STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins pointed to Oregon junior forward Elgin Cook as the primary reason the Ducks came out ahead in an important Pac-12 Conference game Sunday.
Cook scored 21 points, the third time he’s scored as many, and the Ducks beat the Cardinal 73-70 to clinch the third seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament.
Dwayne Benjamin, who had 15 points, made one of two free throws with 14 seconds remaining to give Oregon (22-8, 12-5 Pac-12) the lead and Joseph Young, who also scored 21 points, sank a pair of free throws with three seconds left after a missed Stanford shot.
Cook, who entered the game with a 12.7 scoring average, helped the Ducks win their fourth straight and eight of nine overall.
“He really stepped up for them,” Dawkins said. “That’s the best I’ve ever seen him play. He was hitting his perimeter shots and creating tough matchups for us.”
Chasson Randle scored 17 points to lead the Cardinal (18-10, 9-7 Pac-12), which fell into a fourth-place tie with UCLA, which holds the tiebreaker over Stanford. Stefan Nastic added 16 points, Marcus Allen 14 and Anthony Brown 11.
Brown gave Stanford a 60-59 edge on a driving layup with just under seven minutes remaining to play in the contest. He extended the lead a minute later with a short jumper.
Oregon kept coming, though, and tied the game on a 3-pointer from Benjamin from the corner with 3:26 left and took the lead moments later when Bell blocked a shot at one end of the court and slammed the ball through the nets on the other end.
The game was tied at 70 heading into the final minute. The teams traded turnovers, with Benjamin stealing the ball and getting fouled with 14 seconds left to play.
Stanford missed its last seven shots of the first half, was 4-8 from the foul line during that eight-minute span and committed a pair of turnovers.
The Ducks were 6-11 from the field over the same stretch.
The Cardinal was ahead, 29-28, after a Nastic free throw with 3:45 to play in the first half.
Oregon outscored Stanford 8-1 the rest of the way to take a 36-30 halftime advantage.
- - - - - - - - - -
NOTES: Seniors Jack Ryan, Wade Morgan, Elliott Bullock, Stefan Nastic, Anthony Brown and Chasson Randle were honored in a pregame ceremony … Stanford lost to Oregon at Maples Pavilion for the first time since Feb. 19, 2012. Today marked the first time Oregon was the Senior Day opponent since Feb. 28, 2004, when the Cardinal beat the Ducks to capture the conference title … The game featured 11 ties and 15 lead changes … Chasson Randle has now scored 2,193 career points and is 144 away from eclipsing Todd Lichti’s school record of 2,336. Randle, who also totaled six rebounds and six assists, made all three of his free throws and has now made 22 in a row over the last four games … Stefan Nastic knocked down a career-high 10 free throws, as Stanford was 22-31 from the charity stripe … Stanford has now committed 10 turnovers or fewer in 15 games … Stanford lost at home for only the third time this season. The Cardinal is 89-30 at Maples Pavilion under head coach Johnny Dawkins … Stanford next faces Arizona State on Thursday, March 5, at 8 p.m. PT. The regular season concludes two days later against Arizona in a 1 p.m. tip on CBS.
- - - - - - - - - -
Stanford Head coach Johnny Dawkins
“I give Oregon a lot of credit but they came in and played a heck of a game. Especially the young man Cook, I thought he was outstanding tonight. He’s someone that is a very good player for them but I thought he stepped up and played at a really high level tonight — probably the best I’ve seen him play this year. He was shooting the ball from the perimeter very well; he drove it strong. He created some tough matchups out there for us. You give them credit for that.”
“The final play was basically a ball screen for Chasson and he has the opportunity to take it off the bounce and attack. We clear a side for him to be able to go, and he has the opportunity if he doesn’t like that, to throw back. So when he threw the ball back, it got intercepted. Threw it between two players.”
“I don’t think it kills our [NCAA tournament] chances. We still have our opportunities. We still have a number of games to play: we have two regular season games to play on the road against some very good teams and we also have the Pac-12 Tournament. So I don’t think it kills our chances, we just have to focus and finish up strong down the stretch to give ourselves an opportunity.”
“I think they did a good job in their zone. They’re active. They know their slides. I don’t think we executed the way I would like to see. We’re not a team that takes 20 threes — that’s a little but above the number we like versus man or zone. We’re a very good three-point shooting team, but that’s not we rely on. I thought we settled for some threes, and that’s something we talk about quite a bit: not settling for threes.”
“Anytime I walk in here and we lose, it’s the most disappointing loss for me. I‘m a competitor; I don’t like to lose at anything. So it’s definitely the most disappointing loss — the last game we just played. To me, it’s devastating and we have to do something about that. I’m especially disappointed for our seniors, who I think have had terrific careers here and done some amazing things. I just feel really bad for them. It’s not all on those guys — those three seniors — but for our team: to rally around these guys and to dig out a win on Senior Day. That part is very disappointing for me for these guys and for our team.”
Stanford Senior Chasson Randle
“Just trying to attack and get to the basket. Got there and there was a guy there. I tried to create contact, but I guess it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t able to finish.”
“It’s very disappointing, especially when it’s your last home game of the year. But anytime you lose, the stakes being what they were tonight. Coach said we have a couple more opportunities and we have to focus up.”
“The blood, sweat, and tears that we gave in practice and then in the games that we played. Just collective things: all the times — the good times that we had as a team playing out there in Maples.”
Oregon Head Coach Dana Altman
"We got some stops there where we needed 'em, then Dwayne (Benjamin) came back with a big steal after their steal (by Humphrey). It was imperative that he (Benjamin) get one of those free throws down. We'd loved to have had both, but we had to have one to get a lead, so we could get the ball back. I really thought the guys did a good job, I'm really happy for them.”
“I thought Randle was going to drive and make something happen. He was successful doing it. I thought our guys did a pretty good job of fighting him all night. He and Brown are such good offensive players. We really wanted to try and take away their threes -- they're such good three-point shooters. We contested most of them, I thought. Other than Brown's one he hit to start the game, Dillon’s hands were down on that one, after that, I thought we did a pretty good job."
Oregon Junior Elgin Cook
"I was under the basket. I knew he was going to drive, so I put myself in position to get the rebound. I really couldn't tell what happened; I was just boxing out. I don't even know who got the rebound. It got jammed up in there. Chasson is a great player; we knew he was going to take the shot. We just wanted to contain him and get the round if he missed."
Oregon Freshman Casey Benson
"In was in 'help', guarding Anthony Brown and we were switching off on guarding Randle. We were playing a zone matchup, matching up with the guy in your area, so I got on him a couple of times. He's a tremendous offensive player.”
"We definitely knew the ball was going to be in his hands. Whether or not he was going to take the shot -- we figured that would probably be the case. We didn't want to give him anything easy at the rim. We forced him into a tough shot, he missed it, and we came up with the rebound."