Stanford Stakes First Road Win At Northwestern

Dec 21, 2012; Evanston, IL, USA; L-R Stanford Cardinal guard Robbie Lemons (10), Northwestern Wildcats guard Reggie Hearn (11)and guard Chasson Randle (5) go for a loose ball during the first half at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

The Stanford Cardinal (8-4) were able to get back on the winning track edging out the Northwestern Wildcats (8-4) 70-68 in their last game before the Christmas break.

The first half was one of streaky shooting, both good and bad.  Stanford broke the game open early on and went on a 19-2 run to take a  commanding 32-14 lead with 7:04 left in the first half.  After that the Cardinal went ice cold and and did not score again until the very end of the half on a three pointer by John Gage.  During that span the Wildcats went on their own 17-0 run and the game went into the locker room with Stanford holding a 4 point lead.  At the half Stanford’s season-leading scorer Dwight Powell was only 2-10 from the field with 4 points.

In the second half the game was a much different story.  Neither team went on long runs, and each time Stanford would start to pull away Northwestern would fight their way back into the game.  Although Stanford did not trail the entire second half, their largest lead was only 8 which they held a couple times early on in the half.  The final tipping point came with 1:30 left in the game when Aaron Bright nailed a 3-pointer to put Stanford ahead 70-67 right after the Wildcats had hit one to tie the game at 67 apiece.  From that point on Northwestern was only able to get one more point and Stanford was able to win their first game away from home.

The Cardinal were able to muster their first win away from home with a team effort.  Their player of the game was big man Josh Huestis who scored 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds while shooting 50% from the field.  Leading scorer Dwight Powell ended the game with 8 points, managing to only hit 4 of his 12 shots from the field.  Although he only shot 33% from the field he was able to contribute on the defensive side of the floor with 6 boards and 4 blocks.

Also key to the game were John Gage and Robbie Lemons.  Gage scored 12 points, including 2-3 from behind the arc, in just 15 minutes off the bench. Lemons, who got the start and played a season-high 22 minutes, scored 12 big points including 4-8 from three point land.  The team as a whole was a much better 11 of 24 (45.8%) from three.

Northwestern had four players finish with double digits.  The two starters, Reggie Hearn and Alex Olah scored 18 and 16 points respectively.  The Wildcats also got key contributions off the bench from Tre Demps (12 points) and Alex Marcotullio (10 points), but to no avail.  Northwestern only shot 5 for 13 (38.5%) from the three-point line.  The Wildcats ended up not holding a lead throughout the whole game although they were able to tie the game a few times.