Close Only Counts in Horse Shoes

An Encouraging Disappointment

 

            Kate Paye says there are no moral victories -- perhaps because losses no matter how close don't get you seeding in the NCAA tournament.  But Stanford's loss to 15th ranked North Carolina was close, a close score and as close as it comes to a moral victory.  The considerable improvement of Stanford's young players was on full display. Despite going down by as many as 15 points midway through the 3rd quarter, Stanford had the ball out-of-bounds on their sideline down by only two points with seven seconds to go in the game.  Unfortunately, the tying basket attempt didn't go in.  

 

                  This game also reflected another adage, basketball is a game of runs.  North Carolina used runs to pull out to double digit leads. But this year's Cardinal team did not give up. At times they "chipped" away at the lead and other times Stanford made its own runs.  In the 4th quarter Stanford used a nine-point run to tie the game at 62 but was unable to take the lead.  

 

                  Many of statistics were as close as the final score.  Stanford's first quarter was sloppy with multiple turnovers -- roughly as many in the first quarter as the CARD committed for the rest of the game -- but the CARD only lost the turnover battle by 4.  North Carolina shot 40.3% to Stanford's 41.1%, North Carolina won the rebounding battle by one (37 to 36).  However, Stanford's three-point percentage was a dismal 21.4%, disappointing for a team that has consistently been among the nation's leaders in three-point percentage. North Carolina hit an impressive 52.9%. Interestingly, despite the Tar Heels having a renown post duo, Stanford won the points-in-the-paint battle by 4, 32 to 28.  In addition to the aforementioned three-point percentage difference, the biggest statistical discrepancy was in free throws where Stanford hit 18 of 19 (94.7%) while North Carolina hit only fifty percent of their four freebies. 

 

                  This was another game where all nine of the Cardinal players who stepped onto the court made positive contributions even if they didn't show in the box score. Nunu Agara was impressive as usual, a double-double with 22 points, 14 rebounds, an assist and a block.  Chloe Clardy scored an efficient 15 points with three steals, two rebounds, and two assists in her second consecutive 40-minute game.  For the last three games Chloe has played all but 22 seconds after playing 36 minutes 54 seconds against Duke! 

                    Kennedy Umeh continued to show her value in the post.  Not only did she score eight points and grab four rebounds in her twelve plus minutes, but also Kennedy's physical presence caused problems on both ends of the court for North Carolina's post players. One particularly impressive play only shows up as a negative on the stat sheet.  Kennedy had the ball near the pinch post and was surrounded by UNC players as the shot clock was nearing zero. Kennedy managed to step through enough to throw a shot at the rim. The shot didn’t go in but Nunu was under the basket, able to grab the rebound (partly because so many of the UNC players were swarming Kennedy) and score.  

 

                  Next up for the Cardinal is a road game against national #3 Notre Dame followed by a game against Louisville on their home floor.  That's a rough road trip.  But, it is also another chance to get a signature win for the program....

 

Questions:

1.  Can the CARD get enough wins to get a bye in the ACC tournament?

Stanford currently stands 13th in the conference.  The top nine teams get a bye.  (The top four get a double bye). Only the top 15 teams participate in the tournament...up four notches gets a bye....

 

2.  How many CARD fans will step up for Lifetime Cardinal?

The first $50K of Fastbreak Club donations will be matched 100%!  Let's go fans!