New Stanford head coach Jerod Haase started his tenure on a good note Friday night, with Stanford men’s basketball (1-0, 0-0 Pac-12) defeating Harvard (0-1, 0-0) 80-70 in Shanghai.
In the game, junior forward Reid Travis and junior guard Robert Cartwright made their long-awaited debuts after suffering major injuries last season. Travis was a force in the paint as he put up double-double performance. He set a career-high in points (24) due to his aggression in the paint, which earned him 19 trips to the free-throw line. The Crimson could not keep him off the glass, as he also grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds.
Cartwright, who did not play last season because of a compound fracture in his right arm, played 25 minutes and flashed his ability as the floor general of the Cardinal. He finished with five points on 1-6 shooting and three assists.
Even though the Cardinal led for a majority of the game, they could not gain large point separation from the Crimson, who refused to fall far behind.
The beginning of the first half saw sluggish basketball from both sides, as the teams combined for just 20 points in the first 10 minutes of the game. However, the Cardinal offense began rolling as the game wound on, and they opened a seven-point lead over the Crimson through a combination of strong play by senior forward Grant Verhoeven and Cartwright. Despite this, Harvard managed to cut the lead down to two as the teams headed into the half with Stanford leading 30-28.
Stanford’s offense was a force to be reckoned with in the second half, scoring 50 points in the latter half of the game. The Cardinal managed a balanced attack, with five players finishing in double-digits in scoring. Junior forward Michael Humphrey was the second-highest scorer with 15 points. His dunk with nine minutes left started an 11-2 run after Harvard cut the lead down to three.
Stanford had more success shooting from the field, with a shooting percentage of 46.30 percent to Harvard’s 37.30 percent, and the Cardinal out-rebounded the Crimson 41-34.
Harvard fielded a young team, with freshman guard Bryce Aiken leading the team in scoring with 21 points and the freshmen on the team combining for 51 points. Stanford remains unbeaten against Harvard, as its all-time record moved to 10-0.
“We all are going to remember this week for the rest of our lives,” said head coach Jared Haase about the trip to Shanghai. “Not only was it a great experience because we got a really good win, but there’s no question [that] if you ask the guys 50 years from now, they’re going to talk about the China trip and the fact that they were able to beat Harvard. That’s a real feather in our cap, so I think it really was a tremendous week.”
The Cardinal will look to continue their opening momentum as they host Cal State Northridge (1-0) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Maples Pavillion.
Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.