Stanford Men's Basketball Gets by Washington State

Cardinal remains unbeaten with 82-72 victory.

Jan. 22, 1998

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) - Stanford remained undefeated, but coach Mike Montgomery wasn't pleased.

"We can't have too many games like this or we won't win," Montgomery said after the No. 5 Cardinal fought off a late Washington State comeback to win 82-72 Thursday night.

Stanford (17-0, 5-0 Pac-10) is one of two undefeated Division I teams. The other is No. 4 Utah, which beat Air Force 57-46 Thursday night.

Washington State (8-9, 1-5 Pac-10) closed within 73-67 with 1:50 remaining after hitting three of four free throws on a single possession when Stanford's Kris Weems was called for a blocking foul and then a technical for complaining to the referee.

Peter Sauer, who led Stanford with 18 points, hit a pair of free throws on the next possession to cut short Washington State's run. He hit one of two free throws 40 seconds later to seal the victory.

Sauer was 5-for-11 from the field and hit six of nine free throws. Tim Young and Arthur Lee each had 13 points, Weems 12 and Pete Van Elswyk 11 for Stanford.

Young injured his right knee after missing a jumper and coming down hard with 3:55 remaining. He sat out of the remainder of the game, and Montgomery said he would probably miss Saturday's game at Washington.

"Our kids don't feel really good about this win, but maybe that will motivate us for Saturday against UW," Montgomery said. "It's tough on the road in this league. We did enough to win."

Carlos Daniel led Washington State with 25 points and 16 rebounds.

"I think he's one of the best offensive rebounders in the country," said Van Elswick, who finished with 10 rebounds.

Lee and Young scored seven points apiece in the opening minutes as Stanford took a 24-10 lead. Washington State responded with runs of 9-3 run and 9-4 run to close within 35-30 at the break.

Stanford opened the second half with a 20-7 run to take a 55-37 lead with 15:12 remaining.

The Cardinal is off to its best start ever.

"You saw two good defensive teams tonight," Washington State coach Kevin Eastman said. "Stanford is well-deserving of their ranking. They came up with a lot of loose balls."

Montgomery was more guarded about his team's performance.

"It wasn't one of our best efforts," he said. "We seemed a half-step slow in our approach and lost focus on defending."