Stanford throttles Oklahoma St. at Garden
Chasson Randle #5 of the Stanford Cardinal drives the ball against Cezar Guerrero #1 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys during the 2011 Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden. (Nov. 23, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
The only one on Stanford's bench who had much experience with Madison Square Garden was coach Johnny Dawkins, whose NBA days are long past him. But Cardinals forward Josh Owens played like he owned the place in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off Wednesday night, making his first nine shots and scoring 21 points to lead the Cardinal to a 82-67 victory over Oklahoma State.
The victory put Stanford (5-0) into Friday afternoon's final against the winner of Wednesday night's late semifinal between Syracuse and Virginia Tech. Owens was the Cardinal's hottest shooter, making 10 of 12 overall to go with five rebounds and four steals, but he had plenty of help from Chasson Randle (17 points) and Aaron Bright (15), who combined to hit 6 of 11 three-pointers as Stanford made 9 of 19 from behind the arc.
The game was the first for the Cowboys since the tragic private plane crash last Thursday that claimed the lives of OSU women's basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna. The Cowboys (3-1) were led by 16 points from Le'Bryan Nash and got 11 points and six rebounds from Markel Brown, but they were held to 38.5 percent shooting in the second half.
"We're excited to be playing in the championship game in Madison Square Garden, and we're happy to be in the Big Apple during the holidays," Dawkins said. "I thought our guys played well together, and we had stretches where we played really, really good defense."
Owens' defense triggered his offense as he forced early turnovers that led to fast-break points at the other end. Stanford jumped out to an early 13-7 lead on the strength of 11 straight points by Owens on a variety of moves in the paint.
"It's my senior year," Owens said. "Leave nothing out there. You notice they're going in and you're on a streak, but just keep playing to win. Wait until the ball comes to you and seek out your shots and your spots."
Oklahoma State shot its way back into a game, and cut it to 40-35 on a Fred Gulley jumper with 1:08 left in the first half. Over the next 4:49 spanning the halftime break, the Cardinal went on an 18-0 run.
Asked if the Cowboys' emotional state was a factor in the outcome, coach Travis Ford said, "No, I don't want to make any excuses on that . . . It's been a long week, but I think our guys were ready to go."
Stanford pulled away, with its biggest lead at 70-42. Reflecting on his first Garden experience, Owens said, "It was great. Usually when I come to 34th and Seventh, it's to get to Penn Station to catch the train over to New Jersey."
