Jan. 9, 2010
STANFORD, Calif. (AP)- Jeremy Green is so beat up he has regularly been held out of practice one day a week. There's his troublesome left ankle, the bone bruise in shooting hand and a recently pulled muscle on the left side of his back.
Somehow, Green finds a way to block all of that out once the ball goes up on game day. The anti-inflammatories help a tad, too.
Green scored 17 of his career-high 30 points in the first half, Landry Fields added 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals Stanford pulled off an impressive sweep of the Los Angeles schools this week with a 70-59 victory over UCLA on Saturday.
"My Adrenaline's flowing and I'm just caught up in the game and trying to compete," Green said. "It was a good game. My teammates found me when I was open."
Jack Trotter added 10 points and Jarrett Mann dished out a career high-matching eight assists as Stanford (8-7, 2-1 Pac-10) snapped a six-game losing streak in the series.
Nikola Dragovic scored 13 points and Michael Roll had 12 for sloppy UCLA, which greatly hurt its chances with 23 turnovers. The Bruins came in averaging 15.3 turnovers per game.
"Far too many," head coach Ben Howland said. "Not only were we losing possessions, but they were leading to easy baskets for the other team. We had 17 against Cal on Wednesday. 40 turnovers on one trip is unacceptable."
Tyler Honeycutt grabbed eight rebounds for the Bruins (7-9, 2-2), who held a 30-25 advantage on the boards. They boast four players averaging double digits in scoring but couldn't make enough key plays in crunch time despite shooting 54.8 percent on Saturday.
The Cardinal shocked USC 54-53 on Wednesday night to bounce back from a 92-66 defeat to rival California to open conference play on Jan. 2.
Stanford sure is playing well considering the Cardinal were picked to finish last in the Pac-10 in coach Johnny Dawkins' second season on The Farm. Each time UCLA threatened, Stanford found an answer and made a big shot or defensive stop.
Dawkins' knows his team might have surprised some skeptics with these two wins over USC and UCLA.
"I think probably so," he said. "I think people probably looked at us and wondered if we're capable of winning two games like that. Our kids showed we are."
James Keefe hit a 3-pointer with 9:20 left to pull UCLA within 51-50, then Green knocked down a jumper moments later on the other end. The teams traded baskets for much of the rest of the game.
Green shot 11-for-18 and matched his season high with five 3-pointers and Stanford shot 47.2 percent from the field overall.
"Green just couldn't miss anything out there tonight," Roll said. "It wasn't a matter of us not locating him. We knew where he was. He just hit everything he threw up there."
Aside from the injuries, Green missed time on a suspension during the preseason after being arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence.
He appears to have put that behind him, and so have his teammates.
"That was just a huge performance by a great player. He's come into his own," Trotter said. "Any game he plays in he's going to be one of our go-to guys."
UCLA had won eight of nine in the series and two in a row at Maples Pavilion, capturing a 76-71 win on Feb. 26, 2009. The Cardinal's last win in the series came on Jan. 28, 2007, when they rallied from 17 points down to win at Maples.
"They've been alert in making plays and putting themselves in position to do those things," Dawkins said. "It's a process. Our kids are learning and they're improving. We just have to keep working."
UCLA, which won the Pac-10 title for three straight seasons from 2006-08 and reached three Final Fours in a row, was picked third in the conference this season behind California and No. 24 Washington in the preseason poll. And the Bruins had some momentum coming to Maples having won four of five. That included a thrilling 76-75 overtime victory at Cal on Wednesday in Berkeley.
Stanford forced the Bruins into committing 12 turnovers in the first half but 56.5-percent shooting kept them within 34-33 at the break. Roll knocked down a 3-pointer with 8 seconds before halftime, then Green banked in a 3 of his own on the other end just before the halftime buzzer.
"When it left my hands I kind of felt like it was going in, not off the glass, but I did feel it was a big momentum swing," Green said. "We always feel we're capable of playing good basketball and can play with anybody on any given night. This is early in the season and we have to keep going with it."
Fields, who came in averaging a team-leading 22.5 points per game, had struggled from the floor the past two games, going 14-for-38. He was held without a second-half field goal against USC and shot 0-for-5 from 3-point range in the Cal game. He made good shot choices against UCLA and finished 7-for-16.
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NOTES: Stanford swept its first two-game Pac-10 homestand since defeating the Washington schools back in February/March of 2008 ... This was Stanford's first win over UCLA since rallying from a 17-point deficit for a 75-68 victory at Maples Pavilion back on Jan. 28, 2007 ... Jeremy Green became the first Stanford player to score 30 points in a game since Brook Lopez poured in 30 against Marquette back on Mar. 22, 2008 ,in the second round of the NCAA Tournament ... Jack Trotter added 10 points, representing the fifth time this year he has scored in double-figures ... Stanford is 37-7 in its last 44 home games dating back to the start of 2007-08 ... UCLA was forced into 23 turnovers, signaling the third time this year Stanford's opponent has committed at least 20 miscues ... UCLA held a 12-0 edge in bench scoring ... Stanford's largest lead was 13 points, at 70-57 with 59 seconds remaining in the contest ... All five Stanford starters played at least 30 minutes ... 10 of Stanford's 25 rebounds came on the offensive glass ... Both teams came up with 10 steals.