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Stanford eases past Oregon State

Feb 10, 2008 - 6:07 AM PALO ALTO, California (Ticker) -- A big early lead enabled Stanford to endure an offensive freeze.

Lawrence Hill and Brook Lopez scored 14 points apiece to lead the No. 9 Cardinal to a 71-56 victory over Oregon State in the Pac-10 Conference on Saturday night.

Taj Finger added nine points to spark Stanford (20-3, 9-2 Pac-10) to its seventh consecutive victory and send Oregon State to its 13th loss in a row.

The Cardinal struggled more than expected against league doormat the Beavers (9-17, 0-11).

After building an 18-point lead midway through the second half, Stanford went nearly nine minutes without a field goal, allowing Oregon State to twice creep within nine points - the last time on a driving layup by Calvin Haynes with 2:53 to play.

The Cardinal finally broke out of the offensive doldrums when Lopez and Taj Finger hit back-to-back baskets to restore the lead to 68-54 with 1:14 remaining.

A decisive edge at the free-throw line favored Stanford, which connected on 24-of-28, as opposed to 10-of-13 for Oregon State.

The Beavers got off to a hot start, taking a 20-16 lead on a 3-pointer by Lathen Wallace with 6:30 to play in the first half.

After hitting six of its first nine shot attempts, Oregon State was just 2-of-13 for the remainder of the half, allowing Stanford to come inching back.

The Cardinal scored eight straight points at the stripe and 10 of their next 12 to take a 28-22 lead.

Finger then had a tip-in and a foul-line jumper before Kenny Brown hit a 3-pointer as Stanford closed the half with a 19-2 run to take a 35-22 lead into the intermission.

The Cardinal held the Beavers without a field goal for the final 6 1/2 minutes of the half.

With Stanford leading, 56-38, and seemingly on the verge of a blowout in the second half, Jones hit a layup and buried a 3-pointer in an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 56-46.

Haynes scored the next seven points - five on free throws - in 49 seconds for Oregon State before the late hoops by Lopez and Finger squashed the comeback.

Jones scored 13 points and Haynes had all 12 of his points in the second half for the Beavers, who entered the game as the lowest-scoring team in the Pac-10 at 60.7 points per game.