Stanford dominates inside, thumps Washington

SEATTLE (AP) — Oscar da Silva scored 18 points, Jaiden Delaire added 15 points, and Stanford thumped Washington 79-61 on Thursday night for its fourth win in five games.

The Cardinal (14-8, 10-6 Pac-12) began its final extended road trip of the regular season with an easy blowout win fueled by a huge second half shooting performance. The Cardinal made 12 of their first 14 shots to start the second half and led by as many as 26 in the final 20 minutes.

Stanford’s Daejon Davis added 12 points off the bench in what could be his final visit to his hometown during his college career. The real dominance for the Cardinal came on the interior where they outscored Washington 50-28 on points in the paint.

Stanford entered the week squarely on the fringes of the NCAA tournament and avoided what would have been a costly stumbled against the lowly Huskies. The Cardinal still have games against Oregon and at No. 17 USC that could help their tournament resume.

Washington (4-17, 3-13) lost for the sixth time in seven games and let reserves play most of the final 11 minutes after falling behind 62-36. Reserve guard Cole Bajema scored a career-high 13 points. Erik Stevenson had all 11 of his points in the first half for Washington, but appeared to injure his left leg on a breakaway in the closing seconds of the half and played sparingly in the second half.

Leading scorer Quade Green didn’t score until the opening moments of the second half and finished with just five points.

THE TAKEAWAY

Stanford: The Cardinal shot 57.4% in the victory and 68% in the second half. It was the fifth time in six games the Cardinal topped 50% shooting and was the second-highest mark in conference play.

Washington: Turnovers again were a major problem for the Huskies. Washington had six total turnovers in its victory over Washington State earlier this week. They had six turnovers in the first eight minutes against Stanford. Washington finished with 20 turnovers.

THOSE AREN’T CARDBOARD

For the first time this season, Washington had a very limited number of fans in the arena. Per local and state guidelines, Washington allowed up to 60 player guests per team to attend Thursday’s game and will do the same for Saturday’s regular season home finale.

UP NEXT

Stanford: The Cardinal will play at Washington State on Saturday.

Washington: The Huskies will host California on Saturday.

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