Dec. 20, 2011
STANFORD, Calif.- Now that he's healthy Anthony Brown has raised his production value for Stanford. That's good news for a team on the cusp of being nationally ranked.
Brown scored a season-high 16 points to help Stanford win its fifth straight game Monday, 75-56 over Bethune-Cookman.
"My right knee had been bothering me early in the season," Brown said. "I'm feeling good now."
Brown has reached double figures in scoring in three of his last four games after reaching double digits twice in his first seven.
"He's playing more instinctive," Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins said. "He has been battling injuries, really, since last spring. As he gets better, he's getting better results and he'll continue to progress."
Brown, who played with the United States Under-19 national team over the summer, recorded 15 double-digit scoring games last year.
Josh Owens added 11 points and a game-high seven rebounds for the Cardinal (10-1), which improved to 7-0 at home ahead of Thursday's contest against Butler, which has reached the NCAA championship game in each of the past two seasons.
Adrien Coleman scored 14 points to lead the Wildcats (3-9), who lost their fourth straight and sixth of seven overall. Stanley Elliott added 13 points.
Bethune-Cookman, in the middle of a nine-game road trip, played without leading scorer Anthony Breeze, who sustained a knee injury in Saturday's 77-52 loss at Saint Mary's. The Wildcats, who played in the NIT last year, fell to 0-8 on the road and were outrebounded for the seventh consecutive game.
"It was a combination of us wearing down, because I had four guys who had played 37 minutes, and then they turned up the pressure because they realized 'Well, OK, we've got to tighten up,'" Wildcats head coach Gravelle Craig said. "They got focused and really aggressive and we were wearing down."
The Cardinal led by as many as 23 points in the second half after taking a 33-22 lead into halftime.
Gabriel Harris was called for a technical foul when he hung on the rim after a missed slam with 11:48 remaining to play. Kevin Dukes made both foul shots and Marc Mack followed with an inside basket as the Wildcats pulled within 46-40 nine seconds later.
Chasson Randle scored the next five points and Aaron Bright hit a 3-pointer to help Stanford regain a double-digit lead and spark a 17-3 run over the next six minutes.
Stanford ranks second in the Pac-12 and 15th in the nation in scoring defense at 56.1.
by Rick Eymer, Associated Press
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QUOTES
Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins
Opening Statement...
"I give Bethune-Cookman a lot of credit, coming in depleted on their roster, based on some injuries that had happened to their players. For 40 minutes they kept competing, kept coming back and made it difficult for us at times. They're so active, so quick and our guys really had to make some adjustments to that, especially in the second half."
On Anthony Brown's improvements...
"Anthony's been battling injuries all season; really since last spring. I think he's starting to feel better. I think with that he's starting to see better results on the court."
On Thursday's opponent, Butler...
"Butler has a great tradition. I haven't watched Butler play this year, but coming off back-to-back national championship runner-up opportunities, you know they're a terrific team. They have a terrific coach and we're going to have to prepare very well for them. In playing them last year, I thought they were a real experienced team, a team that knew how to win, and they played that way."
Bethune-Cookman head coach Gravelle Craig
On leading scorer Anthony Breeze sitting the game out...
"He's got a sprained ankle. I wanted him to be ready to go in Vegas on Thursday (against Texas A&M) and Friday. I didn't want him to play in this game and re-injure it or re-aggravate it."
On the team closing to within six points (46-40) with 11:39 left in the second half but giving u p a 17-3 scoring run thereafter...
"It was a combination of us wearing down, because I had four guys who had played 37 minutes, and then they turned up the pressure because they realized 'Well, OK, we've got to tighten up.' So it was a combination of things. They got focused and really aggressive and we were wearing down."
"Stanford usually plays a lot of man (defense), we knew a couple of their sets. We knew they were going to throw it inside to 13 (Josh Owens). We just tried to double them a little bit and keep them off-balance with the 3-2 and 2-3, I thought we did a pretty good job."