Stanford Says Good Knight Stanford Guard Leads Cardinal To Key Win Over Washington State

Brevin Knight scored 17 points, and Stanford revived its hopes for an NCAA tournament invitation by beating Washington State 79-72 Thursday night.

David Harbour and Tim Young each had 15 and Andy Poppink added 14, including 13 in the second half, when the Cardinal (18-8, 9-8 Pac-10) took control to split the season series with the Cougars (15-11, 9-8 Pac-10.) Washington State took the first meeting 77-63, dealing Stanford its first loss after a 10-0 start. Stanford had stumbled in recent weeks, losing five of its previous seven before regaining some momentum with the victory over Washington State.

The Cougars, whose own postseason hopes dimmed, were led by Isaac Fontaine’s 21 points. Mark Hendrickson added 18 points.

Washington State, which entered as the nation’s top-shooting team with a field goal percentage of .519, was off target much of the night. The Cougars wound up making only 38 percent of their attempts from the floor. Stanford didn’t do much better, making 42 percent of its field goals but made 30 of 43 free throws to Washington State’s 14 of 21.

Up by five at the break, Stanford used 12-4 burst to take a 70-58 advantage with 2:14 left. It was the Cardinals’ biggest lead of the game.

Harbour got the run started with a 12-foot jumper and Knight helped hold off the Cougars by scoring seven of his points in the last 1:25, five of them on free throws.

Shamon Antrum hit a 3-pointer to pull the Cougars to within 52-49 but the Cardinal scored six of the next seven points, capped by Harbour’s 3-pointer to move out front 58-50 with 8:44 left.

Both teams shot poorly in the first half as Stanford connected on only 32 percent of its field goal attempts while Washington State made 31 percent.

But the Cardinal went to the foul line 21 times and made 14 of the free throws. Young had 10 points and went 6-for-6 from freethrow line, including a pair with one second left in the half and Stanford led 32-27 at halftime.

The Cardinal went through a nearly 5-minute stretch in which they didn’t have a basket while the Cougars went nearly 9 minutes between a Tavares Mack tip-in and Hendrickson’s 3-pointer with 32 seconds left before the half.

Stanford 79, WSU 72 WASHINGTON ST. (15-11)

Fontaine 8-21 4-7 21, Hendrickson 7-16 3-3 18, Mack 3-8 1-2 7, Ellison 1-4 0-0 3, Antrum 6-11 3-5 16, Corkrum 1-4 0-0 2, Griffin 0-3 3-4 3, Vic 1-3 0-0 2, Warmenhoven 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-70 14-21 72.

STANFORD (18-8)

Allaway 2-5 4-6 8, Poppink 5-10 4-6 14, Young 4-9 7-7 15, Cross 3-8 3-4 9, Knight 5-13 7-11 17, Harbour 5-8 4-7 15, Lammersen 0-3 1-2 1, Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Gravely 0-0 0-0 . Totals 24-57 30-43 79.

Halftime-Stanford 32, Washington St. 27. 3-Point goals-Washington St. 4-10 (Fontaine 1-4, Hendrickson 1-1, Ellison 1-3, Antrum 1-2), Stanford 1-8 (Cross 0-4, Knight 0-1, Harbour 1-3). Fouled out-Hendrickson, Ellison, Griffin. Rebounds-Washington St. 45 (Hendrickson 13), Stanford 39 (Young 11). Assists-Washington St. 11 (Ellison 4), Stanford 8 (Knight 6). Total fouls- Washington St. 29, Stanford 19. A-6,309.