In its first game following a two-week layoff for final exams, the Stanford men's basketball team defeated UC-Riverside 55-48 at Maples Pavilion. Junior guard Jeremy Green, who collapsed on the court after the Cardinal's last game while suffering the effects of a stomach virus, shook off an ugly start to score all 22 of his points after halftime. Josh Owens had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Cardinal (5-2), which improved to 4-0 at home.
Stanford won despite committing 16 turnovers and shooting only 34 percent from the field. (On the bright side, the Cardinal was a respectable 8-for-12 from the free throw line.) Johnny Dawkins was without a pair of freshmen against the Highlanders. Anthony Brown sat out after falling awkwardly in practice earlier this week, while Stefan Nastic missed the game with a sore foot that could sideline him for up to two weeks.
Green continued his streaky start to the season by missing all eight of his shots in the first half. He got hot enough in the second half to post his fourth 20-point performance in Stanford's seven games. Take a look at Green's first and second half splits in the last four games:
| 1st Half | 2nd Half | |
| Points | 10 | 58 |
| FGM-FGA | 5-19 | 21-42 |
| FG% | .263 | .500 |
| 3PTM-3PTA | 0-10 | 12-19 |
| 3PT% | .000 | .632 |
There will come a game this season when it doesn't take the entire first half for Green to find his stroke. By the end of that game, Green will have likely shattered his career high of 30 points set last year against UCLA. Perhaps that game will be Wednesday against North Carolina A&T.