STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Sophomore Jaiden Delaire keeps things simple. It’s the message he receives from the coaching staff every day.
“I want to play as hard as I can consistently and limit turnovers,” Delaire said after scoring a career-high 14 points in helping Stanford beat Long Beach State 86-58 on Tuesday night.
Freshman Tyrell Terry also had 14 points, Oscar da Silva added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinal (3-0), which is off to its best start in three years.
“I am thrilled with the idea of keeping the turnovers down,” Stanford coach Jerod Haase said. “If we compete like that on the defensive end, good things are going to happen.”
Max De Geest scored 13 points to lead the Beach. Jordan Griffin, the team’s lone senior, added 12.
“I was disappointed that we weren’t more ready to play,” Long Beach State coach Dan Monson said. “I think a lot of credit has got to go to Stanford. They were the aggressor early and got the good shots. Our guys got frustrated and tried to make it up on the other end. Really, it snowballed on us.”
Terry’s dunk six minutes into the second half put the Cardinal ahead by 38 points.
Griffin sparked an 11-0 run for the Beach with a 3-pointer on the next possession but Stanford had the game well in hand by that point.
Stanford began pulling away after the first media timeout and eventually built a 21-point advantage with 4:43 left in the first half. Terry hit a layup with 17 seconds left in the half and Stanford took a 47-22 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Cardinal took advantage of 12 Long Beach State turnovers in the first half to score 18 points. Stanford also outscored the Beach in the paint by a 30-8 margin.
“We’re still young and any time you can have success builds confidence,” Haase said. “They’ve worked hard this offseason to put themselves in this position.”
BIG PICTURE
Long Beach State: The Beach has nine newcomers, including six freshmen, and three players coming off their redshirt seasons on the roster. Transfer Chance Hunter (Cerritos College) scored 40 points through his first two games. Freshman Joshua Morgan has also found early success.
Stanford: The combination of freshmen Terry and Spencer Jones has been making up for the loss of KZ Okpala, who left school early for the NBA draft after last season. Terry has shown a nice inside-outside game thus far and Jones has recorded all his points to date by way of the 3-pointer. “Stanford’s freshmen are very talented,” Monson said. “A lot of freshmen come in offensively talented, but I was impressed with Stanford defensively. For having two freshmen in the lineup, their team defense was very good.”
HALL OF FAMER
Mike Montgomery was the color analyst with play-by-play man Roxy Bernstein for the game. Montgomery is in the Athletic Hall of Fame for both programs. Montgomery played for Long Beach State in the 1960s and was a 2002 inductee into the LBSU Athletics Hall of Fame, while he was inducted in 2005 into the Stanford Hall of Fame after 18 seasons as head coach of the Cardinal.
UP NEXT
Long Beach State: The Beach meets its first ranked opponent of the season when it travels to No. 18 St. Mary’s on Thursday.
Stanford: The Cardinal hosts nearby Santa Clara on Saturday night. Stanford plays its first road game at the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City on Nov. 25.
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