November 14, 1998
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - It was supposed to be a tuneup for this comingweek's preseason NIT, a lopsided contest against a Division II school thatcould act as a transition between exhibitions and the regular season.
It almost turned into a game for No. 3 Stanford, which struggled withsloppiness in the first half of its season opener and needed a run early in thesecond half to pull away from UC Davis for a 76-49 win.
Stanford, which returns all five starters from last season's Final Fourteam, appeared rusty and inconsistent in the first half against the muchsmaller Aggies, the defending Division II national champion.
"I'm really glad we had that game," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said."This is what early season basketball is all about. We knew we had to have agame ahead of the NIT."
The Cardinal shot just 43 percent in the game, hit 8 of 27 shots from3-point range and were just 14-for-29 at the free throw line - a spot at whichStanford traditionally is among the nation's best teams.
Montgomery, known as a taskmaster, said the missed free throws made himrealize he's got to be even tougher on his team.
"We're not putting enough pressure on our kids in practice, obviously.We're going to change that this week," he said. "Right now the best thing todo is foul us."
Mark Madsen had 11 points and 11 rebounds to lead Stanford, which held UCDavis to 30 percent shooting. Peter Sauer and Kris Weems added 10 points apiecefor the Cardinal.
Madsen said the Cardinal realize they'll pay for their poor free throwshooting during practice the next few days.
"We're going to be shooting a hundred at a time instead of 20 at a time,"he said.
Dante Ross had 16 points and Jason Cox had 11 for the Aggies.
Weems hit two 3-pointers as Stanford went on a 13-3 run early in the secondhalf to break open a close game.
The Cardinal were leading 39-31 when Arthur Lee's 3-pointer was followed bylayups by Tim Young and Madsen. Weems then hit a 3-pointer to build theStanford lead to 49-31.
After Ross made a free throw and Keith Jackson hit a basket for the Aggies,Weems responded with another 3-pointer.
UC Davis never got closer than 16 points the rest of the game. Stanfordbuilt its lead to 66-39 with eight minutes left as Jarron Collins completed a10-0 run with a dunk off a pass from twin brother Jason.
The Aggies, who had their school-record 22-game winning streak snapped, noware 0-48 against Pac-10 schools - including 0-12 against Stanford.
Even though the Aggies missed their first eight shots and didn't score until5:47 into the game, Stanford struggled with sloppiness in the first half andled by just four points until closing with an 8-2 run to lead 38-28 athalftime.
Lee, who made his final 38 free throws last season - including arecord-setting 35-for-35 performance in the NCAA tournament - broke the streakwhen he missed his first foul shot against UC Davis.
By ROB GLOSTER
AP Sports Writer