Dec. 31, 2004
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - Jeff Varem scored all 18 of his points in the secondhalf Friday night to lead Washington State past Stanford 60-51 in thePacific-10 conference opener for both teams.
Thomas Kelati added 17 points for the Cougars. Washington State had lost 17in a row to the Cardinal since winning on Feb. 22, 1996, at Stanford.
Dan Grunfield's 18 points led Stanford, the two-time defending Pac-10champion. Stanford was ranked No. 1 last season when it won 63-61 at WashingtonState on a desperation 3-pointer at the final buzzer.
Washington State (6-4) led Stanford (6-5) 18-15 at the end of a sluggishfirst half. After halftime, the outside shooting of Kelati and the inside playof Varem sparked the Cougars.
One of the lowest-scoring teams in the country, the Cougars came up one shyof their season high for points and held Stanford to its season low. WashingtonState shot a season-high 45 percent from the field, compared to 39 percent forthe Cardinal.
The Cougars led by 10 or more points for much of the second half.
Varem finished with a game-high 12 rebounds, and Derrick Low and ChrisSchlatter each scored 10 points for WSU. Grunfield was the only Stanford playerto score in double figures.
Washington State forced just nine turnovers, but the Cougars had only two oftheir own in the second half after being charged with 12 in the first half. WSUoutrebounded the much bigger Cardinal 35-29 and sent Stanford to the free-throwline just four times.