Stanford pulls away from Eastern Washington, 78-62

Dec 16, 2019, 03:05 am

STANFORD, Calif. -- Stanford needed a wake-up and coach Jarod Haase delivered one at halfitme.

"He told us we made up our own imaginary game plan," said Daejon Davis of the first half. "It was a complete lack of focus. We followed his more in the second half."

Davis scored 19 points, one of four to reach double figures, and Stanford beat Eastern Washington 78-62 on Saturday after trailing at halftime.

Cormac Ryan scored 12 points, all on three pointers, for the Cardinal (5-4), who avenged last year's loss to the Eagles. Oscar da Silva added 13 and KZ Okpala had 10.

"We knew we didn't play our best half of basketball," Ryan said. "We came back out with better attention to detail and played with fire."

Jesse Hunt scored 27 points to lead the Eagles (1-8), who lost their fifth straight. Luka Vulikic added 11 points.

"They started playing a bit more up tempo, they got us to turn the ball over, they got us on the glass, where we thought we'd need to be able to fight with them," Eagles coach Shantay Legans said. "They came out and made big shots; guys that didn't make shots this season hit some big threes. I think DeSilva had three (threes), he's had three all season. So that's huge. And their point guard (Davis) had a great game tonight, and that put us on our heels."

Ryan hit a 3-pointer about five minutes into the second half to give Stanford its first lead of the game and its first lead over Eastern Washington since early in the first half of last year's contest.

The Eagles did not fly away, though, remaining within a few points until the final three minutes, when Stanford extended its lead to double figures.

Five different Eagles combined to make their first six shots, helping them open a 17-5 advantage midway through the first half. Eastern Washington was 6 of 19 the rest of the half, allowing Stanford, 3 of 12 from long range, to close the gap.

Davis converted a three-point play in the final six seconds and the Cardinal drew within 32-27 by intermission.

BIG PICTURE

Eastern Washington: The Eagles, picked to finish fourth in the Big Sky, ended a five-game road trip against the Cardinal. ... Jesse Hunt recorded four double-doubles in his previous six games. ... The Eagles are without returning starter Mason Peating, who has yet to play. "I'm hoping we get him back next week sometime," Legans said. "We're pushing the 21st. He's been out since the spring. He's got a toe problem. He's an all-league big guy. We're missing some size and he's one of the smartest players I know. He's like a coach on the floor."

Stanford: Freshman Bryce Wills is the youngest player in the Pac-12 and seventh youngest in NCAA Division I. ... The Cardinal is 20-4 against the Big Sky Conference, with two losses coming last year to Eastern Washington and Portland State. ... Davis was 4 of 4 from the field and 3 of 3 from the foul line in the first half.

UP NEXT

Eastern Washington hosts South Dakota State on Tuesday, its first home game in over a month.

Stanford hosts San Jose State on Tuesday night.

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