STANFORD, Calif. - Anthony Brown came off the bench to score 17 points, leading Stanford to a come-from-behind 49-43 victory over Denver on Saturday.
“When I went into the game I wanted to make a difference,” said Brown, who entered the game at the 15:38 mark and did not start because he was late for shoot-around. “After losing to DePaul in our last game, there was no way I was going to let the team lose.”
Stefan Nastic and Chasson Randle scored all nine points during a run in the final 3:28 to put Stanford (5-2) ahead to stay. The Cardinal survived its worst shooting game of the season as Randle, who was 5-5 from the foul line, and Nastic combined for a 6-24 effort from the floor.
The Cardinal’s 17 first-half points were its fewest in any half since a 25-16 halftime deficit to Tulsa on Nov. 26, 2010.
“It’s one of those games, you’re coming off finals and haven’t played two weeks,” Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins said. “It’s a difficult game. That was one of the best defensive efforts we’ve had since I’ve been here.”
Marcus Byrd scored 11 points to lead the Pioneers (4-5), who lost two straight for the first time this season.
“I thought we competed, and we gave ourselves all the chances we needed to win the game,” Denver head coach Joe Scott said. “That's all you want as a coach. We competed unbelievably hard.”
Robert Cartwright gave the Cardinal its first lead of the game, hitting a 3-pointer with 8:15 left to play. Brown extended the lead with a layup.
Jalen Love and Byrd hit consecutive 3-pointers to help Denver regain the lead, setting up the final minutes.
“We turned the ball over too times late in the second half,” Scott said. “I don't care who you are playing, you can't do that.”
The Pioneers sprinted to a 13-2 lead, led by Byrd’s eight points, before Stanford rallied to tie the game at 15, sparked by a pair of Brown 3-pointers.
Denver pushed its lead to 25-15, with Nate Engesser and Brett Olson scoring all 10 points, before Rosco Allen hit a pair of free throws in the final minute to draw the Cardinal within 25-17 at halftime.
Stanford next hosts Loyola Marymount on Wednesday. The Cardinal is 5-0 against the Lions, though the teams have not met since Dec. 21, 1984.
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NOTES: Stanford has not lost a “post-finals” game since Dec. 16, 2006, a 62-46 defeat to Santa Clara … Chasson Randle (5-5 FT) has now made 36 consecutive free throws (32-32 this season) dating back to Stanford’s NCAA Sweet 16 game against Dayton last March. Ryan Mendez owns the school record at 49, followed by Todd Lichti (41) and Arthur Lee (38) … The Cardinal improved to 10-2 all-time against the Pioneers and has won the last seven meetings … Stanford was held under 50 points for the first time since a 56-43 loss to Arizona on Feb. 4, 2012 … Stanford won a game despite scoring under 50 points for the first time since a 39-37 victory over Washington State on Feb. 25, 2006 … Stanford committed only seven turnovers and entered the game with the sixth-fewest miscues (70) in the country … Chasson Randle scored nine points on 2-14 shooting, the first time he has been held to single digits since totaling six points on 2-6 shooting against Washington State last January … Stefan Nastic recorded a career-high four blocks … Marcus Allen made his first collegiate start, earning the nod in place of Anthony Brown … Stanford was 17-23 from the foul line compared to Denver’s 2-3 clip.
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Stanford Head Coach Johnny Dawkins
“That’s one of the best defensive efforts we’ve had since I’ve been here. To hold them to 43 points - I’m really proud of our guys’ effort. Denver is a good team. They have a terrific coach. I think that team is going to do very well when it comes down to conference play for them, and I’m just happy we were able to get the win.”
“They did some things well defensively that caused us to shoot a lower field-goal percentage than we liked. And some of it was rust. When you have your guys going through finals, and preparation for finals and all of that, you get a little bit out of sync, out of rhythm.”
“Anthony has been a terrific player for me throughout his career. He’s a fifth-year senior for us, and today’s shootaround is the first time he’s been late for anything. It was difficult because the young man had never been late for anything. We stuck by what we typically do in that situation and we didn’t start him.”
“Anthony is a winner. He realized we needed it. Anthony has always had the ability to step up in those moments where things maybe haven’t been going well for us and make plays, and I think he showed that tonight.”
“Coming down the stretch, Chasson closed the game by making all the free throws he needed to make. He showed great maturity out there on the floor.”
Stanford senior Anthony Brown
“Denver plays a unique style we haven’t faced since we played them last year. We were a little bit rusty. We haven’t played in two weeks. We have the longest break in the country, and that contributed to it. Also, Denver is a good team. They have shooters. Anytime you have shooters, you have a chance to win.”
“For a basketball player, when you haven’t played in so long, you’re just itching to get out there so bad. Everyone on our team pretty much finished up finals on Thursday, so we had a couple days to really lock in. Before that, people were pretty busy.”
“I think, coming off our last loss against DePaul, when we were playing this game I was like, ‘There is no way I’m going to let my team lose this game.’ If I have to get steals, if I have to be a little more aggressive, gamble a little more, that’s what I have to do. That’s just what I did. I wasn’t going to let us lose this game. There was no way.”
Denver Head Coach Joe Scott
“Turnovers were huge. I thought we competed, and we gave ourselves all the chances we needed to win the game. That's all you want as a coach. We competed unbelievably hard and the game plan was effective. But we turned the ball over two times late in the second half. I don't care who you're playing, you can't do that.”
“We're usually really good at taking care of the ball and sharing the ball. We've been a little up and down here during the first games out. We've had some big kids out, we're trying to figure out roles. Give Stanford credit; they took over and took advantage of them (turnovers). There were times when we had shots -- some good ones that really could have made their task a lot harder.”
“We did a good job defending them on their biggest advantage, which obviously was their size. Early on we did a pretty good of making it really difficult for Nastic. We got a couple turnovers in there, a couple of steals. We were nuisance pests. And it worked. But in the second half when they needed it, they took advantage. Brown made some big shots. He and Randle are big-time players. They came through when their team needed them.”