Men’s basketball » Stanford falls to No. 14 Kansas
SACRAMENTO » Stanford was no threat on Thursday night to replicate the victory over No. 14 Kansas that two of its Pac-12 Conference rivals achieved earlier this month.
The Jayhawks, smarting after losses toWashington and Arizona State, dominated from the start and ended their Pac-12 drought with a 75-54 victory at the Golden 1 Center.
Second-year coach Jerod Haase lost to his alma mater for the second straight season as the Cardinal (6-7) dropped to 0-11 against Top-25 teams the past two years.
Haase may have overscheduled this season, given earlier Cardinal losses by a combined 53 points to North Carolina, Florida and Ohio State. Thiswas no better: Stanford shot just 34 percent, scored a seasonlow point total and never got closer than 14 points in the second half.
“Certainly disappointment with this game,” Haase said. “If you ask me in a few days, I’m going to be full of optimism.”
Stanford opens Pac-12 play on Dec. 30 at home against Cal.
The Cardinal could not contain the 13- time de- fending Big 12 champion Jayhawks ( 10- 2), who made eight dunks and six 3-pointers in the first half while forging a 47-29 lead. KU shot 63 percent in the first half to the delight of a strong KU fan contingent among the announced crowd of 7,880.
“Shoutout to Jayhawk nation,” guard Devonte Graham said. “It was like a semi-home game for us.”
Those in red and blue cheered loudest for Idoka Azubuike, KU’s 7- foot, 280- pound sophomore center, who scored his team’s first 10 points, all of them on shots inside two feet. Azubuike made nine of his first 10 attempts on the way to scoring 24 points. He dunked seven times, pushing his season total to 49, and is shooting 77.9 percent through 12 games.
“He’s a huge guy, so it’s tough,” said center Michael Humphrey, who scored 20 points but was often left alone to defend Azubuike as Stanford opted against sagging off perimeter shooters.
Cardinal star Reid Travis, who scored 29 points against the Jayhawks last season, largely was held in check. The Pac-12’s top scorer at 22.2 points per game, he was limited to a season-low 12.
“They did a good job of trying to deny catches and trying to send a defender to help out,” Travis said. “But that’s something I’ve faced all year. I was a little disappointed in myself.”
Haase said he’s still not sure when starting guards Dorian Pickens and Marcus Sheffield, both sidelined by left foot injuries, might be ready to play. Pickens has missed the past 11 games, Sheffield the entire season so far.
But the Cardinal welcomed freshman forward Kezie Okpala, finally academically cleared after sitting out the team’s first 12 games. A consensus top- 50 prospect from Esperanza High in Los Angeles, Opkala played 28 minutes off the bench and scored six points.
“I was really proud of the way he competed,” Haase said. “We’re excited for big things moving forward from him.”
Stanford led 11-10 after a 3-pointer by Humphrey with 15:18 left in the first half. But the Jayhawks responded with an 18-2 run over the next 5 minutes, zooming into a 28-13 lead. The margin reached 31-15 aftera3-pointerbyGraham.