Feb. 10, 2001
By LANDON HALL
AP Sports Writer
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Battered but still standing, second-ranked Stanfordsurvived a grueling trip through Oregon, even if it failed to make the kind ofemphatic statement it was looking for.
Jason Collins scored 21 points as the Cardinal struggled for the secondstraight game but pulled away to beat Oregon State 82-63 on Saturday night.
"Everybody seems to be giving us their best shot," Stanford coach MikeMontgomery said. "Oregon State really made every shot. It frustrated us alittle bit."
Stanford (22-1, 10-1 Pac-10) led 58-54 with 9:48 left, but went on a 19-4run to turn back the overmatched Beavers (8-15, 2-9).
Jimmie Haywood scored a career-high 20 points to lead Oregon State, whichhad just seven players because of injuries and suspensions. The Beavers stillshot 52 percent, the highest any team has shot against Stanford this season.
The Cardinal hit four straight 3-pointers - one by Michael McDonald, two byTeyo Johnson and the last by Casey Jacobsen - during the run. A breakaway slamby Collins ended the spurt and gave Stanford a 77-58 lead with 3:33 remaining.
"We knew that if we just kept going at them, we should be able to wear themdown," Collins said. "That didn't happen until the very end of the game."
Jacobsen and Mendez each added 18 points for Stanford, which was coming offa narrow 69-62 win at Oregon on Thursday night, in which the Cardinal trailedby seven with just over six minutes left.
Stanford had won its first six conference games by an average of 21.8points, but the team has looked vulnerable in the last five. The Cardinal waspushed hard by Washington State and Southern Cal, then UCLA ruined Stanford's20-0 record with a win at Maples Pavilion last week.
Mendez said being the top team in the league has its perils.
"We're going to get teams' best shot every single night, one through 10 inthe conference," he said. "Lately we've been putting teams away at theseven-minute mark in the second half, and we can't do that if we want to beleaders of the conference."
The Cardinal didn't exactly play terribly: It shot 60 percent andoutrebounded the Beavers 30-17. It also had a big edge at the free-throw linefor the second straight game.
After making just 21 of 37 against Oregon, Stanford was 14-of-20. OregonState got to the line just five times, making three free throws. Oregon wasjust 3-of-7.
Oregon State coach Ritchie McKay said Stanford had too much depth.
"You really don't know what to take away," he said.
Brian Jackson and Jason Heide, who combined to play all but two minutesagainst Cal, each had 13 points for the Beavers. Adam Masten had seven assistsplaying out of position at point guard for Deaundra Tanner, who served thesecond of a two-game suspension for violating unspecified team rules.
Haywood had just five points at halftime, but scored 10 of the Beavers'first 16 of the second half. His 3-pointer brought Oregon State within 51-50with 12 1/2 minutes to go, but the Beavers didn't get that close again.
Both teams picked their moments in the first half, turning the ball overjust five times and passing the ball until a man came open. Stanford shot 59percent in the first 20 minutes. But the Beavers, who pushed Cal to overtimebefore losing 72-69 loss Thursday night, were right there at 58 percent.
Stanford won by 24 points when the teams first met on Jan. 8, but theCardinal trailed 8-1 after the first eight minutes. This time scoring wasn't aproblem for the Cardinal, but defense was.
Trailing 13-5, Oregon State made four 3-pointers in the next 4 1/2 minutes andgot within 23-22. The Cardinal then ran off 10 straight points before OregonState answered with a 12-4 run.
Mendez, who had 11 points in the half, made two free throws to give Stanforda 39-34 halftime lead.