what will happen during the Pac-12 tournament, but a win over the Ducks will go a long way to persuading the Selection Committee to include the Dawgs in March Madness even if they fall in Las Vegas.
The Huskies can’t overlook Oregon State, who they play Wednesday in Corvallis.