Cougars best Cardinal in freshman duel
Two freshmen guards from the Atlanta area put on quite a show at Maples Pavilion on Thursday night. And even though Kanaan Carlyle set a Stanford record for points in a game by a freshman, Washington State’s Myles Rice got to enjoy the evening more than Carlyle did.
That’s because not only did Rice pour in a WSU freshman-record 35 points, but the Cougars did not trail and led by as many as 19 as they rolled the Cardinal 89-75.
Carlyle scored 31 points, breaking the school freshman record of 30 set by Todd Lichti against Seton Hall on Dec. 22, 1985, and matched by Chasson Randle against Arizona State on March 7, 2012.
After scoring 11 points in the first half, Carlyle went for 20 after intermission. He finished 10-for-18 from the floor, including 3-for-5 from beyond the arc, and 8for-9 at the foul line.
“It was just me being in attack mode,” Carlyle said. “I feel like my coaches have been on me about being in attack mode, getting downhill
and being able to make plays, whether it’s for myself or for my teammates.”
WSU head coach Kyle Smith said, “Carlyle is like the five-years-ago James Harden; he’s relentless. He’ll either put you in a pickle and foul him or he’ll fall back and make a 3.”
Rice has had two redshirt seasons; he missed all of last season while receiving treatment for Hodgkin’s
lymphoma. He has thrived in 2023-24, being named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week three times, including last week after the Cougars beat USC and Arizona.
He displayed a knack for maneuvering into the lane and also showed off a nice shooting touch; he went 15for-24 from the floor, including 5-for-10 from distance. Rice contributed
game highs of eight assists and four steals.
“It was just my night, you know?” Rice said. “I feel like I found my spots pretty well.”
Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said, “Rice was able to really do a lot of different things of getting to the paint. I thought we had some defensive breakdowns, but that doesn’t take away from him — because that individual performance was off the charts.”
Stanford (9-8, 4-3 Pac-12) was careless with the basketball; the Cardinal committed 17 turnovers (six by Carlyle), including 12 in the first half. WSU (13-5, 4-3) scored 19 points off those turnovers. Stanford scored only seven points off the Cougars’ nine turnovers.
Haase balanced the historic night for Carlyle coming on a down night for the Cardinal.
“It’s an impressive record, to say the least,” Haase said. “It’s something he can and should be proud of, but I think he feels the same way I do is that the individual accolades are great, but at the end of the day, we’re chasing victories.
“The individual stuff tends to be a little bit hollow until you get the team victory.”
Briefly: Stanford had to do without two fifth-year players: forward Spencer Jones, who’s dealing with a wrist issue, and point guard Jared Bynum, who missed his third straight game because of a lowerbody injury. … Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud had his third straight double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. … WSU’s Isaac Jones, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week, had 24 points on 11-for-17 shooting. … The Cougars’ Oscar Cluff had a double-double with 12 points and 14 boards.