Landry Fields/AP Photo Marcio Jose Sanchez
Stanford's 57-52 men's basketball victory over Virginia on Tuesday in Cancun, Mexico, was another showcase for the varied skills of Landry Fields, but the win was more significant for other reasons, .
First, and foremost, it gave the Cardinal (3-2) a victory against the best team it has faced this season. The Cavaliers (3-2) are not a great team by any means and are expected to finish near the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference. But they still are a better team than the two that beat Stanford -- San Diego and Oral Roberts. In fact, Virginia beat Oral Roberts by 21 points over the weekend.
Second, the young Cardinal showed it could win a close game. It was involved in tight games against both San Diego and Oral Roberts, but let both get away down the stretch. On Tuesday, Stanford dominated the final five minutes to break away, although some shaky free-throw shooting provided some nervous moments at the end.
Third, wins such as this one, combined with the struggles of other Pac-10 teams (see story on Pac-10 basketball here), give Stanford some hope that it can compete for an upper-division finish in the conference after being picked to finish last.
Finally, it gives Stanford the opportunity to play No. 5 Kentucky, which features new coach John Calipari and freshman standouts John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins. The Cardinal has not faced Kentucky since losing to the Wildcats in the national semifinals of the 1998 NCAA Tournament, but the two will meet again Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. West Coast time.
It is a chance for Fields to show his talent against a nationally ranked team after collecting 25 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals against Virginia. Coached by former Washington State coach Tony Bennett, Virginia plays the same clog-the-middle defense that made the Cougars such a nuisance to play, so the low score was not a surprise.
The Cavaliers held a one-point lead with 4:52 left before the Cardinal reeled off nine straight points, including five by Jeremy Green, who had been 2-for-10 from the field before his late production. The Cardinal led by eight points with less than three minutes left and still held a five-point lead with 40 seconds left, which is when Jarrett Mann missed the first of a one-and-one free-throw situation. Twenty-two seconds later Mann missed two more foul shots to give Virginia life.
Mann was 2-for-7 from the line and the Cardinal was 5-for-13 on free throws at that point before Fields hit a pair of foul shots with 10 seconds left to seal the win.
Green finished with 10 points, and Drew Shiller nine, but it was defense that won the game for Stanford, which limited the Cavaliers to 37.8 percent shooting.
The Cardinal was 8-for-16 on three-pointers, including 3-for-4 by Shiller and 2-for-3 by Fields. In fact, the Cardinal shot better from the three-point line than from the foul line.
For more Bay Area college basketball and football, go to jakestakeonsports.com.
See also:
STANFORD’S NEXT OPPONENT: VIRGINIA
STANFORD MEN USE SMALL LINEUP WITH SUCCESS
STANFORD LOSES AT BUZZER, BUT MAY HAVE FOUND POINT GUARD
VANDERVEER SAYS THIS STANFORD TEAM BETTER THAN LAST YEAR. IS IT?
PEDERSEN LEADS STANFORD IN HOME OPENER
APPEL NOT TEAM'S TOP SCORER -- AGAIN
EX-STANFORD PLAYERS IN NBA: JARRON COLLINS HAS BIG GAME
ACCOLADES FOR STANFORD'S RECRUITING CLASS
See scout.com's top 25 classes here.
PAC-10 MEN'S UPDATE: UCLA, OREGON STATE LOSE OPENERS
OGWUMIKE PAC-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
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