March 17, 2001
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SAN DIEGO - Whew! And wow!
The top-seeded Stanford Cardinal proved they can win a second-round NCAAtournament game, surviving a 90-83 thriller against No. 9 St. Joseph's and itsphenomenal guard tandem Saturday night.
The Cardinal had their hearts in their throats in the closing minutes,afraid they might get bounced out in the second round for the third straightyear.
"I'm relieved," coach Mike Montgomery said after catching his breath. "Ifeel a lot of emotion, because I thought we deserved to keep playing."
Stanford can qualify for its second Final Four in four seasons withouthaving to leave the California. It advances to face fifth-seeded Cincinnati inthe West Regional semifinals on Thursday in Anaheim. Cincinnati beat No. 13Kent State 66-43.
Even as they celebrated, the Cardinal marveled at the team that almost sentthem away for the year.
"We took a pretty good shot there from a very good St. Joseph's team. Theywere superb," Montgomery said. "We had to really work to get a win. It's agreat win."
Stanford made all 10 of its free throws in the final 45.1 seconds, six bysenior forward Jarron Collins and four by senior swingman Ryan Mendez, thenation's best free-throw shooter.
Hawks junior guard Marvin O'Connor tied his career high with 37 points,including five 3-point shots, before fouling out with 11.9 seconds left. He gota rousing ovation from the Cox Arena crowd - even the Stanford fans stood andcheered. St. Joe's backers chanted "Mar-vin! Mar-vin!"
O'Connor's clutch 3-pointers helped bring the Hawks back from a 10-pointdeficit with 15:52 left, but they went 1:20 without scoring while Stanfordpadded its lead at the line, and they committed some crucial turnovers in theclosing seconds.
"I'd never heard of him before we drew St. Joseph's," said StanfordAll-American swingman Casey Jacobsen. "That was the most amazing performanceof anyone I've guarded. I worked my butt off out there to try to be where hewas.
"When a guy gets that hot, it's hard to shut him off."
St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli said it was "the hardest dressing room thatI've ever been in. There was a lot of raw emotion in there. They were sad.
"College basketball was served well tonight," Martelli said. "That was ashining example of what college basketball is supposed to be."
O'Connor, who scored 18 points in the closing minute of a 91-90 loss to LaSalle this season, said he thought the Cardinal might be tightening up as theHawks made their run.
"But down the stretch, they showed their maturity. They are a great team."
Jason Collins scored 22 points and Jacobsen 21 for Stanford (30-2), whichtied the school record for victories in a season.
St. Joe's other guard, freshman Jameer Nelson, added 14 points, ninerebounds and nine assists as the Hawks finished 26-7.
Stanford matched the school record for wins set by the 1997-98 team, whichfinished 30-5 after reaching the Final Four.
It was after that Final Four - the school's first since winning the nationaltitle in 1942 - that its second-round problems began. First came an upset lossto Gonzaga, then a loss to North Carolina last year, when Stanford was the No.1 seed in the South.
"To get past it, it takes a huge burden off our chest," Jacobsen said.
Still, the Hawks of the Atlantic 10 Conference almost sent the three-timePacific-10 champions home early again.
O'Connor made three 3-pointers to key an 18-7 run that gave the Hawks theirfirst lead of the game, 59-58. His 3 from the right corner with 10:42 to playpulled the Hawks within a point and sent the players on the bench leaping intothe air and their fans into a frenzy.
Alexandre Sazonov made a layup the next time down the floor for the 59-58lead.
O'Connor made two more shots, one a 3-pointer, and Damian Reid converted athree-point play for the Hawks' biggest lead, 67-62 with 8:25 left.
But Stanford came back behind seven points from Jason Collins, and soon itwas the Cardinal doing the celebrating after a steal and fast-break stuff byJulius Barnes gave them an 80-76 lead with 2:34 to play.
As a timeout was called, Barnes' teammates mobbed him near halfcourt.
"We fought, we battled, we lost a lead and we brought it back," Stanfordguard Michael McDonald said.
By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer