STANFORD, Calif – Stanford ran into a hot-shooting SMU team in Dallas, falling to the Mustangs, 72-49, Monday night at Moody Coliseum.
SMU (9-3) surged out to a 12-0 lead, and made its first eight field goals to extend its advantage to 19-3 in the first 5:01 of the contest. The Mustangs continued their blistering pace, knocking down 75 percent of their field goals (12-of-16) to open a 30-7 advantage midway through the opening period. They completed the first half 19-of-32 (59.4 percent) from the field, including eight three-pointers.
Meanwhile, the Cardinal connected on just one of its first eight shots from the field and shot 21 percent overall in the opening period, trailing SMU, 48-19, at the break.
Stanford (7-4) rebounded in the second half, outscoring SMU, 30-24, over the final 20 minutes.
Sophomore Marcus Sheffield led three Cardinal in double figures with 13 points. Fellow sophomore Robert Cartwright finished with a career-high 11 and junior Reid Travis added 10 points and eight rebounds.
Travis, held scoreless in a half for the first time this season, opened the second period with the Cardinal's first four points to lead the second-half charge.
Cartwright's career-high point total was highlighted by a spin move past his defender for a second-half layup. He finished 5-of-9 from the field for the contest.
The Cardinal, down by as many as 32 in the game, cut it to 21 points on two occasions in the second half.
SMU's Sterling Brown led four Mustangs in double figures with 16. They finished the game shooting 52.9 percent overall, while connecting on 11 three-pointers in the contest.
Stanford returns to action on Thursday as the Cardinal completes the nonconference portion of its schedule against Idaho at 7:30 p.m. PT at Maples Pavilion.