Feb. 22, 2001
Box Score|QuotesBy ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Sports Writer
STANFORD, Calif. - Trailing by eight points to Washington State, No. 1Stanford had a "little discussion" at halftime, coach Mike Montgomery said.
The players said it was a bit more dramatic.
"Well, we got yelled at. Coach is not one to swear and curse at us,"forward Justin Davis said. "Nobody likes to get yelled at. It was a goodmotivator."
Stanford went on to beat the Cougars 75-64 Thursday night. Casey Jacobsenscored 21 points for the Cardinal (24-1, 12-1 Pac-10), who returned to No. 1this week after North Carolina lost to Clemson.
Washington State (11-13, 4-10) was without top scorer Mike Bush, whosprained his ankle in practice Tuesday. Jerry McNair made up for it, scoring acareer-high 29 points for the scrappy Cougars, who came out fast but faded downthe stretch.
Trailing 33-25 at the half, the Cardinal were re-energized to open the second half, quickly closingthe gap to 35-34 on Ryan Mendez's jumper with 17:24 left.
Stanford took a 37-35 lead on Jason Collins' layup and foul shot. McNairbriefly tied it for Washington State before Stanford started to pull away.
The Cardinal built a 55-45 lead on Davis' jumper with 8:58 left, but thedetermined Cougars still fought back, coming as close as 58-56 on McNair's3-pointer. Mendez answered with a 3-pointer for Stanford and it never got thatclose again.
The halftime "discussion" worked.
Stanford, which shot just 35 percent from the floor in the first half,improved their shooting to 65 percent in the second. The Cardinal have won 10straight games over Washington State.
Cougars coach Paul Graham said he told his young players not to beintimidated.
"I was very proud of the way we stayed with them and played themstraight-up throughout the game," he said.
Montgomery suggested that his players probably weren't intimidated enough.
"I don't think our guys thought that Washington State could beat them,"the coach said. "Boy, they were dead wrong."
Washington State took a 20-12 lead midway through the first half on DavidAdams' jumper, capping a 10-0 run. Stanford did not score for nearly fiveminutes during the stretch.
The Cardinal closed to within 20-18 on Jacobsen's running layup, but theCougars outhustled their top-ranked opponent in the final minutes, ultimatelygoing up 33-25 on McNair's 3-pointer with 31 seconds left in the first half.
With five games left, Stanford is atop the Pac-10, but UCLA and Arizona arekeeping the race for the title tight. The Cardinal are seeking theirthird-straight conference championship - something they haven't done since1936-38 with the Pacific Coast Conference.
Stanford's only loss this season came against UCLA, which trails theCardinal by one game. Stanford plays the Bruins again next week in Los Angeles.
The Cardinal were well rested, having played just one game over the past 12days. They beat local rival California 88-56 last Saturday.
The Cougars have never beaten a No. 1 team.