Feb 14, 2002
Seattle, WA - Casey Jacobsen talked little about himself or Washington's Doug Wrenn, the player chasing the Stanford star for the Pac-10 scoring title.
"I could care less about the points he scored when all we need is every single win," Jacobsen said. "We just needed to beat Washington."
The 12th-ranked Cardinal did it behind another brilliant outing from Jacobsen, who scored 31 points in a 91-65 victory over the struggling Huskies on Thursday night.
Jacobsen has topped the 40-point mark twice this month, getting 49 against Arizona State - one point off the school record - and 41 against Oregon two games later.
This time, he outshined Wrenn, who had 24 points on 9-of-23 shooting.
Jacobsen was 4-of-8 from 3-point range and 9-of-10 from the free throw line and added three rebounds and two assists.
"I always take these matchups as a personal challenge, as does he," Jacobsen said.
Wrenn, who had scored 30 or more points in four of his last five games, finished with 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. He was the only player in double figures in points or rebounds for Washington (8-16, 2-12), which has lost five straight and eight of nine.
"He's a great player, an All-American," Wrenn said of Jacobsen. "I want to get to his status one day so I can get some of those calls (from the referees)."
This game was a far cry from Stanford's 105-60 rout of Washington on Jan. 19 at Maples Pavilion, the Huskies' third-worst defeat in school history.
Washington began the second half with an 8-3 spurt to pull within 45-41 with 16:05 left before Stanford (16-6, 9-4) responded with an 11-2 run. Washington never came closer than 10 points again.
"We lacked energy, particularly early in the game," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said. "We had a chance to go up by a lot but we didn't get it done because we missed a lot of easy shots."
The Cardinal shot 43.8 percent (28-of-64), including 41.4 percent in the second half, and made 8-of-18 3-pointers.
Curtis Borchardt, a 7-foot, 240-pound center from nearby Redmond, Wash., added 15 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks for Stanford, but he was held without a field goal from four minutes into the game until about six minutes were left.
"We kind of let up at the start of the second half," Borchardt said. "Against a better team or in a closer game, that type of letup could come back to bite us."
Washington is in ninth place in the Pac-10 and must move up a spot and pass Oregon State to qualify for the conference tournament. Coach Bob Bender's job security is uncertain as the team has a chance for its third consecutive 20-loss season.
Borchardt and Jacobsen scored Stanford's first 15 points and the Cardinal held the Huskies without a rebound until Wrenn pulled one down at 13:17.
Stanford got many second and third opportunities on offense and took an 11-0 lead on the boards. The Cardinal finished with a 48-32 rebounding advantage and had outrebounded the Huskies 19-2 midway through the first half. Stanford led 42-33 at halftime after Washington finished the half with an 11-6 run.
"We never looked like we were even going to have the chance for a rebound on our end," Bender said. "What they did giving themselves second chances certainly was a big factor."
By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer