ORLANDO – Junior Dorian Pickens scored a season-high 21 points to lead Stanford to a 66-52 victory over Seton Hall Sunday evening at the Advocare Invitational in HP Field House.
Pickens, who was named to the Advocare Invitational All-Tournament Team, added five rebounds, two assists and three steals to guide the Cardinal to the win. The junior averaged 18.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals in the three-game tournament.
"Dorian is so smooth, so confident, so fluid," Stanford coach Jerod Haase said.
With the victory, Stanford captured fifth place in the Advocare Invitational. The Cardinal improved to 6-1 on the season. Seton Hall moved to 4-2 on the year.
"Our whole thing was how good Pickens is," Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said. "He's really picked it up from last year. He's just a consistent, solid player."
Stanford erased an early deficit with the final eight points of the first half to tie the game at 26 at the break. The Cardinal continued its surge in the second half, out-scoring the Pirates, 40-26, over the final 20 minutes.
Senior Grant Verhoeven sparked Stanford's furious comeback in the final minutes of the first half and continued to control the paint in the second half, drawing five Seton Hall charges, while collecting six points, four rebounds and two steals in the contest
The Cardinal used a 15-1 run early in the second half to take the lead for good, stretching the advantage to 43-31 with 12:21 to play.
"They punched us in the mouth the first 10 minutes and we kind of stumbled back," Haase said. "I challenged them. I'm so proud of how they bounced back and contained it for the last 30 minutes."
Junior Reid Travis finished with 16 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinal.
The Cardinal went 16 for 17 from the free-throw line in the contest.
Seton Hall's Khadeen Carrington scored 20 points to lead the Pirates, who cut the Cardinal's lead to seven points with less than three minutes to play.
A Verhoeven dunk led a lead Cardinal charge to put the game out of reach for Seton Hall and give Stanford the double-digit win.
Pickens picked up nine points in a 15-1 surge as Stanford (6-1) grabbed a 43-31 advantage with 12:30 to play.
Stanford will travel back to campus, where the Cardinal will host No. 15 Saint Mary's on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 8 p.m. PT at Maples Pavilion.
