Cardinal Crush North Carolina-Greensboro, 89-60

Cardinal Crush North Carolina-Greensboro, 89-60

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March 15, 2001

SAN DIEGO (AP) - This was the easy part for Stanford.

With a dominating performance by 7-footer Jason Collins, the top-seededCardinal overwhelmed No. 16 North Carolina Greensboro 89-60 Thursday in thefirst round of the NCAA West subregional.

Collins scored 25 points, 20 in the first half as the Cardinal built a23-point lead and cruised. Sophomore All-American Casey Jacobsen added 14,giving him 1,003 for his career.

Now, pardon Stanford if it gets a bit anxious going into its second-roundgame Saturday against No. 9 St. Joseph's.

Stanford's been eliminated in the second round each of the last two years,by Gonzaga in 1999, when the Cardinal were coming off a Final Four appearance,and last year as the No. 1 seed in the South, when they lost to North Carolina.

Stanford (29-2), the three-time Pac-10 champion, won its opening round gamefor the seventh straight year. The 29-point margin was the biggest for theCardinal in an NCAA tournament game, eclipsing last year's 19-point win overSouth Carolina State in the first round.

St. Joseph's (26-6) beat No. 8 Georgia Tech 66-62.

David Shuck, the hero of Greensboro's victory over Chattanooga in theSouthern Conference tournament title game, led the Spartans with 16 points.Ronnie Taylor had 15.

A 16th seed still hasn't upset a No. 1, and the Spartans, who play in theshadow of the ACC, didn't come close.

They talked a brave game on Wednesday, saying they weren't intimidated bythe Cardinal. In the opening minute, the Spartans' 7-2 freshman center, NathanPopp, blocked a shot by Collins' 6-11 twin, Jarron.

But the Spartans looked tight, missing their first five shots and committingfive turnovers. They did warm up behind freshman guard Jay Joseph, who closed aseven-point deficit by hitting four 3-point shots in 3 1/2 minutes to pull theSpartans to 12-11.

That's when Collins took over. He scored six points in a 10-2 run, four onfree throws and then a turnaround jumper, as Stanford took a double-digit leadfor good, 27-15 with 6:46 before halftime.

Stanford scored 16 of the final 20 points of the half, 10 by Collins. Afterhitting a long 3-pointer, he gestured to the crowd to turn it up.

Greensboro got into early foul trouble, and Stanford made 15 of 16 freethrows in building a 48-27 halftime lead.

The Spartans finished with 22 turnovers.

UNC-GREENSBORO (19-12) Joseph 4-6 0-0 12, Schuck 6-13 4-6 16, Popp 0-0 0-0 0, Jameson 0-6 2-4 2,Eldridge 4-8 4-6 13, Taylor 6-10 2-2 15, FitzGerald 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 0-00, Boythe 0-0 0-0 0, Tsampas 0-3 0-0 0, McCarthy 1-3 0-2 2. Totals 21-49 12-2060.

STANFORD (29-2) Jar.Collins 1-4 6-9 8, Mendez 2-6 2-2 6, Jas.Collins 8-13 8-9 25, McDonald3-5 0-0 8, Jacobsen 5-6 3-4 14, Logan 0-1 0-0 0, Te.Johnson 2-4 3-4 8, Davis0-2 0-0 0, Barnes 1-3 6-6 9, Giovacchini 3-5 0-0 7, Lottich 2-4 0-0 4. Totals27-53 28-34 89.

Halftime score-Stanford 48, UNC-Greensboro 27. 3-Point Goals-UNC-Greensboro6-13 (Joseph 4-5, Taylor 1-1, Eldridge 1-2, Schuck 0-1, Jameson 0-4), Stanford7-15 (McDonald 2-3, Jacobsen 1-1, Te.Johnson 1-1, Barnes 1-2, Jas.Collins 1-2,Giovacchini 1-2, Lottich 0-1, Mendez 0-3). Fouled out-Joseph, Mendez.Rebounds-UNC-Greensboro 28 (Schuck 8), Stanford 33 (Jas.Collins 8).Assists-UNC-Greensboro 9 (Eldridge 4), Stanford 15 (Jacobsen, Mendez 3). Totalfouls-UNC-Greensboro 26, Stanford 19. Technicals-Jacobsen. A-10,442