The Stanford Cardinal and Oregon State Beavers were involved in the basketball equivalent of a pillow fight during the first half of their opening round game of the Pac-10 Tournament at Staples Center on Wednesday night. At times, it looked like neither team could hit a shot, as the Beavers and Cardinal combined to lay bricks in astonishing numbers. When horn mercilessly signaled the end of the half, Oregon State held a 26-18 lead, thanks in large part to the Cardinal’s horrific shooting.
Stanford connected on just four of 34 shots, an 11.8 percent clip. With three minutes left the Cardinals had only made three of 30 field goals, with Oregon State only hitting eight shots of its own. Whether it was shooting in an unfamiliar environment or just poor shooting overall, it made for a terribly uninteresting half. Only a late run by the Cardinal, and a slump by Oregon State, dug Stanford out of its hole, closing the gap just before the half.
Ahmad Starks was about the only offensive threat in the first half, scoring a game-high 11 points for the Beavers off the bench. Devon Callier added seven points, also coming off the bench to pick up the slack left by the Oregon State starters. The starting five combined for four first-half just points.
Amazingly, Stanford was worse, with Dwight Powell and Jeremy Green’s five points pacing the team. Unlike the Beavers, the Cardinal reserves were unable to provide a boost as the bench players added just five points to the mix. With as many missed shots as there were, rebounds were aplenty, with Powell grabbing five and Anthony Brown pulling down five, as well.
With Staples Center empty enough to hear the players and coaches communicate on the coach, it raises the question: If a bad basketball game is played in a tournament setting and nobody sees it, did it actually happen? Tune-in to FSN if you’re a fan of carnage as the Cardinal and Beavers hit the floor for the second half in their Pac-10 Tournament over. For a less painful way to keep track of the game, check out the rest of our 2011 Pac-10 Basketball Tournament StoryStream.