Nick Townsend had a game-leading 31 points for Stanford in a dominant 91-73 win against Rice on Monday night.
Townsend also had a team-leading six assists for the Cardinal (3-0, 0-0). Austin Maurer posted 14 points and a team-leading 11 rebounds, and Julius Price added 10 points and four assists. Christian Bliss added 12 points and went 2-for-3 from three-point range.
Jaxson Thompson posted a team-leading 14 points for the Owls (1-2, 0-0), who play two of their next three games on the road. Dallas Hobbs added 12 points and Zalan Flasar had a team-leading six rebounds.
Townsend hit a three-point shot in the first minute of play to give the hosts an early lead. Rice battled to keep pace, and the game was tied 9-9 at the timeout with 16:19 left in the first half. The visitors’ turnover trouble led to a 6-0 Stanford run, and Maurer’s layup helped the Cardinal go up 19-13 with 11:27 remaining. Bliss’s three-pointer gave Stanford a 24-13 lead with 10:13 remaining.
Rice’s troubles continued into the half, and Aidan Cammann’s three-pointer off an Owls’ turnover helped Stanford take a 33-21 lead with 5:34 left in the first half. The Cardinal went on a 7-0 run and increased the lead to 37-23 with 3:56 to play. The hosts went into halftime on a 6-0 run, taking a 45-29 lead into the break. Rice had 12 turnovers in the first half and shot just 42% from the field, while Stanford scored 14 points off those mistakes.
The Owls started the second half on a 5-0 run to shrink the score gap to 45-34, but the Cardinals responded with an 11-1 run to take a 56-35 lead with 16:27 to go following a layup from Price. Stanford’s 12-2 run gave the hosts a 70-43 lead with 11:06 to play. Bliss’s off-balance bucket highlighted a scoring drought for Rice and gave Stanford a 74-44 lead with 9:40 remaining in the second half.
Stanford called a timeout after Rice went on a 7-0 run and cut into the deficit, making the score 78-57 with 6:33 left on the clock. Tristan Vukotic hit a three-point shot on Rice’s next 6-0 run, closing the score gap to 80-65 with 5:19 remaining. Vukotic hit a three-pointer with less than a minute to play, but Maurer’s slam dunk with 16 seconds remaining solidified the 91-73 final.