Stanford Rallies Past North Carolina State 76-72

STANFORD (CBS/AP) -- The season is barely a month old and Stanford already is showing it could be one of the surprises in the expanded Pac-12 Conference.

Josh Owens scored 19 points and Chasson Randle had 16 to rally Stanford from a dozen down in the second half for a 76-72 victory over North Carolina State on Sunday. After a win over Oklahoma State and a strong performance in a loss against Syracuse at Madison Square Garden, the Cardinal could even find themselves in the rankings again soon.

"For what we want to do looking at long-term goals toward the end of the season, this was one of those games where you need to punch your ticket," said Owens, who also grabbed seven rebounds. "This was an opportunity for us to get a win that we needed for the end of the season."

Stanford's duo made it count.

The pair led a 16-1 run in the final six minutes that pushed the Cardinal (8-1) ahead for the first and only time. Owens had 10 points during the critical stretch and Randle made four free throws to keep Stanford perfect at home this season.

Fourth-year Cardinal coach Johnny Dawkins called the win one of the best in nonconference play at Maples Pavilion in his tenure for the heart and hustle his players showed late.

"It says a lot about this group, how they responded. I thought they had the will to win and they made the plays necessary," Dawkins said. "You never know until you're in that kind of situation how your guys would respond being down by double digits. Being down by double digits in the second half and seeing the kids respond that way, it makes you feel proud."

Not so much for the visitors.

C.J. Williams had 18 points and C.J. Leslie scored 14 to help the Wolfpack (5-3) build leads of 11 and 12 in each half only to see both disappear. Leslie was limited by a leg cramp in the second half, and his team struggled in his absence.

North Carolina State has not beaten a Pac-12 opponent — formerly called the Pac-10 Conference — on the road in almost 18 years.

"This was absolutely a missed opportunity," Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried said. "This team has to learn how to finish, and we have to get tougher. It's real simple."

North Carolina State's only other appearances away from Reynolds Coliseum this season came at a neutral site in the Legends Classic in East Rutherford, N.J., against Vanderbilt and Texas. The Wolfpack split those games.

Traveling to the West Coast, they looked right at home to start each half.

And completely out of place at the end.

During one stretch after the break, Williams blocked a shot by Anthony Brown and pushed the ball up court. Scott Wood received the ball and hit a 3-pointer to highlight a 12-4 run to start the second half, giving the Wolfpack a 47-35 lead.

Everything from there for North Carolina State just evaporated.

Stanford closed the gap late just as it did in the opening half, getting a 3-pointer and two-handed dunk by Brown. Owens followed with four free throws between a North Carolina State basket to put the Cardinal ahead 65-64 with 3:08 left — Stanford's first lead of the game.

He made two more free throws until Randle followed with four more to extend the Cardinal's cushion to 71-67. After going ahead by six points in the final seconds, Stanford sweated out a late push by the Wolfpack, winning a late jump ball on a possession arrow.

Brown hit a final free throw with 5.6 seconds left to seal the final score, finishing with 12 points. Aaron Bright added 15 points for Stanford, which finished 29 for 34 from the line.

"If you want to win, you've to make your free throws," Randle said.

The first half followed a similar pattern.

Leslie converted a three-point play over Owens and had another dunk to highlight a 16-6 start for North Carolina State. The Cardinal took time to adjust to the fast pace and energized a Maples Pavilion crowd, at times, with some big-play bursts.

Randle's 3-pointer capped a 14-4 stretch by Stanford that evened the score at 20-all in the first half. The teams traded baskets again and Stanford's Josh Huestis evened the game at 30 with a three-point play over Leslie in the final minutes.

The Wolfpack closed strong on defense to force the Cardinal into several mistakes, getting baskets from Williams and Leslie to take a 35-31 halftime lead before another fast start in the second half.

North Carolina State's last road win over a Pac-12 team came at Oregon State on Dec. 22, 1993. The last victory overall against a Pac-12 team came against Arizona State on Jan. 29, 2000.

"We got caught up in the moments too much," said Wolfpack forward Lorenzo Brown, who had 12 points and six rebounds. "I guess some of the calls started to get to some of the players and we started pouting a little. You can't do that when you're out on the road. It's going to hurt us every game. We just lost our heads toward the end."

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