March 2, 2002
Tempe, Ariz. - Even in a so-so game by his standards, Casey Jacobsenwas there for Stanford down the stretch.
"I don't care if I've missed 10 in a row or I've made 10 in a row, I wantthe ball at the end," said Jacobsen, who scored 19 of his 29 points in thesecond half as the 17th-ranked Cardinal finished the regular season with a roadsweep, beating Arizona State 81-76 Saturday night.
"At the end of the game I have more confidence in my shot, because that'swhen my team needs me."
Curtis Borchardt had 19 points and 17 rebounds, leading Stanford to a 49-31rebounding edge that proved critical, and Julius Barnes added 16 points.
"They're a physical team to begin with," Borchardt said. "They play a lotof guys, so they don't worry about fouling. On top of that, it was seniornight, and for some of their guys it was the last game, and they wanted to sendthem out with a win. They came out pretty strong."
The Cardinal (19-8, 12-6 Pac-10) won their second straight and sixth ineight. Stanford snapped a two-game skid by beating No. 14 Arizona 76-71 onThursday night and wound up beating the Sun Devils (14-13, 7-11) for the ninthconsecutive time.
"This is not an easy place to play and get a win," Stanford coach MikeMontgomery said. "ASU is real quick and they overplay everything. Our guyskept together. Casey was real good and understood this. Curtis was hugerebounding for us. He just got everything."
Chad Prewitt had 14 of his 18 points in the second half for Arizona State,which finished the regular season by facing five ranked teams in a row, themost in school history. The Sun Devils were 1-4 during the stretch, beatingonly UCLA on Feb. 16.
Curtis Millage and Awvee Storey each scored 15 points, while Tommy Smith had12.
Jacobsen didn't have a field goal until 3:18 was left in the first half andwas 7-of-16 from the field. But he made four of seven shots in the second halfand was 14-of-18 at the free throw line. The Cardinals were 32-of-39 overallfrom the line.
"Many, many, many games come down to free throws, especially when you'replaying a team that is as good as you are," Jacobsen said. "It comes down towho executes down the stretch."
Arizona State made up a five-point deficit early the second half, taking a47-46 lead on two free throws by Smith with 12:47 left.
But Joe Kirchofer scored on a putback for the Cardinal 49 seconds later,Arizona State's James Braxton missed a free throw and Jacobsen made two at theother end with 11:37 to play, opening a 50-47 lead that Stanford held until theend.
It was the start of a 12-point splurge over the next 4{ minutes by Jacobsen,who capped it with a 3-pointer that gave the Cardinal a 64-55 lead with 7:07remaining.
"This was just another game that we needed to win, and we weren't able todo that," Storey said. "It's very frustrating, because we know what we can dorebounding-wise and free throw-wise, and that can't be the time for us tofold."
In the final minutes, Arizona State pulled within 67-65 on a 3-pointer byKenny Crandall, who spent most of the game on the bench with a sore right foot.
But Josh Childress made a key follow shot with 1:45 to go, and Stanford made12 of 14 free throws over the final 2:41. The Sun Devils, 20-of-36 for thegame, went 4-of-8 over the same span.
"I thought our guys battled pretty hard, but we didn't make plays when wehad to make plays," Arizona State coach Rob Evans said. "We had a chance downtwo, we had to come up with a rebound, and we couldn't."
The Sun Devils led most of the first half, but never by double digits.
They took a 26-18 lead on two free throws by Millage with 5:34 remaining.
But Jacobsen had seven points and Barnes made two 3-pointers as the Cardinaloutscored Arizona State 19-6 for a 37-32 halftime lead.
By MEL REISNER
AP Sports Writer