Sun Devils crash the glass to beat Stanford
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona State had some success offensive rebounding in its first meeting with Stanford, yet was unable to turn it into a victory.
Taking good shots and crashing the offensive glass even harder earned the Sun Devils a win in the rematch.
Savon Goodman had 16 points, Eric Jacobsen added 13 and Arizona State used a dominant offensive rebounding performance to beat Stanford 74-61 Thursday night.
"If you take good shots that your teammates expect you to take and you miss, they're in good position to rebound," Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said.
Coming off a rough week, Arizona State (15-15, 5-12 Pac-12) shook off a shaky start to overwhelm the Cardinal by crashing the boards. The Sun Devils had 15 offensive rebounds that led to a 16-0 advantage in second-chance points and finished with 11 more rebounds overall.
Obinna Oleka had nine rebounds, while Goodman and Jacobsen grabbed seven each.
"We just rebounded the ball and controlled them defensively," Goodman said.
Stanford (15-13, 8-9) fell into a 15-point hole after a turnover-filled first half and remained out of reach until late thanks to Arizona State's offensive rebounding.
The Cardinal hit a few late 3-pointers and began fouling, but Arizona State made its free throws down the stretch to hold them off.
Dorian Pickens scored 19 points, Michael Humphrey added 15 and Rosco Allen 14 for Stanford.
"Give them credit, they made some plays," Cardinal coach Johnny Dawkins said. "They turned us over a few times and they got out and got some easy baskets. That got them some momentum."
The Sun Devils had a dismal game at No. 13 Utah last week, falling behind 30-2 before losing 81-46. The Sun Devils bounced back with a better effort three days later against Colorado, but still lost 79-69.
The Cardinal bounced back from a difficult start to the Pac-12 season by playing some of their best basketball lately, including a sweep of Southern California and UCLA last week.
Stanford won the first meeting with Arizona State on Jan. 23 in Northern California, holding off the Sun Devils 75-73 behind Allen's 24-point night.
The rematch got off to an ugly start, with four combined turnovers and one made shot -- on eight attempts-- in the opening 4 1-2 minutes.
Once the teams settled down, the ball started going through the basket a little more.
Pickens, who had 25 points against USC last week, found gaps in Arizona State's defense, hitting 3 of 4 from 3-point range to keep the Cardinal close midway through.
The Sun Devils struggled with Stanford's length in its zone early before starting to get the ball inside. Arizona State hit five straight shots to build a seven-point lead and used its defense to set up easy shots in transition while building a 37-22 halftime lead.
Goodman had nine points and the highlight of the first half, soaring in for an alley-oop from Gerry Blakes for Arizona State's last basket.
Stanford had 10 turnovers in the first half, leading to 18 points for Arizona State, many of those in transition.
"I loved how we closed the half with our energy," Hurley said.
Arizona State continued to pile up the offensive rebounds in the second half to keep the Cardinal from mounting a comeback.
The Sun Devils repeatedly got the ball in the lane for dunks and layups while hitting 8 of their first 13 shots and kept a double-digit cushion most of the second half.
Humphrey hit two late 3-pointers and Allen hit another, but the Cardinal ran out of time to finish the comeback.
Stanford: The Cardinal trailed at halftime for the first time in six games. ... Stanford had five second-half turnovers after the rough first half.
Arizona State: The Sun Devils shot 42.6 percent and made 8 of 22 from 3-point range, including 1 of 8 in the second half.
Stanford plays at No. 18 Arizona on Saturday.
Arizona State hosts No. 25 California on Saturday.
