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Sophomore guard Marcus Allen tallied a career-high 22 points and Chasson Randle added 18 to lead Stanford to a 77-64 victory against UC Davis in the first round of the NIT tournament on Tuesday night.
Freshman forward Reid Travis compiled his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Anthony Brown had 11 points in the winning effort.
Corey Hawkins, who took home Big West Player of the Year honors in 2015, dropped a career-high 34 points for UC Davis (25-7, 14-2 Big West). The senior, playing in his final game for the Aggies, will go out considerably stronger knowing that he led his team to their first NCAA Division I postseason game in school history.
Stanford (20-13, 9-9 Pac-12) came out of the second half gates scorching, opening with a dominating 20-6 run and extending their lead to 15 with just under 12 minutes left to play. After a subpar first half, where the Cardinal only controlled a 1-point lead, Allen helped Stanford run up the scoreboard and snatch a comfortable advantage. He converted on three straight baskets, two layups and one jumpshot, to help start the emphatic run.
Allen and Randle each posted eight first-half points, while Hawkins dropped in 21 as the Cardinal led 37-36 going into the break.
With just under six minutes remaining in the first 20 minutes of action, Stanford led 30-19, but their inability to stop the Aggies' momentum mad the win a lot more challenging. UC Davis went on a run of their own during the end of the opening half, going on an 11-0 tear and evening up the score at 30 with 3:35 to go.
UC Davis, which entered the game shooting an impressive 45.0 percent from 3-point range, only ended up finishing 37.3 percent from the floor.
Compare the Aggies' poor shooting night to the Cardinal's, who shot over 19 percent better, and it's not hard to see how Randle and company should have had a far bigger win than 13 points. Well, if it wasn't for that one first half run for the Aggies, it looks like this easily could have been a 20-point defeat for Stanford.
The Cardinal now improve to 18-1 all-time against UC Davis as the program earns its fourth (and maybe the last!) 20-win season under Coach Dawkins.
With 18 points on the evening, senior guard Chasson Randle is just 62 points away from setting Stanford's all-time career points record, which is currently held by Todd Lichti at 2,336.
While UC Davis' season is over, Stanford moves on in the NIT tournament and will match up with Rhode Island (23-9, 13-5 Atlantic 10) in the second round.