Fresno State
Stanford
Fresno State Edged by Stanford, 55-48
12/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2007
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Brook Lopez scored 19 points and 12 rebounds against his hometown team, and Stanford tuned up for its Pac-10 opener by winning its seventh straight game, 55-48 over Fresno State on Saturday.
Lopez, who starred at Fresno's Memorial High School with his twin brother and Stanford teammate Robin, overwhelmed the Bulldogs (7-6) with his 7-foot size and dominating presence on both ends of the court in his first start of the season.
Brook Lopez came off the bench the previous two games after missing the first 10 because he was academically ineligible. He has shown few signs of rust, averaging 19.3 points in his three games and showing that the Cardinal (11-1) will be a contender when conference play begins next week.
The Cardinal open Pac-10 play at home on Thursday night against No. 5 UCLA and play 24th-ranked Southern California two days later. That will be a big step up in competition from a nonconference schedule that didn't include games against any ranked teams.
Stanford's winning streak is its longest since opening the 2003-04 season 26-0 in Mike Montgomery's final season as coach.
But the Cardinal will have to play much better to continue the streak next week. Stanford shot just 40 percent, committed 14 turnovers and set a season-low in points.
They led by only five with 7 minutes to go. But Anthony Goods hit a 3-pointer and Brook Lopez fed Robin for an easy basket that made it 44-34 with 5:53 to go. Robin Lopez wasn't nearly as effective as his brother, committing three turnovers and two fouls in four first-half minutes and finishing with six points and three rebounds.
Goods scored 16 points, hitting three 3-pointers and also scoring on an emphatic baseline dunk over Hector Hernandez early in the second half.
Kevin Bell scored 16 points and Eddie Miller added 10 for the Bulldogs, who open play in the Western Athletic Conference on Thursday night at Louisiana Tech.
Stanford got off to a sluggish start by missing seven of its first 10 shots and committing seven turnovers in the opening 9 minutes. But after taking a 13-6 lead, Fresno State was unable to do anything right offensively.
The Bulldogs went nearly 9 minutes without scoring, missing all nine shots and turning the ball over six times in the drought. Brook Lopez took over at the other end for the Cardinal, scoring eight of Stanford's 13 points in that stretch, helping the Cardinal take a six-point lead. Stanford led 26-21 at the half.
Fresno State made its first trip to The Farm since 1954. The schools renewed the series last year in Fresno, when the Lopez's helped the Cardinal win 69-67 in their homecoming. The Bulldogs' only win in nine tries against Stanford came in the schools' initial meeting back in 1927, a 23-21 victory.
Head Coach Steve Cleveland
"Most of the shots Stanford took were contested and that's a good thing. I thought our defensive efforts were really solid and rebounding was solid."
"For the most part Kevin made good decisions. He screened and we tried to screen for him. You were looking at a seven-footer every time you got around the rim so I told him to just keep going and looking for guys and he found some guys. There were four baskets missed at the rim that guys dropped the ball or didn't make a layup. Unfortunately we have to get better at that. But Kevin had the ball and ran things we wanted to run. We figured if we had the ball and controlled the tempo then they don't have it."
"I thought we were very patient and for the most part didn't take too many bad shots. For the most part we played at the tempo we needed to play and kept ourselves in the ballgame. They got some separation and we had some good looks the last four minutes but we just didn't make them."
"Shawn is a role player and brings a lot of energy to the court but he got into foul trouble and Alex came in and his defensive efforts were solid and his presence was felt."
Notes
Fresno State played in the Maples Pavilion for the first time and at Stanford for the first time since 1954.
The Bulldogs held the Cardinal to 26 points in the first half, its second lowest total of the year going into the break and 55 points in the game, its lowest game total of the season.
With a 35-32 rebounding advantage the Bulldogs were the first team to outrebound the Cardinal this season.
Kevin Bell led the team in scoring for the eighth time this season.
James Tchana was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field as he tied a career-high with six points.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The Fresno State men's basketball team will begin WAC play on the road at Louisiana Tech on Thursday, January 3 at 5 p.m. PST. The game will be televised on the Bulldog Sports Network (KFRE CW 59, KUVI in Bakersfield, and Comcast SportsNet). The Bulldogs will return home to the Save Mart Center on Tuesday, January 8 against Saint Mary's at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com, by phone at (559)485-TIXS, or in person at the Save Mart Center box office.
