Stanford escapes 1st-round test from BYU
It looked like Stanford had BYU on the ropes a couple of times, leading by 14 points with a little more than six minutes left and then by 10 with 36 seconds to go Wednesday night.
The Cougars fought back each time, and the Cardinal had to wait until BYU’s TJ Haws missed a last-second three-point try before they could escape with an 86-83 nail-biter in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament at Maples Pavilion.
Elijah Bryant’s three with 11 seconds left made it 85-83. Stanford’s Daejon Davis made one of two foul shots for a three-point spread with 8.6 seconds to go. After KZ Okpala fouled Bryant with 5.6 seconds left, Bryant missed the first free-throw try, then the second intentionally. Haws’ attempt bounced off the rim.
“I wouldn’t say it was
“I wouldn’t say it was nerve-racking. We’ve been put in that position many times.” Reid Travis, Stanford forward
nerve-racking,” said Stanford forward Reid Travis, who had 25 points and 14 rebounds. “We’ve been put in that position many times. … I’m proud of the way we finished.”
After collecting just its third win in nine all-time meetings with the Cougars, 3-seed Stanford (19-15) will play 2-seed Oklahoma State (20-14) in Stillwater, Okla., on Monday.
Dorian Pickens scored 17 points for Stanford. Oscar da Silva had 13, Davis 12 and Michael Humphrey 11. With seven assists, Davis ran his season’s total to 156, breaking Brevin Knight’s school record (150) for a freshman.
Bryant led BYU (24-11) with 28 points, including eight in the final 36 seconds to put the home fans on edge. Yoeli Childs scored 11 points before fouling out with 2:27 left, and Haws added 10.
“I’m extremely impressed with their program,” Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said. “At no point did I feel comfortable with the lead. I thought we could have made some better plays, but you have to give them a ton of credit for fighting and competing.”
The Cardinal conceivably could have another game at Maples, but only if they beat Oklahoma State, which has twice beaten Kansas, a team that throttled Stanford by 21 points. Also, Western Kentucky would have to beat USC for the Cardinal to get that home game.
“It’s always good to get a win here,” Humphrey, a senior, said. “Hopefully, we can get another game here later.”
With the NCAA once again using the NIT as an experiment, the event is using a three-point arc farther from the basket, a wider lane, 10-minute quarters and a 20-second shot clock after offensive rebounds.
With 6:13 left, BYU head coach Dave Rose was called for a technical foul, and Pickens made both foul shots for a 72-58 lead. “We were frustrated with a lot of things that were happening,” Rose said.
The Cougars weren’t dead, though. A layup by Luke Worthington, a nifty fastbreak layup by Haws and back-to-back baskets by Jahshire Hardnett made it 72-68 with 2½ minutes left.
Stanford built the lead back to 83-73, thanks mainly to a three-pointer and four straight foul shots by Davis. Then the Cougars made their final, unsuccessful surge. Briefly: The Cardinal committed 13 turnovers in trailing 39-35 at the half. They quickly took control of the game in the third quarter, however . ... BYU forward Payton Dastrup had 12 stitches in his chin and a lacerated tongue after a fall under the basket in the first half, but came back to play in the second half.