Jan. 27, 2013
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Stanford looked like a different team in every phase of the game than the one that suffered an embarrassing loss Thursday at Colorado.
It meant bad news for Utah. The Cardinal attacked the glass, clogged the passing lanes and drilled one basket after another for 40 minutes.
When it was all over, Stanford secured its first Pac-12 road victory of the season by routing Utah 87-56 on Sunday night.
"We wanted to throw the first punch," sophomore guard Chasson Randle said. "We didn't do that in Colorado and we suffered the consequences."
After Thursday's 75-54 loss at Colorado, the Cardinal wasted little time sending Utah to the canvas.
John Gage made all four of his 3-point attempts and scored a career-high 19 points to lead the offense.
Randle added 17 points and eight rebounds while Josh Huestis chipped in 13 points and seven boards for the Cardinal (12-8, 3-4), which handed the Utes their most lopsided loss of the season.
Justin Seymour scored 12 points for Utah (9-11, 1-7) and was the lone Ute player to score in double figures. The Utes have not beaten a Division I opponent at home since a 62-53 victory over SMU on Dec. 18.
"It's the low point for me since I've been here," Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "I feel as low as I've felt since I've been here because we got too much invested in where we're going and the direction we're going. There just wasn't a bright spot tonight in that ball game for us."
Stanford had no trouble keeping a rhythm on offense for 40 minutes. The Cardinal shot 50 percent from the field overall and connected on 60 percent of its 3-pointers. Stanford controlled the glass from start to finish, outrebounding Utah 43-27.
"We wanted to make an effort to get to the glass on both ends," Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. "I thought our guys did a good job for the most part of putting bodies on guys and making plays on the basketball. That's something we've got to continue to do."
Stanford sliced and diced the Utes on both ends of the floor and established a favorable tempo right away. The Cardinal never trailed and used a pair of huge runs to take control in the early minutes.
After Utah scored its first basket, three different Stanford players scored over the next minute to spark an 8-0 run that gave the Cardinal a 12-2 lead. Randle helped get things going by stealing the ball on consecutive possessions to set up quick baskets.
"We just wanted to get out and get in the passing lanes a little bit," Randle said. "Try to force them into turnovers. Once we did got those steals, and turned them into offense, it was downhill from there."
The Utes did not have much of a chance to dig out of the hole before Stanford did it again. Starting with Gage's three free throws, the Cardinal ran off 12 unanswered points to take a 28-9 lead with 8:45 left.
Utah did not score a field goal over a 5-minute stretch, enabling that 12-0 spurt. Renan Lenz finally broke the drought for the Utes with a jumper with 8 minutes left.
The Utes mounted a brief rally and pulled to within 33-20 on a jumper from Jason Washburn to cap an 8-2 spurt. But Gage drilled a 3-pointer on the other end and the Cardinal pulled away to take a 46-26 lead into the locker room.
"We're not in the business of trading baskets," Gage said. "When we're out there, we've got to get stops and capitalize at the other end. That's what we were doing all night."
Stanford dominated inside and outside in the first half. The Cardinal made 6 of 10 tries from 3-point range. Stanford also outrebounded Utah 24-14 and scored 16 second-chance points while limiting the Utes to a single basket in that category.
Stanford returns to Maples Pavilion on Wednesday, Jan. 30, hosting Oregon at 8 p.m. The Ducks will likely be ranked among the nation's top-20 when polls are released on Monday.
- by John Coon, Associated Press
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NOTES: The last time Stanford defeated a conference opponent by 30+ points was Feb. 5, 2004, when the Cardinal routed Arizona State 81-51 at Maples Pavilion ... Stanford picked up its first road win over Utah since a 58-38 triumph back on Dec. 21, 1934 ... Chasson Randle in rebounds (8) and Dwight Powell in assists (5) ... Dwight Powell added 11 points and fell one rebound shy of his fifth double-double. Meanwhile, Powell misfired on his first free throw attempt to end a streak of 12 consecutive makes from the foul line ... Stanford's 87 points and 46 first-half points represented season highs ... All 13 available players saw court time in the victory, with 12 different players breaking into the scoring column. The biggest cheers were reserved for Wade Morgan, who grabbed a rebound and scored his first collegiate point when he converted the second of two free throws ... In Thursday's loss at Colorado, Stanford was outrebounded 48-30 and finished only 8-10 from the foul line. On Sunday night, Stanford held a 43-27 rebounding edge and was 18-24 from the charity stripe ... Tonight's game marked the first Sunday home game in Utah's program history. In fact, the Utes had not played a conference game on a Sunday since 1998 (at New Mexico).
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QUOTES
Head Coach Johnny Dawkins
"I thought everyone was playing well for us at the start of the game and that was very important, how we got off to a great start. We have to give their guys some credit, but also Utah didn't play its best game. I've watched a lot of tape on this team and they do a terrific job. I think the combination of us playing well and catching them off their game."
"Coming off our last game, we talked about getting back to our defensive fundamentals and making plays. I thought Chasson (Randle) really took it to heart. He was chasing everything out and really stepped up defensively and made some plays early and got us going."
"I thought we were patient offensively. We talked about moving the basketball, really sharing it. Those games where we have 10 assists, 11 assists, that's not who we are. We need to move the basketball, move our bodies and take shots. I thought we did a better job at that during this game than pretty much any other game we've played this season."
"We had to have a sense of urgency. This was a very important game for us, especially being on the road. You're still trying to compete for a conference title. We want an opportunity to run that race and this was a very important game for us and our kids approached it that way."