Stanford beats Washington State 71-56

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) Anthony Brown offered several reasons for Stanford's poor start and he wasn't entirely sold on any of them.

''Maybe it was the early starting time, I don't know,'' Brown said of the Cardinal missing nine of their first 10 shots. ''It could have been any number of things. It was a sluggish start.''

Chasson Randle scored 17 of his 18 points in the second half and Stanford opened Pac-12 play with a 71-56 victory over Washington State on Friday.

''Give them a lot of credit,'' Cardinal coach Johnny Dawkins said. ''They came out with a good game plan and played with a lot of energy. We were fortunate to come back in the first half and then win the second half.''

Brown added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Cardinal (9-3), who won their fourth straight and fifth of six. Stefan Nastic added 16 points and seven rebounds. Rosco Allen scored 10 points.

Josh Hawkinson had 11 points, all from the foul line, and 15 rebounds, one off his career high, as the Cougars (6-7) lost their seventh consecutive conference opener.

''We were excellent in executing our game plan, particularly in the first 10 minutes of the game,'' Cougars coach Ernie Kent said. ''We had an opportunity to really put them in a big hole, but we took some really quick shots - out-of-rhythm shots - consequently we missed those shots. In the second half, they were the aggressors.''

Washington State has not won a road conference game in nearly two years and has lost five straight to the Cardinal.

''We sort of let this one get away from us,'' Hawkinson said. ''They put it together in the second half.''

After missing all seven of his shots in the first half, Randle scored Stanford's first seven points of the second half, including a long range shot that tied the school record (241) for 3-pointers.

''We picked it up but we'll need to play better,'' Brown said. ''The bench carried us in the first half.''

Washington State missed its first six shots of the second half and the Cardinal opened with a 13-3 run to go up 40-27 with 14:42 to play.

Stanford was never seriously threatened the rest of the way.

The Cougars took a 14-4 lead on Ny Redding's jumper midway through the first half. Stanford missed its first seven shots and was 1 of 10 before making nine of its next 21 shots to rally for a 27-24 halftime lead.

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TIP-INS

Washington State: The Cougars are in the midst of playing five straight games against Northern California schools, having already played at Santa Clara and against San Jose State and UC Davis.

Stanford: Cardinal freshman forward Reid Travis was declared out indefinitely with a stress fracture. He started the Cardinal's first 11 games. Travis is averaging 7.5 points and a team-best 6.9 rebounds while shooting 44.6 percent overall. Grant Verhoeven made his first career start in Travis' place.

UP NEXT:

Washington State travels across the bay to play at California on Sunday.

Stanford hosts Washington on Sunday night.

BENCH PLAY

Marcus Allen and Rosco Allen combined for 14 points in the first half for Stanford as the bench outscored the starters 15-12. Robert Cartwright added a free throw. ''Rosco gives us versatility off the bench,'' coach Johnny Dawkins said. ''We want Marcus making plays for us and he had some great ones.''

MAN IN THE MIDDLE

Josh Hawkinson may be the most improved player in the country. He averaged 1.2 points and 1.6 rebounds a game last year. He leads the Pac-12 in rebounding (10.5) and is tied for the lead with eight double-doubles. ''I've found that all season long that there's a soft spot in the middle,'' he said. ''I really wasn't able to knock down a shot in this game, but it's normally there. I was having an off-day.''