NCAA
Stanford 58, New Mexico 53
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
ST. LOUIS — Stanford jumped out to a 16-point lead in the first 6 1/2 minutes of Friday’s second round South Region game and rode it all the way to its first NCAA Tournament victory under sixth-year coach Johnny Dawkins.
Guard Chasson Randle scored 23 points and New Mexico went scoreless for nearly seven minutes after tying the game in the second half as the 10th-seeded Cardinal eliminated the No. 7 Lobos, 58-53, at Scottrade Center.
Forward Anthony Brown and center Stefan Nastic each contributed 10 for Stanford (22-12), which will play either No. 2 Kansas or 15th-seeded Eastern Kentucky on Sunday in the third round.
Forward Cameron Bairstow tried to carry the Lobos (27-7) with a game-high 24 points. But he got little help from anyone except guard Deshawn Delaney, who finished with 10.
New Mexico guard Kendall Williams and center Alex Kirk, who were averaging 16.4 and 13.6 points per game, respectively, were complete non-entities.
Williams hit 1-of-9 shots from the field and managed only three points, and Kirk scored three points before fouling out.
The Cardinal made their first six shots, including three 3-pointers, and established a 20-4 advantage at the 13:38 mark when Randle laid in an alley-oop pass.
The Lobos drew to within 32-27 at the half, scoring the last eight points, and tied the score, 45-45, when reserve guard Cullen Neal — the coach’s son — converted in transition with 10:07 left in regulation.
But Randle’s 3-pointer with 8:56 left put Stanford ahead to stay. New Mexico didn’t score again until Bairstow drained a jumper with 3:17 remaining.
The Cardinal failed to score for more than 4 1/2 minutes and the Lobos crept to within 54-52 when Kirk swished two foul shots with 30.3 seconds left.
However, Cardinal guard Robbie Lemons hit both ends of a one-and-one with 23.8 ticks on the clock.
Randle added two more free throws to wrap it up.
NOTES: Stanford entered the game canning 46.4 percent of its field goals, the highest mark since the 2003-04 team sank 47.9 percent from the floor. … New Mexico had the only two players who made 50 percent or better of their field goals in Mountain West Conference play — F Cameron Bairstow (57.6) and C Alex Kirk (50.0). … Bairstow’s 41 free-throw attempts in the MWC tournament were an event record, surpassing BYU’s Jimmer Fredette’s 38 in the 2010 tourney. … Cardinal starters have scored 87.1 percent of the team’s points this season. The bench has managed fewer than 10 points in 18 games, as it has been wracked by injuries.
