Stanford stages rally to reach Diamond Head Classic final
Spencer Jones scored a career-high 25 points, Brandon Angel scored 10 of his 17 points in the final nine minutes and Stanford beat Liberty 79-76 on Thursday in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic semifinals in Honolulu, spoiling Darius McGhee’s 41-point performance.
The Cardinal advance to Saturday’s championship game where they will face Vanderbilt (84), which, behind Scotty Pippen Jr.’s 23 points, defeated BYU (10-3) in the other semifinal 69-67.
McGhee tied the tournament scoring record set by BYU’s Chase Fischer in the 2015-16 season. McGhee entered ranked 28th in the nation by averaging 19.8 points per game, and he was 13-of28 shooting with seven 3-pointers against Stanford. No other player for Liberty (8-5) scored more than six points.
Stanford (8-4) was ahead 76-67 with 41 seconds left before McGhee scored eight of the final 12 points. Angel made 1 of 2 free throws to give Stanford a three-point lead with 6.8 seconds left. After a timeout, Stanford fouled McGhee near midcourt and he made two free throws at 4.3.
Cardinal freshman Harrison Ingram made two free throws to regain a three-point advantage. Liberty wasn’t able to get the ball to McGhee, and Keegan McDowell turned it over near midcourt at the final buzzer.
Jones, averaging 7.7 points per game, was 8 of 11 from the field with five 3-pointers to top his previous high of 18 points for the Cardinal.
McGhee and Jones were the only two in double figures until 8:18 remaining in the game when Angel sank a 3-pointer to give Stanford a 57-55 lead.
In the first half, Stanford trailed by as many as 13 points before closing on an 18-6 run over the final four minutes. Michael O’Connell highlighted the first half by sinking a halfcourt shot at the buzzer to tie it at 36. Liberty only made three field goals in the final six minutes, going 3 for 11. WISCONSIN-GEORGE MASON CALLED OFF >> No. 24 Wisconsin’s home game against George Mason on Thursday was canceled because of positive COVID-19 tests within the Badgers’ program.
Wisconsin (9-2) initially was scheduled to host Morgan State on Thursday. However, the Bears bowed out of that contest because of COVID-19 issues within their program.
George Mason (7-5) stepped up to play the Badgers after its scheduled game for Thursday was canceled. Coincidentally, that contest was shelved because of COVID-19 problems for the
Patriots’ opponent, Baltimore-based Coppin State, the crosstown rival of fellow MEAC school Morgan State.
The Badgers have been idle since posting a 71-68 win over Nicholls on Dec.
15. Wisconsin is scheduled to return to action against visiting Illinois State on Wednesday.
• In the Big East, St. John’s and Butler were the latest teams to postpone a league game due to COVID-19 protocols. As of Thursday, St. John’s did not have seven healthy players to dress for the game.
The Big East officially walked back its policy surrounding COVID-affected games for men’s and women’s basketball earlier Thursday. Rather than having teams without enough healthy players forfeit and receive a loss for their conference record, the Big East will attempt to reschedule the game.
St. John’s (8-3) and Butler (7-4) have yet to begin their conference schedules. St. John’s original Big East opener was supposed to take place Monday at No. 15 Seton Hall, but the Pirates’ own COVID outbreak led to the game being postponed.
• Southeastern Conference basketball teams no longer will be required to forfeit games if they don’t have enough players available due to COVID-19.
The league announced its updated pandemic-related policy on Thursday.
Under the revised policies, teams will be required to play if they have at least seven scholarship players and one member of the coaching staff available. If they can’t meet those requirements, the game will be rescheduled, if possible, or declared a no contest.
The regulation change applies to both men’s and women’s basketball.
The previously established policy called for teams to forfeit if they didn’t have enough players. But the nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases has caused conferences to change their stance. On Wednesday, the Pac12 and Atlantic Coast Conference were among those to revoke their forfeiture rules.
“As we have done since the onset of the pandemic, we continue to evaluate our policies and procedures related to COVID-19 based on the most current information,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a news release. “Circumstances have clearly changed since our interrupted game policy was implemented in August and this updated approach is intended to support healthy, fair and equitable competition.”
The SEC also will allow teams to request a postponement if “there are other compelling circumstances that warrant delay,” the conference said.