March 4, 1999
By LANDON HALL
Associated Press Writer
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - With the Pac-10 title already in the bag, Stanford coachMike Montgomery feared his team might flick on the cruise-control switch.Arthur Lee put his worries to rest.
Lee scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half as No. 6 Stanfordcontinued its push for a top seed in the NCAA tournament by defeating Oregon73-61 Thursday night.
"I wasn't sure what would happen on this trip," said Montgomery, whoseteam clinched its first outright Pac-10 title last week with a 98-83 homevictory over Arizona. "To come up and play a team with a lot to play for andwin says a lot about this team."
Stanford (26-4, 15-2 Pac-10) matched its school record with 15 conferencevictories, set in 1989 and tied last year when the Cardinal went to the FinalFour.
After stumbling with three losses in a six-game stretch, the Cardinal haswon five straight and is now back in contention for the No. 1 seed in the WestRegional.
"We're playing well right now, but you can always play better," Lee said."We want to finish the season strong and get the best seed in the tournamentthat we can."
Mark Madsen and Tim Young each added 12 points and 14 rebounds for theCardinal.
Oregon (15-11, 7-10) was led by Yasir Rosemond's 14 points, all coming inthe first half on four 3-pointers as the Ducks trailed only 40-35 at the break.
Stanford had beaten the Ducks five straight times, including the last fourby an average of 22.5 points. But the Cardinal was pushed by an Oregon teamfacing its last chance at earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Oregon was down 49-46 with 15:07 to play, but the Ducks went the next 6:02without a point. Stanford struggled with its shot, too, but Lee made twojumpers during a 7-0 run to make it 56-46 with 9:05 left.
The Ducks couldn't get closer than seven the rest of the way.
"I'm really proud of our team with the way they battled," Oregon coachErnie Kent said. "They were right there the whole game."
Oregon, without a victory over a Top 25 team this season, still could makethe NIT with a win against Cal on Saturday.Rosemond, a reserve guard who was averaging just 3.2 points per game, hittwo straight 3-pointers and a layup to pull the Ducks to 18-15 midway throughthe first half.
Rosemond, somehow getting open against Stanford's tough man-to-man defense,hit two more 3-pointers to cut the lead to 32-28. A 3-pointer by Darius Wrightand a backdoor layup by A.D. Smith pulled the Ducks to 34-33 with 2:25 left inthe half.
The Cardinal tightened up in the second half, allowing the Ducks to shootjust 38 percent and make one of 10 from 3-point range.
"I think Stanford is the most physical team we've played," said Oregoncenter Mike Carson, who was outmanned against Young and Madsen. "Stanfordplays such a solid game. Once you break down, they feed on that and they don'tgive a chance to come back."
The Ducks, who have four losses by two points or less this season, have lostsix straight to Stanford since beating the Cardinal 64-62 in Eugene in 1996.
"Knowing what we know about Oregon, we did have a sense of urgencytonight," Madsen said. "They had a lot to play for, but we have been prettysuccessful on the road this year."
Stanford improved to 10-1 on the road and 20-3 over the past two seasons.