SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - After two weeks off taking final exams, Oscar da Silva was happy to get back on the basketball court.
Da Silva scored 25 points, one shy of his career high, and had eight rebounds in helping Stanford beat San Jose State 78-58 on Saturday.
“The focus was off basketball for a little bit,” da Silva said. “We were able to get into the gym and work on cleaning some things up.”
Tyrell Terry added 11 points, eight boards and five assists for the Cardinal (9-1), who improved to 40-13 all-time against San Jose State and has won 10 of 19 meetings in San Jose. Isaac White had 12 points.
“It’s a real thing to be off two weeks and expect to be sharp,” Stanford coach Jerod Haase said. “We haven’t seen much zone this year, but our plan was solid.”
Seneca Knight scored 12 points for the Spartans (3-8), who have lost six straight games. Brae Ivey added 11 points.
“We played the best team we’ve seen this year,” San Jose State coach Jean Prioleau said. “They keep coming at you with the same actions and break you down. They have the ability to make the play.”
The combination of Stanford’s substantial rebounding advantage (48-32) and San Jose State’s poor shooting (29.8%) proved too much for the Spartans.
Da Silva, 11 of 17 from the field, scored Stanford’s first nine points of the second half in the first true road game for the Cardinal, who maintained a double-digit lead throughout.
“His footwork is good around the basket,” Prioleau said. “He gets in close and he can score.”
Da Silva was a big reason why Stanford outscored the Spartans 52-12 in the paint. The Cardinal also held a 21-14 edge in points off turnovers despite committing 19.
Following an early San Jose State lead, the Cardinal began pulling away, leading by as many as 14 points late in the first half before settling for a 32-19 halftime advantage.
REDUCED TURNOVERS
Spartans coach Jean Prioleau was pleased his team committed two turnovers in the second half after 13 in the first. “We didn’t do anything different,” he said. “We’re capable of that. We weren’t ready to attack at a level we needed to be in the first half.”
BIG PICTURE
Stanford: Off to its best start in eight years, the Cardinal leads the Pac-12 in scoring defense, allowing 57.7 points a game, which is 14th in the nation. Opponents are shooting 39.7%, 31.3% from 3-point range. Stanford has held its first 10 opponents to fewer than 70 points, its best such stretch since the 2010-11 season.
San Jose State: The Spartans have seven players returning who started at least one game last year. Sophomore guard Seneca Knight started 17 games, including the final 12 of the season. Senior guard Brae Ivey started 16 games. They opened conference play with a pair of losses, which included a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at San Diego State the last timeout.
UP NEXT
Stanford hosts San Francisco on Tuesday, then plays San Diego as part of the Al Attles Classic at Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday.
San Jose State travels a few miles north to play Santa Clara on Wednesday.
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