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Stanford is unbeaten
in its first eight games, has already knocked off a top-ranked team and has
beaten its last four opponents by an average of almost 20 points per game.
The only question is: How good would the sixth-ranked Cardinal be if junior
guard Josh Childress was playing?
The Cardinal (8-0) will try to continue their fast start without their top returning player when they meet hapless Harvard (0-10) at Maples Pavilion on Sunday.
With Childress out until January with a stress fracture in his left foot, the Cardinal figured to have some trouble navigating the nonconference portion of their schedule. However, Stanford has instead flourished, using a balanced and deep attack to knock off the likes of then-No. 1 Kansas on Dec. 6 and 15th-ranked Gonzaga on Dec. 20.
On Monday, the
Cardinal stormed past Southern Utah 67-37 as Dan Grunfeld scored a career-high
21 points and fellow reserve Matt Haryasz added a career-high 15.
``Our bench really came in and gave us a lift,'' Stanford coach Mike Montgomery
said. ``Our front-line guys were a little tired, and it showed early on. But
we have a lot of depth.''
The backups led the way against Southern Utah, scoring 21 of the team's first 28 points as Stanford broke away with a 24-2 run midway through the first half.
Grunfeld had 11 points during the spurt, and Haryasz added eight.
``Our starters played a lot of minutes the other night (against Gonzaga), and they might have come out a little flat at first,'' Haryasz said. ``That gave Danny and I a chance to come in early and show what we could do. Once we all got into a rhythm, we had our way out there.''
Senior guard Matt Lottich leads four Stanford players averaging double figures in scoring with 13.6 points per game. However, the Cardinal boast eight players averaging at least 6.8 points per contest.
Childress, the Cardinal's top scorer last season, is expected back in time for the Pac-10 opener against Washington State on Jan. 2.
The Crimson came close to getting their first win of the season on Monday, going into overtime before falling to Rider 101-95.
Kevin Rogus scored 26 points and Matt Stehle added 22 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for Harvard, which committed 25 turnovers and allowed an opponent to break the 100-point mark for the first time in 10 years.
The Crimson have dropped 12 straight games dating to last season and have won just two of their last 22.
Rogus leads the Harvard attack and ranks third in the Ivy League in scoring, averaging 18.6 points per game.
The Cardinal lead the all-time series 7-0, with five of those victories coming at home.