STANFORD, Calif. (AP) – After a back-and-forth first half, No. 12 Saint Mary's used a hot-shooting second half to pull away from Stanford, en route to a 66-51 victor over the Cardinal Wednesday night at Maples Pavilion.
The Gaels, led by a career-high 25 points on a career-best seven three-pointers from Calvin Hermanson, shot 64 percent in the second period to pace Saint Mary's. SMC outscored the Cardinal, 40-21, over the final 20 minutes of the contest.
Senior Grant Verhoeven scored 12 points and sophomore Robert Cartwright added 10 for Stanford (6-2), under first-year coach Jerod Haase, which is off to its best start in five seasons. The Cardinal began 10-1 in 2011-12.
Hermanson hit five of his threes in the second half. After Stanford pulled within 48-45 on two free throws by Cartwright, Hermanson and Kyle Clark hit consecutive 3-pointers and Saint Mary's took off with a 16-3 run.
Saint Mary's (6-0) opened the second half on a 12-0 run, getting two quick layups from Landale and Naar's 3-pointer for a 38-30 lead at the 15:36 mark as Stanford missed its first seven shots after intermission. Sheffield hit a jumper at 15:14 for Stanford's first points.
The Gaels needed a strong start after the break to keep its impressive early record unblemished. The teams finished even on rebounds with 29 apiece, but Stanford went 3 for 12 from beyond the arc and shot 38.2 percent for the game to 55.1 percent by Saint Mary's.
Saint Mary's won its first five games by an average of 18 points. The Gaels are picked to win the West Coast Conference after sharing the regular-season title last season with perennial power Gonzaga.
The Cardinal hung tough until the Gaels' barrage of late threes -- and 11-of-27 from long range overall, 7-of-9 by Hermanson.
Stanford will travel to No. 4 Kansas on Saturday, as the Cardinal faces the Jayhawks in Lawrence at 12:30 p.m. PT on ESPN.
