Dec. 14, 2009
STANFORD, Calif.- Jack Trotter and Jeremy Green were able to make every practice during Stanford's two-week finals break. It showed on the court.
Green scored 16 points, Trotter recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds and Stanford ended its two-week layoff with an 85-69 victory over UC Davis on Sunday night.
"The exams and study groups took priority over the break and we understood that some players had to leave early or miss practice," Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins said. "We didn't have all the players at the same time so at times it looked like we were off for two weeks."
Green, who played a team-high 32 minutes, and Trotter, who posted career high totals in points and rebounds, were able to work their finals around practice.
"You can see the growth in some of our guys," Dawkins said. "Trotter gave us a lift."
Landry Fields scored 21 points for the Cardinal (5-3), who won its first game since Nov. 29.
Andrew Zimmermann scored a career-best 11 points, and Jarrett Mann added 10.
Fields, who is among the nation's top 10 scorers, reached double figures for the eighth time and surpassed the 20-point mark for the seventh time.
Trotter, a 6-9 sophomore center, averaged 6.3 minutes a game last year and made his first career start in this year's opener. He never scored more than five points or had more than four rebounds in a game until this year.
"I prepared all offseason for this," Trotter said. "It's six months of getting ready. I was focusing on aggressiveness because the opportunities will be there to produce."
Without returning starter Josh Owens, out with an undisclosed medical condition, Trotter is expected to take a bigger role.
Green said he just needed to get used to the speed of the game again.
"I wasn't too far off because the practices have been pretty intense," he said. "But you always have to get used to the speed."
Mark Payne scored 21 points to lead the Aggies (3-6), who lost their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Ryan Sypkens added a season best 16 points, and Dominic Calegari had 13.
Payne scored at least 21 points for the third straight game. The 6-8 junior guard has a career best 22, which he achieved in the Aggies' loss to Seattle eight days ago.
The Cardinal improved to 14-1 against UC Davis all-time, and have won four of five home games.
All five Stanford starters scored in the game's first six minutes as the Cardinal opened with 14 unanswered points. The Aggies exacerbated matters by turning the ball over six times in the first four minutes and going the first six minutes without a field goal.
The Cardinal took advantage of the Aggies' sloppy ballhandling by scoring 21 points off turnovers in the first half. Stanford also shot 54.5 percent from the field while limiting UC Davis to 31.8 percent.
The Aggies played their second game without 6-8 junior Joe Harden, the team's leading rebounder and one of their top scorers, who has a high ankle sprain.
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NOTES: Stanford returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 16, against Oklahoma State (8-1) at 8 p.m. The matchup is part of the 2009 Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series and will be televised nationally on Fox Sports Net ... Stanford shot at least 50 percent for the second straight game and third time this season ... Landry Fields has scored at least 20 points in seven of Stanford's eight games so far. He is averaging 23.0 points and 8.4 rebounds per game and has finished as the game's leading scorer six times in 2009 ... With another five handouts tonight, Jarrett Mann has dished out at least five assists in all but one game this year ... Stanford's opponents have totaled more turnovers than assists in every game this season. On Sunday night, UC Davis committed 16 turnovers while handing out 13 assists ... After shooting 31.8 percent in the first half, UC Davis made 48.4 percent in the second half ... Drew Shiller is now 18-34 from beyond the arc (52.9 percent) after knocking down 2-3 attempts against the Aggies.