WSU Upsets Stanford
Mark Hendrickson pulverized Stanford inside and Isaac Fontaine made the pivotal 3-pointer, but it may have been two players with lower profiles who kept Washington State’s postseason hopes alive Thursday night.
WSU guards Shamon Antrum and Donminic Ellison contained the Cardinal’s accomplished backcourt, allowing the Cougars to dance out of Maples Pavilion with a 68-59 men’s basketball victory that moved them within a game of fifth place in the tightly contested Pacific-10 Conference.
At 14-8 overall and 6-7 in the Pac-10, WSU heads into Saturday afternoon’s game at third-place California (15-8, 9-5) with a conference-best five-game winning streak. Stanford (16-7, 9-5) fell into a tie with Cal.
Fontaine’s 3-pointer with 2:07 remaining and 4 seconds on the shot clock broke a 56-56 tie and gave WSU the lead for good. Hendrickson followed with a layup, tipped in a missed foul shot and added two free throws as the Cougars put Stanford away.
“To the general public, Isaac and Mark were kind of the keys to the game,” said WSU coach Kevin Eastman, who evened his record against Stanford at 2-2. “But they paled compared to Shamon Antrum and Donminic Ellison in our eyes, because Donminic and Shamon were the ones that kept switching up on David Harbour and Brevin Knight and Dion Cross.”
Knight and Cross, averaging 30.1 points per game between them, combined to commit 10 turnovers against WSU, and neither scored until a Cross free throw with 5:50 left in the first half. Knight finished with 14 points and five assists on 5-for-16 shooting; Cross had eight points on 2-for-10 shooting.
“I thought the game was won on the defensive end,” Eastman added.
WSU shot 60 percent, to just 33 percent for Stanford.
The manner in which the Cougars defeated the Cardinal seemed to lessen the magnitude of WSU’s win. The Cougars showed zero respect for Stanford’s 14-game home winning streak, jumping to a 15-8 lead midway through the first half. Hendrickson dunked on Darren Allaway to start the game, and spent much of the rest of the evening victimizing Andy Poppink.
The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Hendrickson made 9 of 12 - including four dunks - and finished with game-highs of 22 points and 12 rebounds.
“Washington State is a very, very physical team, and they got us backed off,” acknowledged Stanford coach Mike Montgomery, noting Hendrickson’s return from a broken shooting hand. “They’re a pretty good basketball team right now. With Hendrickson playing with that kind of force, we physically couldn’t handle them.”
Hendrickson missed six games after suffering the injury Dec. 27 against San Jose State. WSU lost four of those, and has since won six of nine.
When Hendrickson wasn’t scoring or rebounding against Stanford, he was setting vicious picks to free Fontaine on the perimeter - as was the case on the tiebreaking 3.
In a 78-67 home loss to Stanford on Jan. 27, the Cougars lacked poise and succumbed to foul trouble. That was Hendrickson’s second game back after the injury, and the senior forward missed 11 of 21 free throws while wearing a bulky brace.
Washington State 68, Stanford 59
Washington State (14-8) - Daniel 4-5 2-2 10, Hendrickson 9-12 3-5 22, Ellison 3-7 1-2 7, Antrum 2-4 0-0 5, Fontaine 7-15 1-3 18, Mack 2-2 0-0 4, Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Scott 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 28-47 7-12 68.
Stanford (16-7) - Harbour 7-12 3-3 18, Poppink 2-9 2-2 6, Allaway 1-3 3-5 5, Cross 2-10 2-2 8, Knight 5-16 3-3 14, Seaton 1-3 3-4 5, Weems 1-5 0-0 3, Lee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-58 16-19 59.
Halftime-Washington State 30, Stanford 28. 3-Point goals- Washington St. 5-13 (Fontaine 3-9, Hendrickson 1-2, Antrum 1-2), Stanford 5-20 (Cross 2-7, Harbour 1-3, Weems 1-4, Knight 1-5, Poppink 0-1). Fouled out-Harbour. Rebounds-Washington St. 37 (Hendrickson 12), Stanford 26 (Poppink 11). Assists- Washington St. 16 (Antrum 6), Stanford 10 (Knight 5). Total fouls-Washington St. 19, Stanford 16. A-5,910.
, DataTimes