Stanford Works for This Victory

Mike Montgomery knows Stanford’s days of easy victories are over. His team now realizes it too.

Justin Davis had 17 points and 13 rebounds and led a second-half charge for the fifth-ranked Cardinal, which needed a strong finish to defeat Washington, 85-72, on Sunday at Stanford and remain undefeated.

“They gave us some anxious moments,” Montgomery said. “They’re certainly capable of scoring in bunches.”

Chris Hernandez had 13 points and nine assists and Nick Robinson had 13 points.

Stanford, 11--0 overall and 2-0 in the Pacific 10, shot 59.6% to beat the Huskies (5-5, 0-2) for the 12th time in the last 13 meetings.

Stanford welcomed the return of Montgomery, who served a one-game suspension -- the first of his career -- during Friday’s victory over Washington State for making contact with an official during a game against Arizona State last season.

Assistant Tony Fuller ran the team as Montgomery missed his first game in 18 seasons with the Cardinal.

Montgomery received a standing ovation when he walked onto the Maples Pavilion court before tipoff, and he smiled and waved to the fans who sat behind his bench.

Josh Childress, Stanford’s top returning scorer from last season playing only his second game after recovering from a left foot injury, scored four points with a dunk and grabbed five rebounds in 13 minutes. He picked up two quick fouls.

“We just tried to make sure he didn’t foul out within 10 minutes,” Montgomery said jokingly.

Childress was expected to play only about 12 minutes after going seven minutes Friday night.

“I kind of anticipated Josh being a little rugged and trying to do too much,” Montgomery said. “He’s just got to get back in game shape.”

After Washington started the second half with five straight points to cut the deficit to 41-39 on a three-point basket by Tre Simmons, the Cardinal scored 10 straight points -- the first four by Nick Robinson, then six straight by Davis -- to extend the lead to 51-39.

“At times, we were a little frustrated,” Washington Coach Lorenzo Romar said.

“We knocked on the door and a guy gets loose and makes a three.

“We continued to knock on the door, but we couldn’t get over the hump,” Romar said.

Washington, which shot 39% in its 76-62 loss Friday at California, was slightly better in this game, making 41.8%.

“They just had too many weapons for us,” said Nate Robinson, who scored 16 points.

“It seemed like whenever they needed a basket, boom, there it was.”

Washington State 55, California 50 -- Marcus Moore scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half to help the Cougars rally past the Golden Bears and end a 22-game Pac-10 road losing streak.

California (5-6, 1-1) called a timeout with 38 seconds left to set up a possible tying play, but Dominic McGuire shot an airball on a three-point attempt with 28 seconds left.

Amit Tamir scored 16 points for the Golden Bears, who had their six-game winning streak against Washington State end.

Moore, a 6-foot-6 senior guard, scored seven straight points during a 9-2 run in the second half, including a three-point basket with 5:22 left that gave the Cougars (7-5, 1-1) a 49-48 lead.

Moore seemed to elevate his game after an NBA scout acknowledged him with a wave from press row at the half.

The Cougars, who lost at No. 5 Stanford on Friday in their Pac-10 opener, played with more energy late in the game and made 10 of 12 free throws in winning their first conference road game since beating Arizona State, 58-57, on Feb. 8, 2001.

They also played great defense on California’s freshman star and leading scorer, Leon Powe.

Powe often faced double teams and was held without a basket -- missing all five of his shots -- to finish with two points and eight rebounds.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

*

Pac-10 Standings

*--* Conference All Games W L Pct. W L Pct. Stanford 2 0 1.000 11 0 1.000 UCLA 2 0 1.000 6 3 667 Arizona 1 0 1.000 9 1 900 Oregon 1 1 500 6 3 667 Washington St. 1 1 500 7 5 583 USC 1 1 500 6 5 545 California 1 1 500 5 6 455 Arizona St. 0 1 000 6 4 600 Oregon St. 0 2 000 6 6 500 Washington 0 2 000 5 5 500

*--*

SUNDAY’S RESULTS

* UCLA 81, Oregon 74

* USC 91, Oregon State 82

* Stanford 85, Washington 72

* Washington State 55, California 50

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE

* UCLA at Washington State, 7 p.m.

* USC at Washington, 7 p.m.

* California at Arizona, 5:30 p.m.

* Stanford at Arizona State, 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

* USC at Washington State, 1 p.m.

* UCLA at Washington, 7:30 p.m.

* Stanford at Arizona, 3:30 p.m.

* California at Arizona State, 5:30 p.m.

* Oregon at Oregon State, 7:30 p.m