Weems, Knight Propel Cardinal Past Oklahoma, 80-67, in Opening Round of NCAA Tournament

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Kris Weems scored 20 points and Brevin Knight added 18 as sixth-seeded Stanford used a second-half run to break open a tight game and defeat 11th-seeded Oklahoma, 80-67, in an NCAA West Region first-round matchup at Tucson, Arizona.

Tim Young added 15, including the go-ahead basket just under four minutes into the second half. Stanford (21-7) will face third-seeded Wake Forest on Sunday.

Nate Erdmann, the only Sooner to hit a field goal in the final eight minutes, led Oklahoma (19-11) with 23 points.

After shooting 50 percent in the first half (14-of-28) the Sooners went cold over the final 20 minutes, connecting on just 10-of-32 attempts. Oklahoma also saw three players foul out in the second half.

"We're a team with a very small margin of error," Sooner coach Kelvin Sampson said. "Our foul trouble will affect us more so than it will someone else because of depth at certain positions. We've seen a lot of good guards but when you look at categories, all the categories that are representative of a great guard, this kid (Knight) scores high in just about every one."

Weems made 7-of-12 shots from the floor, including a pair of three-pointers, and was 4-for-4 from the line. Knight, who shot poorly in the first half, added seven rebounds, 10 assists and a pair of steal and led the Cardinal back in the second half. Young finished with 16 and eight boards.

"I think I asserted myself a little bit more in the second half," Knight said. "First half I was a little bit passive, pretty much trying to get a feel of the way they were going to play me...I've seen so many different defenses throughout the year that I just wanted to get a feel of how their players were going to react to me."

The Sooners drew within 70-65 on a two-pointer by Erdmann with 2:10 to go. But Mark Madsen hit a basket and Young followed with a pair of free throws for a 74-65 advantage. Knight then sealed the win with a basket with 63 seconds to play.

"Obviously, Brevin didn't shoot that well, but he had a great floor game, that gets the other guys more involved. I think that's what makes us a good team," Weems said.

Madsen came off the bench to sink all four of his shots, grab nine rebounds, and hand out a pair of assists in 22 minutes.

The teams played nearly error-free ball, with Oklahoma committing eight turnovers and Stanford just five.

OKLAHOMA (67)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Najera          23   2-4   1-2   1-3  0  5    5
Erdmann         40  9-20   0-0   2-7  3  2   22
Wiley           33   1-4   2-2   2-5  0  3    4
Heskett         10   0-2   0-0   1-1  1  1    0
Brewer          31  5-13   6-9   1-4  3  5   16
Evans           11   1-5   0-2   1-3  0  3    2
Moore           31  6-10   5-5   2-4  0  5   18
Stone           15   0-0   0-0   1-1  1  1    0
Allison          6   0-2   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 24-60 14-20 11-28  8 26   67
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.400, FT-.700. 3-Point Goals:
5-17, .294 (Erdmann 4-10, Heskett 0-2, Brewer
0-2, Moore 1-2, Allison 0-1). Team rebounds: 4.
Blocked shots: 2 (Wiley, Stone). Turnovers: 8
(Brewer 3, Wiley 2, Evans, Moore, Najera).
Steals: 1 (Moore).
STANFORD (80)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Weems           36  7-12   4-4   0-1  0  1   20
Sauer           23   2-7   2-2   1-3  2  1    7
Young           29   5-6   6-8   2-8  1  4   16
Lee             16   0-2   0-0   0-0  1  4    0
Knight          38  5-14  8-10   1-7 10  3   18
Moseley          6   0-3   0-0   2-3  0  2    0
Jackson         24   2-3   0-0   0-2  2  1    5
Van Elswyk       6   1-3   0-1   0-0  0  0    2
Madsen          22   4-4   4-7   3-9  2  2   12
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TOTALS         200 26-54 24-32  9-33 18 18   80
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Percentages: FG-.481, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals:
4-13, .308 (Weems 2-5, Sauer 1-2, Knight 0-2,
Moseley 0-2, Jackson 1-2). Team rebounds: 4.
Blocked shots: 2 (Weems, Knight). Turnovers: 5
(Sauer 2, Lee, Moseley, Young). Steals: 4 (Knight
2, Madsen, Weems).
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Oklahoma           33   34  -   67
Stanford           33   47  -   80
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 13,325. Officials:
Silverster, Bob Donato, Stanley Rote.

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