Corvallis, OR – The Stanford Cardinal headed to Corvallis to play Oregon State coming off a road loss Saturday to Oregon. Stanford would pull away in the end, to secure an 81-71 victory. They held Oregon State to 1-of-9 field goal shooting s to close the game and outscored them in the paint 50-24.
All Pac-12 Senior forward Oscar da Silva, the conference leader in scoring (19.3 ppg) and field goal percentage (66.3) dominated the interior on both ends of the floor. He finished one-point shy of his career-high with 31 points (11-16 FG, 9-12 FT) and added ten rebounds, and four assists. da Silva has good footwork, experience, and skill around the paint to complete plays with either hand versus contact.
The Beavers struggled out of the starting blocks as they only made three of their first ten shots to begin the game. 6-8 freshman Ziaire Williams kept the pressure on as he sank an early three-pointer giving the Cardinal their first ten-point lead (14-4) with 14:21 on the clock.
Sophomore point guard Gianni Hunt gave Oregon State its first lead of the game (27-26) on his third three-pointer of the half with 3:40 on the clock, Hunt would score 13 of his 17 points (6-11 FG, 4-6 3FG, 1-2 FT) in this half to keep the Beavers in the game. Neither team shot the ball particularly well, however, Stanford led 23-15 on rebounds and 22-14 in the paint. A layup by Zach Reichle tied the game 33-33.
Stanford’s 6-9 junior, athletic forward Jaiden Delaire made his presence felt in the game in every aspect with pressure defense, running lanes and ball handling en route to contributing 19 points (6-11 FG, 7-9 FT) and nine rebounds.
One of the best players on the floor this afternoon was 6-2 freshman guard Michael O’Connell who came off the Bench to spark Stanford after 6-6 junior guard Bryce Wills left in the first half with an injury. He finished the game with 12 points (4-7 FG, 4-5 FT), seven rebounds, and eight assists. O’Connell did a good job of pushing the ball up the floor, forcing the tempo, being aggressive taking the ball to the basket, and playing tough defense. The Beavers lost one of their bigs when 6-8 junior forward Rodrigue Andela left the game after nine minutes of play due to an injury which hurt the Beavers significantly in the game.
Stanford sprinted out of the second half scoring 12 of the first 14 points before Oregon State could mount their comeback. The surge was led by 6-3 junior shooting guard Jarod Lucas who ranks 2nd in the conference in free throw percentage (93.9%) and didn’t miss a beat today as he made 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. He led the Beavers in scoring with 22 points (5-11 FG, 5-10 3FG). Lucas has a good jump shot with a quick release. However, their team shooting woes continued as Oregon State only shot 32% (11-of-34) on 3s today.
Senior guard Ethan Thompson had an off-shooting night. Despite the numbers, he still competed on both ends of the floor with solid effort as he finished with 10 points (3-12 FG, 0-6 3FG, 4-4 FT), two rebounds, and seven assists. 6-7 junior forward Warith Alatishe contributed eight points (4-9 FG), ten rebounds, and two assists while showing off his athleticism. He ranks second in the conference for rebounding (9.14), and currently averages nearly a double-double with 9.7 ppg and 8.9 rpg.
KEY GAME STATS
Field goal: Stanford 52% (28-52) – OSU 35% (23-66)
Total Rebounds: Stanford 43 – OSU 31
Fast break: Stanford 16 – OSU 7
Lead time: Stanford 32:20 – OSU 3:14
Oregon State (5-4, 1-2) has paused activity due to COVID-19. Their next scheduled games against Utah and Colorado have been postponed. Stanford (6-3, 2-1) hosts the Washington (1-7, 0-3) on January 7th.
This article was written by Lorenzo Leaks, a scout and correspondent for NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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