On Tuesday, Stanford men’s basketball fell to #17 San Diego State at home by a final score of 74-62. Jaedon LeDee led the way for the Aztecs with 14 points and 4 rebounds while Keshad Johnson and Lamont Butler each had 11 points. Spencer Jones was the top player for Stanford with 15 points and 6 rebounds. San Diego State improves to 3-0 while Stanford falls to 1-2.
“Yeah, we just played an experienced San Diego State team,” Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said after the game. “We knew coming in it would be a battle and that we’d have to play our A-game to be able to get there and I don’t think we played our A-game and I also think they certainly deserved a lot of credit for playing really well.
“I thought first half, I always go back and watch the tape, I thought they made a lot of big time shots. A couple I think were defensive errors on our part. But a bunch of them were just big time players making big time shots and so I give them credit for that. We were hoping before the game they would have zero second chance points. I would say we’d have a really good chance.
"The other thing is I believe six turnovers in the first half, we had more in the second half, but a lot of those in the second half were the last quarter of the game where we started forcing a little bit more. Probably got out of discipline a little bit and in an attempt to cut the lead, which we weren’t able to do, but I think the first three quarters of the game the turnovers were limited.
“And again two keys to the game for us was trying to limit our turnovers and really do a great job on the boards and we did that. But at the end of the day, when the shots aren’t going in at the rate of the other team and the free throws aren’t going in at the rate of the other team, some of that is hard to overcome.”
San Diego State got off to a strong start in this game, leading 20-11 with 10:28 to go in the first half. Kesha Johnson was leading the Aztecs with 5 points. As a team, the Aztecs were shooting a solid 7-13 from the field. As for the Cardinal, Harrison Ingram was leading the way with 5 points. As a team, the Cardinal were shooting 5-13 from the field, needing to get some more looks to drop.
With 7:49 to go in the half, it was a 26-13 lead for San Diego State. LeDee was now leading the Aztecs with 6 points on 3-4 shooting from the field. San Diego State was shooting 5-10 from 3-point range while Stanford was shooting 1-5.
With 3:52 to go in the half, San Diego State led 32-19. The Aztecs were playing good defense, holding the Cardinal to 8-23 (34.8%) shooting from the field and 1-7 shooting from 3-point range. The turnover battle was even as each team had four turnovers.
At halftime, San Diego State led 41-30. Spencer Jones finally made a 3-pointer for Stanford to beat the buzzer. His first of the year. That was huge. Jones and Ingram were each up to 7 points for Stanford while LeDee was leading the Aztecs with 10 points.
“It’s a big part of my game, but I still have ultimate confidence in it,” Jones said of his 3-point shooting. “It’s gonna fall. Just like with the team. Obviously the last two games we haven’t shot well, but we have trust that it’s gonna fall. So, I’m gonna keep shooting.”
San Diego State continued to lead with a comfortable 47-36 lead with 15:31 to go. LeDee was up to 12 points for the Aztecs. Stanford was in a drought. They needed to wake up.
After James Keefe got a nice hoop plus the foul, it was a 52-42 game with 11:55 to go. Stanford needed more of that as the outside shooting just wasn’t going their way.
“I need to go back and look at the tape, but for the most part the answer would be yes,” Haase said when asked about his team’s perimeter shot selection. “I don’t think many of them were forced from the three-point line. I believe this and it’s gonna take a lot more to shake my belief in the fact that we are a good shooting team. After the start right now, it doesn’t look like that, but I will say that in practice and in the workouts with the guys, I do think we are very very capable from three-point line, from the free throw line, and as time goes on, as the games come in and out I think we’re gonna see those percentages rise and I’m fully confident of that.”
With 7:51 to go, it was a 59-50 lead for San Diego State as Stanford was trying to make a comeback. Ingram (11 points) and Jones (10 points) were leading the Cardinal. Stanford was settling in, cutting San Diego State’s lead to six points, but they needed to get some stops.
With 3:52 to go, it was a 70-54 lead for San Diego State. The Cardinal were starting to fade as their 4-18 shooting from 3-point range wasn’t going to cut it. Not to mention the 15 turnovers.
In the end, San Diego State walked out with a 74-62 victory. Stanford played better in the second half and made it a bit of a game, but it’s tough to win when you get down by double digit points at halftime. Especially against a ranked opponent.
“I don’t know that I completely agree we played better in the second half,” Haase said. “Because the first half I actually thought we did some really good things and obviously the lead was bigger than what we wanted and they were making shots, but fundamentally when we talked about our game plan, we really executed some things well. I thought we made some personnel mistakes in terms of who we were guarding, how we were guarding certain actions that led to about 10 of their points and that was a real mistake.
“But some of the shots they made in the scouting report, we said hey, these are the shots we’re gonna expect. It’s gonna be over a hand and as long as we get the rebound, we’re gonna call those good possessions. And I thought there were a number of those in the first half. Second half I actually thought we got a little bit looser with the basketball, there were more turnovers, I thought we competed throughout, but I thought first half and second half had different feels. I’m not willing right now to label one was better than the other.
“But I do think the guys, the message was we have a game plan and the first half for the most part I thought we followed it. And the message at halftime was continuing to follow the game plan and six threes in the first half for them, two in the second half, and that’s kinda what I had expected and hoped for, but the turnovers ended up getting us in the second half.”
For Stanford, this game is a disappointment in that this was an early opportunity to pick up a signature win for their NCAA tournament resume. Given that the Pac-12 is not particularly strong this year, there’s not going to be many resume building wins come league play. That’s why they’re playing a tough non-conference schedule. Stanford really does need to win some of these games and to not win one at home stings.
At the same time, Stanford did show some resolve in the second half, they didn’t give up, and one also has to bet that they shoot a lot better from 3-point range going forward. We certainly did not see the best of this Stanford team tonight and that should give them some comfort.
Up next for Stanford is a home game against Cal Poly on Friday. That will begin at 8:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Bay Area.
To connect with CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
To connect with Ben Parker on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
