March 17, 2000
Postgame Press Conference (Video) | Photo Gallery
Send a Cardinal FANcardCardinal Gear!BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Casey Jacobsen, Mark Madsen and Stanford easilypassed their first test.
Jacobsen, one of eight players who took final exams the day before in aBirmingham hotel room, scored 18 points and Madsen had 14 points and 13rebounds as the Cardinal cruised past South Carolina State 84-65 on Fridaynight in the first round of the South Regional.
"It's really nice just to be able to focus on basketball," Madsen said."It's nice to put the textbooks down."
Never before has a No. 16 seed won, and top-seeded Stanford made sure it didnot happen this time.
The Cardinal (27-3) won its opening-round game for the sixth straight year.Next up is eighth-seeded North Carolina, an 84-70 winner over Missouri, onSunday.
"It's nice to have that one under your belt. You have the potential burdenof 16 vs. 1, which lurks somewhere in the back of your mind," coach MikeMontgomery said.
Stanford held a size advantage in every matchup, and even its tree mascotpushed South Carolina State's big-headed Bulldog to the floor at halftime. Forgood measure, the Cardinal hit 13 3-pointers - a school record in the NCAAtournament.
Mike Wiatre scored 17 points for South Carolina State (20-14). TheMid-Eastern Athletic Conference champions fell to 0-4 overall in NCAAtournament play.
A transfer from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, the 6-footWiatre was the only Bulldogs player to score for the first 10 minutes. By then,his teammates were an unstylish 0-for-12 and trailed by 13 points.
"It was a good experience for us," said Wiatre, a senior who was 10-for-10from the foul line. "We played hard and hung in there and never gave up."
Jacobsen, leading Stanford with a 15-point average, scored the first basketof the game and it was 7-0 after two minutes. He later hit a long 3-pointer andsoon it was 26-10.
The Pacific-10 team, ranked No. 1 in the nation for part of the season,started the night pounding the ball inside.
Stanford wound up making 17-of-30 free throws as the Bulldogs ran into foultrouble trying to stop their oversized opponents. South Carolina State tried topack the inside and often left the Cardinal open from the outside - Stanfordshot 13-for-23 on 3-pointers.
David Moseley had 13 points and Jarron Collins and Ryan Mendez each had 10for Stanford.
A day earlier, several of the Stanford students were clustered in aconference room at a local hotel. With the school on the quarter system, it wastime for final exams, and three hours of tests took place before an afternoonpractice.
Wiatre had half of South Carolina State's points at halftime, which endedwith Stanford ahead 47-26. The Cardinal led the country with a 20.2-pointmargin of victory.
The Bulldogs made their third NCAA appearance in five years. They havetypically faced formidable opposition, previously playing Duke, Kentucky andKansas.
South Carolina State's season ended much like it started. In its opener, itfell behind 20-0 in a lopsided loss to Oregon State.