STANFORD, Calif. (AP) – Robert Cartwright set a career-high for the second straight game, scoring 21 points in Stanford's convincing 84-54 victory over Washington State on Thursday night.
"Our defense held them to very few points early in the game," Cartwright said. "We wanted to protect our home court better than we did last time."
Dorian Pickens added 18 points and Reid Travis, who missed the past two games, had 17 for the Cardinal (9-8, 1-4 Pac-12), which avoided its first five-game losing streak since 1993.
"I was surprised by the score," Cardinal coach Jerod Haase said. "But I'm not surprised we're making progress. We played well. I'm cautiously optimistic."
Conor Clifford scored 15 points to lead the Cougars (9-7, 2-2), who lost their second straight after a four-game winning streak. Josh Hawkinson added 14 and Ike Iroegbu had 13.
Cartwright, who matched his previous career-high, against UCLA, in the first half, sank a long 3-pointer with 13:53 remaining to play to put the Cardinal ahead 63-33.
The Cougars missed eight consecutive shots during an 11-0 Cardinal run. Stanford scored 20 of the game's first 23 points and opened a 20-point lead less than 10 minutes into the contest.
"I thought they just physically manhandled us," Cougars coach Ernie Kent said. "Defensively we had no answers, offensively we had no answers. They shot the ball with an enormous amount of confidence and with toughness."
.@bigmikehump3's second block on the night leads to this fast break by @DoublePennyPick. #GoStanford ?? @Pac12Network https://t.co/ac7SzSoNp5
— Stanford Men's Hoops (@StanfordMBB) January 13, 2017
The Cardinal, which never trailed, shot nearly 56 percent from the floor in the first half and limited the Cougars to 28 percent shooting.
Stanford also held advantages in points off turnovers, 13-2, and second-chance points, 10-4. Stanford took a 48-23 edge into halftime.
The Cardinal returns to action on Saturday night when it hosts Washington for a 5 p.m. PT tip at Maples Pavilion. Tickets are available at GoStanford.com.