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STANFORD, Calif.- Freshman Anthony Brown celebrated his first career start the best way he knew: by scoring a lot of points.
Brown scored a career-high 21 points, helping Stanford avoid its longest losing streak in 18 years in beating Oregon State 70-56 on Saturday night.
Josh Owens added 14 points for the Cardinal (11-9, 4-5 Pac-10), which ended a four-game losing streak, matching its longest slide since a five-game streak in 1993.
"It's been a long time since we've gotten a win," Brown said. "I wanted to be the spark plug. I wanted to get the team going from the get-go. It was a lot of fun."
Freshman Ahmad Starks scored a season-high 17 points to lead the Beavers (8-12, 3-6), who lost their sixth straight road game. Jared Cunningham, Oregon State's leading scorer, was held to a season-low one point before fouling out.
"This is one of the best games we've had in regards to making connecting plays," Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins said. "Anthony gave us a big lift starting the game off for us. He's earned a second start."
Stanford blew an early 11-point advantage but was able to build on its slim halftime lead to win going away.
"It looked like because we were missing so many point blank shots they were getting runouts," Oregon State coach Craig Robinson said. "We were trying to hit the boards and were pressing to make those shots and that led to easy stuff up the court."
Jeremy Green, limited to six points, hit a jumper with 5:27 remaining to play to give the Cardinal a 60-50 lead. Green has been held to single digit scoring in five of his 20 games.
"It's good to see that we're a team," Dawkins said. "Jeremy has been getting a lot of attention from other teams and that's a testament to what he did last year. He'll be just fine."
Stanford led at halftime 31-30.
Oregon State, which leads the nation in steals, nearly matched their season average with 10 against Stanford. The Beavers entered play averaging 10.32 per contest.
Brown was 13-of-27 from long range over his last five games before missing the last four he attempted.
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Head coach Johnny Dawkins:
Opening statement:
"I was just really proud of our guys' effort. I thought it was one of the best games we've had in regards to making connecting plays."
On the play of Jarrett Mann:
"We had 13 turnovers in the first half, but only six in the second, and I think that has a lot to do with Jarrett taking command. I'm really proud of Jarrett, every assignment on the perimeter--he takes it, he looks forward to it."
On the play of Anthony Brown:
"Anthony had earned an opportunity to get out and compete. He stuffed the statsheet tonight. He's earned a second start."
On Oregon State:
"They play two different zones, a matchup and a 1-3-1. I have three to four freshmen out there at a time, guys that have never seen that defense before, and it takes some getting used to."
Freshman Anthony Brown
Opening statement:
"It was great just to get the W. I just wanted to be the spark plug. I wanted to get this team going. It was very fun. I think our team is really starting to get some chemistry."