STANFORD, Calif. (AP) – Stefan Nastic has taken another step in his development as a post player. The fifth-year senior helped Stanford reach the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen and has picked up where he left off.
Nastic scored a career-high 26 points and the Cardinal opened its season with a 74-59 win over Wofford on Friday night in a regional round game of the Northwestern Mutual Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
“I’m always thinking about improving,” Nastic said. “I know what my role is and I’m focused on being a two-way player and staying aggressive.”
Anthony Brown added 16 for the Cardinal, Reid Travis scored 14 and Chasson Randle chipped in with 12.
“We always want to be balanced but our emphasis is to find Stefan and feed him,” Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins said. “He did a lot of good things. He’s getting better and better and gaining more confidence.”
Jaylen Allen scored 12 points to pace the Terriers, who reached the second round in last year's NCAA Tournament. Karl Cochran and Spencer Collins each added 11 points.
Nastic was 11-14 from the field and made all four of his foul shots. Brown was 6-8 and made Stanford's only 3-pointer.
"Nastic looked like Dave Cowens down there,” Terriers coach Mike Young said. “Watching their NCAA Tournament games, I was really worried about him. His length, how physical he plays, his long arms -- it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that Coach Dawkins is going to go right to him and see what we can do with him. He was awfully good tonight, making 15-foot jump shots, battling on the glass. They've got another good team."
The Cardinal opened the second half by outscoring the Terriers 18-7 and grabbing a 20-point advantage.
“We had some great defensive stretches,” Nastic said. “We were feeding off each other’s energy and we got into a rhythm.”
Collins hit a jumper to give Wofford a 24-23 edge with 4:54 remaining in the first half. It was all Stanford the rest of the way.
“Ball handling got a little suspect, we took a bad shot -- part of that was a darn good opponent,” Young said. “They had a lot to do with that.”
Brown connected on a 3-pointer 20 seconds later, sparking a 13-3 run to put the Cardinal ahead 36-27 by halftime.
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NOTES: Friday’s matchup was the first meeting between Stanford and Wofford – in any sport … The 9 p.m. start was the latest at Maples Pavilion since Nov. 18, 1998 against SMU (also a 9 p.m. tip) … Stanford improved to 82-18 all-time in season openers … Nastic also established career highs in field goals (11), assists (4) and minutes (32). Over the final eight games of last season, Nastic was 29-34 from the field. In Stanford’s three NCAA Tournament games, Nastic was 14-18 overall … The Cardinal finished 17-28 from the foul line compared to the Terriers’ 11-15 clip … All five Stanford starters grabbed at least four rebounds, with Brown and Randle sharing team-high honors with six … Making his first collegiate start, Reid Travis finished with 14 points on 6-12 shooting but was 2-7 from the foul line … Fellow rookies Robert Cartwright and Michael Humphrey also scored their first career points … Marcus Allen was Stanford’s first substitute off the bench … The game featured four ties and eight lead changes … Wofford fell to 1-19 in their last 20 season openers. The Terriers last played in California at Santa Clara's Cable Car Classic in 2009 … Stanford next plays South Dakota on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 3 p.m.
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Head Coach Johnny Dawkins
“We beat a good team tonight. I thought we learned a lot about ourselves. I’m just really proud of our guys’ effort, because we knew it was going to be a tough test, especially opening the season up. I thought our guys did a good job of responding.”
“I’m just really proud of Stefan. The emphasis going into this game was to make sure we fed him and found him as many times as we could, and he really did respond. He stepped up, and he’s made a lot of fantastic plays for us. He finished a lot under the basket, stepped outside and knocked down shots. But he’s been preparing that way. Over the last several years, watching his growth has been fun for me. He’s just gotten better and better and more confident. He’s a very good player. I think he’s one of the best centers out there, and I think he showed that tonight.”
“We still have to do a better job of valuing the basketball. I thought some of our turnovers weren’t really forced turnovers. And so we have to take care of the ball better. We have to be better from the free throw line. I thought that was something that really stood out. I like the fact that we get there a lot, but we have to convert. That’s a big part of what we have to be as a team as we go forward.”
“I think we have the potential for Stefan and Reid (Travis) to really play well together. I think it’s a good combination. And they’ve had that same type of chemistry in practice. So it’s good to see that carry over into an actual game, because you’re wondering if we still could make those connecting plays. But they were able to do it.”
Stefan Nastic
“I’m just always thinking about improving and playing our team game. Whatever comes from that, comes from that. That’s the main plan. That’s the main goal. Always try to improve, individually and collectively, and fortunately we were able to get a win today.”
“I definitely know what my role is. I’ve always been someone who is focused on being a two-way player, and offense is in there of course. I’m just trying to stay aggressive and do what my team needs me to do to be successful, so that’s what I’ve been focusing on.”
“I felt we had some great defensive stretches. I felt like we really fed off each other’s energy. Defensively we all keyed in. Rebounding is definitely a focus for us. We’re not looking for individual guys grabbing everything. It’s a team effort … Whoever can contribute there needs to contribute as much as they can, and that’s what happened tonight.”
Wofford Head Coach Mike Young
"We had a really bad stretch at about the three-minute mark in the first half. We were right there, and the pace was where we wanted it, but then we had a couple of bad turnovers. Part of that was (Lee) Skinner being off the floor with two fouls. Ball-handling got a little suspect, we took a bad shot -- part of that was a darn good opponent. They had a lot to do with that. To go in down nine instead of a much more manageable three or four points was hard."
"We got beat by a good team. I knew they were good; they're a little bit better than I thought they were, to be frank. That's certainly a credit to Coach Dawkins."
"Nastic looked like Dave Cowens down there. Watching their NCAA tournament games, I was really worried about him. His length, how physical he plays, his long arms -- it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that Coach Dawkins is going to go right to him and see what we can do with him. He was awfully good tonight, making 15-foot jump shots, battling on the glass. They've got another good team. I thought we threw a good scheme at him, but he was better than we were on this particular night."
"We don't turn the ball over like that, it's very out of character for our team. It was excessive against Stanford or anybody else. We'll address that when we get back."