Nov. 12, 1999
By JIM O'CONNELL
AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK - Stanford didn't have Mark Madsen but the Cardinal had morethan enough Collins.
Freshman Casey Jacobsen scored 17 points and the Collins twins combined for35 points and 22 rebounds Friday night as No. 13 Stanford beat Iowa 72-58 inthe championship game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Madison SquareGarden.
The Cardinal, who beat No. 10 Duke 80-79 in overtime in the opening round,played without Madsen, their only returning starter from last season, whopulled a hamstring on Thursday.
His loss up front didn't matter with 6-foot-11 Jason Collins, who finishedwith 18 points and 12 rebounds, and 6-10 Jarron Collins, who had 17 points and10 rebounds, overcoming an Iowa front line that played well in a 70-68 upset oftop-ranked and defending national champion Connecticut in the opening round.
"Jason and Jarron were too much for them and with Jason finally healthythey will cause problems for people all season," Cardinal coach MikeMontgomery said. "They've been playing together all their lives and they're agood combination."
They didn't get much of a chance to play together the last two seasons asJason was hampered by a knee injury and then a broken wrist.
"We just play basketball, that's what we've been doing since we were 6years old," said Jarron, who was selected the tournament MVP. "I'm reallyexcited for Jason as are our family and friends. It's been hard for him off thefloor the last two years but we've supported him and we'll keep supportinghim."
Connecticut beat Duke 71-66 in the third-place game.
The Cardinal finished with a 45-33 rebound advantage.
"Their big players took it to us and you can see that by the free throws,"Iowa coach Steve Alford said, referring to Stanford's 28-13 advantage in foulshots. "They got us in a big hurry offensively and there were too many timeswith one pass and a shot or one screen and a shot and they affected ourdefense."
Michael McDonald hit a 25-footer at the halftime buzzer to give Stanford a39-31 lead and that became 47-35 with 12:29 to play after a 3-pointer byJacobsen. The Hawkeyes missed nine of their first 11 shots in the second halfand couldn't recover.
Jacobsen, who was 6-for-9 from the field, including 4-for-5 from 3-pointrange, followed that 3-pointer with a jumper and another 3 as he scored eightstraight points for the Cardinal. Iowa got within 56-48 with 8:15 left on adrive by Jacob Jaacks, but Jacobsen scored on a drive and, after Jason Collins'free throw, Stanford rebounded the miss of the second and got the ball toJacobsen for another 3 that made it 62-48 with 7:13 to play.
"In the second half Casey Jacobsen hit some really big shots," Montgomerysaid.
Dean Oliver and Jaacks each had 13 points for Iowa and Rob Griffin had 12.
"I tried to get shots off over two 6-11 guys with their arms up and wasjust too quick with everything," Jaacks said. "I should have kicked the ballout a lot more."
Montgomery said Madsen will be at least a month.
"He's our emotional leader and not having him affects our depth,"Montgomery said. "I think we responded pretty well without him with everybodydoing what they needed to do."