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  Monday, Dec. 18 9:30pm ET
Another cakewalk for No. 3 Cardinal
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- Loaded, excited and well-rested, the Stanford Cardinal can't wait for the tough part of their season to start.

Casey Jacobsen hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 points as No. 3 Stanford beat Sacred Heart 94-52 in the first game of the Stanford Invitational on Monday night.

Casey Jacobson
Stanford's Casey Jacobson is a step ahead of Sacred Heart's Omar Wellington in the first half.

Stanford will play Georgia Tech in the final Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets defeated Idaho State in the second game 78-56.

Stanford stayed unbeaten and Sacred Heart remained winless as the Cardinal (7-0) shook out the cobwebs after a 16-day break by winning another major mismatch.

"I think we needed that win. We needed to get a little of the rust off," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said. "We haven't played since -- how many days has it been? We were really not very game-sharp, but we did get a lot of guys some game time."

Jason Collins had 10 points and 13 rebounds as the Cardinal -- who have also pounded San Francisco State and UC Riverside at Maples Pavilion this season -- jumped to a 30-point lead early in the second half and won by more than 20 for the sixth time this season.

But the schedule gets tougher in a hurry. Stanford expects to face a surprising Georgia Tech squad on Tuesday night, followed by Thursday's showdown with top-ranked Duke at the Pete Newell Classic in Oakland.

"I cannot wait for these next two games," Jacobsen said. "It's so much more fun to play and to compete for 40 minutes where every possession could be life or death. I miss that.

"Seven games this year -- not one of them was a life-or-death type game. It's not that we don't like winning big. I just like the emotion and the drama."

Julius Barnes added 10 points off the bench, while four Stanford players finished with eight points apiece.

Sacred Heart (0-8) moved to Division I last season and has lost 19 straight road games since. The tiny school from Fairfield, Conn., took its seventh double-digit loss of the year despite a solid early effort.

Stanford led just 24-21 midway through the first half before the Cardinal scored 21 unanswered points in just over six minutes and went to halftime on a 27-6 run. Mike Montgomery used 12 players in the second half as Stanford coasted to the win.

Andrew Hunter and Marijus Kovaliukas scored 13 points apiece to lead the Pioneers, who made 21 turnovers and were outrebounded 40-25.

"We pretty much got what we deserved," Pioneers coach Dave Bike said. "They have probably the best bench in the country. They seem to be able to score at will. They're big and fast, and I don't see anybody stopping them."

It also featured the debut of highly touted Stanford forward Justin Davis, a prized recruit from nearby Berkeley who redshirted last season and missed Stanford's first six games with an abdominal strain.

"The main thing for us was that we got Justin in the game, and he got a chance to get into the flow," Montgomery said. "He was really pretty nervous, (but) he's explosive, he'll play hard and he competes. He's going to be good for us."

Davis got his first points on a layup with 8:43 left. He later added a fierce dunk and scored seven points before fouling out with 47 seconds to play.
 


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