Nov. 13, 2012
STANFORD, Calif.- Guards Chasson Randle and Aaron Bright sparked a second half rally that helped energize Stanford. They said it all started on defense.
Randle scored 24 points, Bright added 16 and Stanford beat Cal State Fullerton 81-68 in its home opener Monday night.
Dwight Powell had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Cardinal (2-0), which opened the season with a victory over San Francisco on Friday night.
"We got after them on the defensive end," Randle said. "The guys created turnovers and we turned those into points."
The Titans committed 25 turnovers to Stanford's 15. The Cardinal was 21 of 27 from the foul line (.778). It also helped that Stanford shot just over 55 percent from the field in the second half.
"We were more aggressive offensively and defensively," Bright said. "We got to the line and took advantage of that."
D.J. Seeley and Sammy Yeager scored 16 points each for the Titans, who tipped off their season with assistant coach Julius Hicks at the helm in place of interim coach Andy Newman, who is serving a two-game suspension for secondary NCAA rules violations.
Jared Brandon scored 13 points and Kwame Vaughn 11. Yeager had nine rebounds.
Brandon's jumper just over four minutes into the second half put the Titans ahead 43-39. Stanford came back to tie the game at 48-all with a Powell basket at 13:44 remaining. Bright scored the next five points, all on free throws, to put the Cardinal ahead to stay.
"We just stopped playing together both offensively and defensively," Titans' coach Julius Hicks said. "It started on the defensive end, we weren't helping, we weren't rotating and doing the things that got us the lead in the first half and early in the second half."
Freshman Christian Sanders and Andy Brown combined for 12 points during a run that gave Stanford a double-digit lead with nine minutes remaining. The Cardinal lead grew to 24 points.
"That's where I thought the spark came from," Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. "They gave us energy and made plays."
The Titans led by six points late in the first half, with Seeley, who transferred to Cal State Fullerton from California, scoring 11 of his points.
Gabriel Harris hit a layup with seven seconds left in the half to lift Stanford into a 31-31 tie at intermission.
It was the first ever meeting between the schools. The Titans fell to 7-34 against the Pac-12, though they had split their previous four matchups.
by Rick Eymer, Associated Press
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NOTES: In the season opener, Aaron Bright and Chasson Randle combined for 15 points on 5-17 shooting. On Monday night, the duo combined for 40 points on 13-27 shooting ... The Cardinal forced the Titans into 25 turnovers, the most for an opponent since James Madison committed 26 miscues back on Dec. 29, 2009 ... Chasson Randle notched his fifth career 20-point game, shooting 8-18 from the field and 6-8 from the foul line in 34 minutes ... Dwight Powell registered his third career double-double, finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Through the first two games, Powell has made 14-21 (66.7 percent) from the field and 11-14 (78.6 percent) from the foul line ... Andy Brown racked up a career-high five steals, the most for a Stanford player since Dwight Powell finished with five against Oregon on Jan. 27, 2011 ... Stanford shot only 2-13 from three-point territory ... After shooting 43.6 percent from beyond the arc last year, Aaron Bright is 0-5 from three-point territory through the first two games ... Stanford is 69-19 over its last 88 home games dating back to the start of the 2007-08 campaign ... Monday's contest marked the first Pac-12 Networks telecast in Maples Pavilion.
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QUOTES
Head Coach Johnny Dawkins
On wearing Cal State Fullerton down...
"I thought it was a combination of our speed and size. I thought our guys did a good job defensively in the first half. We tried to make them take some difficult shots. They made some tough shots, they have some very good guards and it showed. I thought really the spark came from Andy [Brown] and Christian [Sanders]. I thought those two guys, when we inserted them into the game, they gave us energy, they both made plays, and they kind of made our run when those two kids started to really insert themselves into the game."
On his team's 21-for-27 free-throw shooting...
"Guys were shooting free throws. I was glad to see we got to the line 27 times. That's something we try to work on. The guys got there and they were able to capitalize, so that was good to see as well."
On getting production from different sources...
"Well, our strength is still in the junior class, the kids that have been with me for three years. With their experience and their time, they kind of have the feel. They've been stepping up. Dwight has been playing well, of course, and I'm glad to see he's healthy. And you know, we've got to find ways to get him more shots. But I think that's where our strength is. I thought Aaron did a good job in the second half, setting the tone, penetrating and making plays, and that kind of freed us up, opened the basket up a little as well."
Junior Aaron Bright
On pulling away in the second half...
"I think it was us just attacking. I think we got to the line 27 times, what coach said, and we were very aggressive both on the offensive end and the defensive end. So we came out with more of the mindset of attack in the second half, which we should have had in the first half. That got them in the bonus pretty quick and we were able to capitalize."
On getting production from different sources...
"I think we have guys who should be able to play consistently throughout the year, and I think nights like Dwight had the other night could be normal. Him putting up 20 points, Chasson putting up 20-plus points, I think we have guys who are able to play like that consistently throughout the year."
Sophomore Chasson Randle
On pulling away in the second half...
"I think it was on the defensive end. Guys like Andy Brown, Christian Sanders, they did their job on and off the ball, getting their hands on balls and creating turnovers. We turned those into points. Guys did a great job coming off the bench and even the guys who started did a great job tonight."
Cal State Fullerton interim head coach Julius Hicks
On when the momentum changed in second half...
"We just stopped playing together both offensively and defensively. It started on the defensive end, we weren't helping, we weren't rotating and doing the things that got us the lead in the first half and early in the second half. Offensively, we stopped sharing the ball -- we stopped passing to each other, stopped making plays for each other. With us, we have a really fine line -- when we do things the right way, we are very talented, very explosive, very hard to guard. When we don't do things the right way, our weaknesses become very glaring and guys can take advantage of us."
On stopping Stanford...
"Teams are going to make runs, it's a long game. We didn't expect to have success the entire game. They're a good team and well-coached, so they're going to go on runs. It's part of the game. Where we got in trouble was when we just didn't play together. We have a very thin margin for error. We had a lot of room for improvement in the first half, but we were fortunate to come out of it tied."