On Sunday, Stanford men’s basketball defeated Idaho 82-64. Stanford freshman small forward Andrej Stojakovic led the way for the Cardinal with 17 points on 7-11 shooting from the field and 3-6 shooting from 3-point range while graduate student shooting guard Michael Jones had 14 points. Stanford junior center Maxime Raynaud also finished with a double-double of 12 points & 13 rebounds while freshman point guard Kanaan Carlyle made his Stanford debut with 11 points, three rebounds, and two assists. Idaho redshirt freshman forward Tyler Linhardt was the top performer for the Vandals with 16 points. Stanford improves to 5-4 overall while Idaho falls to 6-5.
BOX SCORE: Idaho at Stanford-Sunday, December 17th
VIDEO: Stanford MBB Press Conference | Idaho
“Coming out of finals there's always a little bit of a concern,” Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said after the game. “You know, guys have had two weeks off and really been grinding hard in the classroom, so you never know exactly what you're going to see out there. We did practice hard over these two weeks and tried to address some things on both ends of the floor, especially the defensive end of the floor, and also give them time to get their schoolwork done but I thought especially in the first half, I was very pleased with our defensive intensity and ability to execute the game plan and the fundamentals of what we're trying to teach.
“Offensively, when we got the ball to the paint we were exceptionally efficient, when we didn't get the ball to the paint we were exceptionally inefficient, and then the second half, you know a little more disappointed. Human nature does come into play, but the end of the day, if you're going to be a big time team you have to fight human nature and continue to do the things that you know got you the lead and the positive things. And we did respond as needed as the half wore on, but I think there's going to be a lot of teaching points in the second half of just simply doing the fundamentals and executing what we're supposed to do.”
Stanford got out to a 19-12 lead with 11:20 to go in the first half. Carlyle had just checked into the game, draining a corner three. Jared Bynum was also leading the Cardinal with five points.
Stanford continued to expand their lead, going up 36-20 with 1:57 to go in the half. Carlyle was up to six points after making a couple of threes. Raynaud was leading the Cardinal in scoring with eight points. It continued to be a solid start for the Cardinal.
Stanford led 41-22 at halftime. Stojakovic and Raynaud each had eight points for the Cardinal, leading the team in scoring. Carlyle’s stat line at the half was six points and one assist on 2-3 shooting from 3-point range. The Cardinal ended the half on a 12-2 run, going into the tunnel with some momentum.
With 15:55 to go in the game, Stanford led 47-27. Stojakovic and Raynaud each had 10 points. Stanford was shooting 19-35 from the field and 6-16 from 3-point range. Idaho was shooting 11-40 from the field and 4-19 from 3-point range.
With 11:49 to go, Stanford led 57-38. Stojakovic was heating up with 15 points on 6-10 shooting from the field and 3-6 shooting from 3-point range. The Cardinal were on cruise control.
“Andrej as we know is very very talented,” Haase said of Stojakovic. “I think he’s done a great job, especially the last couple weeks of buying into the defensive end of the physicality. You know, guarding the basketball, fighting through screens, challenging shots, boxing out, and what I told him is that practice, those repetitions of hitting people, being physical, one of the greatest benefits is gonna help him on the offensive end. Because he just gonna get used to getting bumped when he drives, people slapping at his arms, that kinda thing.
“And I think offensively we know he can shoot the basketball, but he’s getting better and better and better at putting the ball on the ground through contact. You know, against quicker players and then securing that basketball and not turning it over. Which he was doing a little bit earlier in the year. So, he’s doing great, continuing to get better. I think his trajectory is on the right line and I think my hope and expectation is gonna continue moving up.”
Idaho would then get back in the game a bit as it was a 61-47 lead for Stanford with 8:39 to go. Raynaud had a double-double with 10 points & 13 rebounds. Stanford was still in control, but they needed to close the door on the Vandals.
In the end, Stanford would do just that, winning by a final score of 82-64. A dunk by James Keefe and a triple by Max Murrell down the stretch served as the proverbial nail in the coffin. Idaho actually pretty hard, but Stanford was simply the better team from start to finish.
“Well, I think it’s a good position to be in but it’s also something for us to learn,” Raynaud said of maintaining a lead throughout the game. “Because we’re leading by nineteen at half and then when we came back, we kinda took our foot off the gas. So they were able to come back a little bit. So I think next step for us is just to learn how to maintain this lead all the time and never let them be able to come back in the game. But yeah, it’s definitely a good problem to have.”
For Stanford, the big news was getting Carlyle back. It was his first game after missing the fall quarter with some sort of academic issue that has since been resolved. He played well and did a nice job knocking down some shots, being active on defense, and also making some nice passes. He had a really pretty lead pass in transition to Stojakovic for an easy bucket. You could tell that the guard play had taken a real step up. For him to come out of the gates so strong and confident was really encouraging for Stanford. Especially since they’ve been off to a bit of a rocky start this season.
“Yeah, it was really cool having him out there,” Haase said of Carlyle. “He’s really a tremendous person. Obviously anxious to get out there. I was extremely impressed that he didn’t try to do too much. We obviously talked before the game about his excitement level and wanting to be out there. Wanting to be aggressive. But I thought the best thing he did was just get out there, get in the flow of the game, allow just the feel of being out there in competition in the college game happen and then once that happened I thought he made many good decisions, played really hard, obviously he can add a lot with his athleticism and activity. On the offensive end, obviously he can get to the paint and make some open shots. So I thought he did very well.”
Stanford fifth year forward Spencer Jones was not available for this game. He missed the game due to a leg injury and is considered day-to-day going forward. He continues to be banged up, which is not good for Stanford. If they want to make some noise in conference play, they’re really going to need him to be at full strength.
“Yeah, obviously when a guy like Spencer Jones is out, we know and the coaching staff understands that we have to step up whether you’re coming off the bench or you’re starting,” Stojakovic said of having to pick up the slack with Jones out. “So, just the confidence that my teammates had in me just to come in and make shots and create plays.”
Up next for Stanford is a road game at San Diego State. That will be on Thursday at 6:00 PM PT on CBS Sports Network.
“Yeah, going on the road in a great environment, it’ll be challenging against a team that’s very talented, had a lot of success,” Haase said of facing the Aztecs. “Culturally, they’re used to winning and playing at a high level. So we understand it’s a great challenge and we also believe that’s an opportunity for us. Going into conference play, playing a true road game against a good opponent is, that’s part of the plan. That’s why it’s on the schedule. So, our attitude we’ll be we’re gonna have a great deal of excitement. Really trying to prepare well over the next few days and put our best foot forward when we’re down there.”
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