The Sports Xchange
Dec 16, 2017
Daejon Davis scored 15 second-half points to help Stanford avoid being upset and the Cardinal hung on to beat Denver 75-62 on Friday night at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif.
Davis finished with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists to go with four turnovers as the Cardinal watched the Pioneers come almost all the way back from a 16-point deficit.
Reid Travis scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half for the Cardinal. Isaac White tossed in 17 and Michael Humphrey added 11.
Daniel Amigo and Jake Pemberton led Denver with 18 points and 13, respectively.
Davis and Travis each scored four points as the Cardinal jumped out to an 8-0 lead. Humphrey connected on three 3-pointers as Stanford extended the lead to 23-7. The Cardinal took their biggest lead of the night at 25-9 on a layup by Travis.
Denver didn't panic and chipped away at the deficit, getting within six with 2:22 left when Joe Rosga connected on a jumper to make the score 34-28.
White hit a 3 before both teams went scoreless the final 2:15 of the half.
The Cardinal (5-6) won for only the second time in seven games and the Pioneers (5-7) dropped their second straight game.
Stanford took a 37-28 lead into halftime on the strength of its 3-point shooting as the Cardinal connected on 9 of 19 attempts from beyond the arc.
Stanford maintained a 10-point advantage in the early part of the second half. The Pioneers sliced the deficit to seven on a handful of occasions, but the Cardinal had an answer each time.
A jumper by Thomas Neff got the Pioneers within seven at 51-44 with 14:04 left. Travis responded with a 3 and Neff came back with a 3. A layup by Davis and another 3 by the Pioneers, this time from Jake Pemberton, made the score 56-50. Pemberton added a free throw and a layup and Denver was within one possession.
Stanford built the lead back to double digits on five straight by White and Travis' jumper to give Stanford some breathing room at 72-58 with less than two minutes left.