STANFORD, Calif.- Fueled by Chasson Randle’s 37 points, Stanford coasted past Seattle Pacific 89-61 on Saturday afternoon in an exhibition game at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford shot a blistering 63.5 percent overall, with Randle anchoring the offense. The junior guard was 13-16 from the field, 5-7 from beyond the arc and 6-7 from the foul line. He also added four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 33 minutes.
Fellow starters Anthony Brown (14 points, 4-6 FG, 5-6 FT) and Stefan Nastic (12 points, 6-8 FG, 3 blocks) also provided a boost for the Cardinal, which broke open a one-possession game at the 15:53 mark of the second half.
Stanford, which owned a 35-22 rebounding edge, finished 7-12 from three-point territory and 16-25 from the foul line.
The Cardinal also controlled the frontcourt with a 42-18 edge in points in the paint, thanks mainly to Josh Huestis’ 10 rebounds. Dwight Powell added eight points and four rebounds but was plagued by three fouls.
Seattle Pacific, picked No. 1 in the Sporting News preseason DII national poll and No. 2 in the coaches poll, stayed within striking distance thanks to 20 points from David Downs and 13 points from Patrick Simon (12 coming off three-pointers). The Falcons are coming off a season in which they matched a school record for victories last year (27) en route to an NCAA Tournament Division II regional final appearance,
Stanford raced out to a 21-4 advantage less than five minutes into the game, with Randle accounting for 10 points.
Trailing 34-21 with 5:27 left before halftime, Seattle Pacific closed the period on a 12-4 scoring run that sliced Stanford’s halftime lead to 38-33.
After a three-pointer from Downs brought the Falcons to within 49-43 at the 15:53 mark of the second half, the Cardinal took control.
Back-to-back buckets from Huestis pushed the lead to double digits, and a three-pointer from Randle with under six minutes remaining gave Stanford its first 20-point cushion.
Statistics from the exhibition game do not count toward regular-season totals.
The 99th season of Stanford basketball gets underway on Friday, Nov. 8, when the Cardinal hosts Bucknell (0-0, 0-0 Patriot League) in a 7 p.m. tip at Maples Pavilion. It’s the first of a three-game homestand, with BYU (Nov. 11) and Northwestern (Nov. 14) also visiting The Farm.
Meanwhile, senior-laden Stanford returns all but two players from last year’s team and every member of its starting lineup over the final 17 games with exception of Andy Brown (torn ACL).
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QUOTES
Stanford Head Coach Johnny Dawkins
Opening Statement…
“Well, I thought it was a great game against a really good opponent. Seattle Pacific is one of the best Division II teams in the nation and they’ll be competing for the whole thing, I’m sure. They’ve been a terrific team for a number of years. Coach Looney does a great job with his group, and I felt really good about the way we played, especially battling through some adversity. I thought we had some guys who were in foul trouble in the first half with Dwight and Aaron and Anthony, and I thought our guys did a really good job hanging in there. In the second half, they responded. They came back and they came out focused, and we were able to build a lead, which was really good.”
On foul trouble and the new rules…
“It becomes a little bit more difficult now. You’re making adjustments because of the way the game is being called, because of the drive and really the secondary defender coming over. You’re not as likely to get the charge as back in years past, so you have to figure out a way to make some new adjustments defensively. But that’s what this is for: a chance to see it, watch it on tape and figure out how you can tweak what you do defensively so you can try to avoid some of those situations … I think our guys will learn from it.”
On Chasson Randle’s 37 points…
“He’s been practicing well. It’s good to see him back. Last year was a tougher year for him as a sophomore, but as a junior, he kind of understands what he’s up against, and I think he’s prepared himself very well this summer, he’s gotten better, and he’s excited about starting the season.”
On the guard rotation…
“For us, we have experience in our backcourt. Aaron Bright, of course, is in our rotation. Chasson, of course. Anthony, and then from there, we’re trying to see who kind of steps up and takes that next spot for us. That leaves some guys like Marcus Allen, the incoming freshman, has a chance to help us there, and also maybe a guy like Robbie Lemons.”
On Anthony Brown’s return after an injury-shortened 2012-13 season…
“I enjoy seeing him back on the floor, too. It was good seeing him back, because he does so many little things for us that I think don’t even show up in the stat sheet. With his length, he guards multiple positions on the perimeter. He is a capable shooter, as you can see. He’s a long athlete. So I really missed him last year. We’re happy to have him back.”
On the next week of practice…
“I thought we’ve got to clean up some of our defenses. We have to clean up some of our zone defense. We also have to improve on valuing the basketball some more too. I thought in the first half, we didn’t value the basketball as well as we needed to. I’ll have to look at the film; those are just irritants when I was watching the game.”