Former Bellevue High star Aaron Bright scored a season-high 19 points, Dwight Powell added 16, and Stanford earned its first Pacific-12 Conference victory by beating Washington State, 78-67, on Wednesday night in Stanford, Calif.
Chasson Randle added 16 points for the Cardinal (10-6 overall, 1-2 Pac-12), which ended a two-game slide.
“When we got down, everyone dug a little deeper, found something in themselves and came out and made big plays,” Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. “It’s a great way to win.”
Washington State (9-6, 0-2) had trailed since midway through the first half when the Cougars grabbed a 42-41 lead on a 3-pointer by Brock Motum with 10:05 to play.
Motum, who scored a game-high 29, delivered a conventional three-point play with 7:10 left that gave the Cougars a 53-48 advantage.
Josh Huestis and Andy Brown both hit 3-pointers for Stanford to keep it close, as Washington State answered those buckets with interior scoring.
Randle put the Cardinal ahead when he made two free throws and then drove for a bucket with 5:08 remaining.
Powell delivered a put-back dunk and those plays served as the opening to a game-changing 14-0 run.
“The only way you can get on a run like that is to defend well,” Dawkins said. “We were finally able to get some stops.”
Stanford switched into a zone that slowed the pace, and the Cardinal began controlling the glass – Stanford outrebounded the Cougars 10-1 in the final seven minutes.
“We were just playing off each other’s energy,” said Powell, who added 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Stanford shot 52.3 percent for the game and was 14 of 24 in the second half. The Cardinal was even better from 3-point range, shooting 8 of 12 for the night.
“They made shots and we didn’t,” WSU coach Ken Bone said. “Along with that, I thought our energy was a little bit deflated. When they did start making some shots, all of sudden they were up by 8, 10, 12 and I thought that hurt us emotionally.”
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