Feb 16, 2002
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) - Stanford's trip to Washington couldn't have gone anybetter.
Curtis Borchardt had 19 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks, and No. 12Stanford used an early second-half run to coast to a 76-63 victory Saturdayover Washington State.
Casey Jacobsen added 24 points for the Cardinal (17-6, 10-4 Pac-10), whichcompleted a perfect road swing against the conference's bottom two teams andmoved into first place in the Pac-10.
"It's been a while since we swept a Pac-10 road trip," Borchardt said."Road games are always tough in the Pac-10."
Coupled with Arizona's loss to Southern California, Stanford - which beatWashington on Thursday - moved past the Wildcats into a tie atop theconference.
"We got what we wanted, a win and a sweep and to go home in first place,"Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said.
Neither game was easy from the start.
The Cardinal used an 11-2 run Thursday in the first four minutes of thesecond half to pull away from Washington.
Against the last-place Cougars, Stanford only led 37-34 at halftime butopened the second half with a 17-5 run.
"We didn't come out as flat in the second half, and that's when we tookcontrol," Jacobsen said. "The game was a little tougher than we expected, butWSU has some players capable of putting up some numbers."
Marcus Moore did just that, leading all scorers with 29 points. Moore was4-of-7 from 3-point range with 18 points in the first half for the Cougars(5-18, 1-14), who jumped out to a a 13-3 lead.
But Stanford stayed close, using a 20-16 rebounding advantage, and took itsfirst lead at 24-21 on a 3-pointer by Julius Barnes with 8:17 remaining in thefirst half.
The Cardinal used the big run to pull away to a 54-39 advantage. Stanfordheld Washington State to 1-of-6 shooting during the spurt, and parlayed thatinto its 12th straight victory in the series.
"We had a fairly comfortable margin in the second half once we started toget moving," Montgomery said. "We were in pretty good shape. We weren't inpeak mental capacity tonight, but Washington State played hard."
The loss was the 15th in 16 games for the Cougars.
"I thought we played the right style, playing it slow," Washington Statecoach Paul Graham said. "The second half they came out and accentuated theirstrengths and pounded it in to Jacobsen and Borchardt."
Jacobsen had 13 points in the second half, and Borchardt added 10.
Washington State closed within 71-61 on Moore's jumper with 2:54 remaining,but Barnes answered with a 3-point shot on Stanford's ensuing possession to endthe Cougars' final threat.