Nov. 15, 2010
STANFORD, Calif. -- Andrew Zimmermann matched his career high with 14 points, Gabriel Harris added 12 and Stanford scored 18 unanswered points in the first half on the way to a 64-48 win over San Diego on Monday night.
Zimmermann, who averaged 4.4 points in 17 starts last year, was 6 of 7 from the floor including a powerful dunk with 12:24 remaining that gave the Cardinal (1-0) a 10-point lead after the Toreros (1-1) made their best run of the game.
Stanford also got a lift from the return of 6-foot-8 forward Josh Owens, who finished with eight points and four rebounds. Expected to be a key component for coach Johnny Dawkins' young squad, Owens missed all of last season with an undisclosed medical condition.
Darian Norris and Devin Ginty scored 10 points apiece for San Diego, which went scoreless for nearly nine minutes in the first half.
The Cardinal shot just 3 of 16 from 3-point range but dominated the smaller Toreros inside with a 40-27 edge in rebounding and led the entire game.
That bodes well for Stanford, which doesn't have a senior on its roster for the first time in school history. The Cardinal has eight freshmen, five of whom scored against San Diego.
It will be Stanford's upperclassmen who will determine how far the team goes, however. Zimmermann and Owens figure to be a key part of that.
The duo scored on back-to-back trips down the floor to spark an 18-0 run in the first half. Harris added five points during the stretch. Zimmermann later scored six straight points for Stanford, which led by 16 at halftime.
San Diego, which beat Occidental 83-66 on Friday, couldn't shake off the rough start.
The Toreros pulled within eight on Chris Manresa's turnaround jumper midway through the second half but went cold again down the stretch, missing nine of their final 10 shots.
This is the second straight season Stanford has opened against San Diego. The Toreros won 77-64 in 2009 but couldn't recover from their early problems in the rematch.
After shooting 58.8 percent from the floor against Occidental, San Diego couldn't come close to that in the first half against Stanford. The Toreros missed 11 straight shots and committed eight turnovers during a nine-minute span, looking very much the team that is picked to finish last in the West Coast Conference this season.
The Cardinal led by as many as 19 in the first half and took a 35-19 lead into the break when Zimmermann tipped in a Jarrett Mann-missed layup at the buzzer.
Norris hit a pair of 3-pointers to start the second half and Manresa later scored on a short turnaround jumper in the key to cut Stanford's lead to 42-34.
Zimmermann answered with a dunk and Anthony Brown added a 3-pointer to turn the Toreros back. Ken Rancifer, who led San Diego in the opener with 14 points while going 5 for 5 from the floor, had two points and four rebounds.
NOTES: Stanford won its first season opener since defeating Yale 75-67 in 2008. The Cardinal is now 78-18 all-time in season openers ... Gabriel Harris poured in a career-high 12 points on 5-6 shooting off the bench. Harris finished with five points in three different games last year ... Jeremy Green was held to single-digits in points for just the sixth time over the last two seasons ... Andrew Zimmermann scored 14 points twice last year, against Oklahoma State (Dec. 16) and James Madison (Dec. 29) ... Stanford finished 13-23 from the foul line compared to San Diego's 8-9 clip ... The Cardinal held a commanding 40-27 rebounding edge ... Stanford forced 20 turnovers ... All six members of Stanford's highly-regarded freshman class received playing time. Dwight Powell started and finished with seven points, four boards and three assists, Anthony Brown added six boards in 20 minutes and Josh Huestis chipped in with three points, two rebounds and two blocks.