Daejon Davis’ Seattle Homecoming Ends in 73-64 Stanford Win

When Lorenzo Romar was fired by the University of Washington, many of the members of his prized recruiting class sought greener pastures. One of those players was Daejon Davis, who opted to enroll at Stanford. On Saturday, the smiley freshman point guard led the Stanford Cardinal over his hometown Huskies.

New Washington coach Mike Hopkins’ zone defense was out in full force. The young Stanford team committed 18 turnovers on the night, and had a remarkable 12 shots turned back. The first half was a full on slugfest, with Stanford taking just a two point lead to the break.

After the Huskies took a 41-40 lead early in the second half, the Stanford defense was the one clamping down; they held UW scoreless for six minutes. Despite an ensuing Washington run, Stanford never relinquished the lead on its way to a 73-64 victory.

It wasn’t a perfect game. Shooting just 15-28 from the charity stripe will seldom get it done on the road. The two seniors, Humphrey and Pickens, each fouled out. Davis still had 7 turnovers. Nevertheless, Haase’s team kept enough composure to squeeze out clutch field goals down the stretch and get just enough stops.

Daejon Davis logged his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, to go with his 5 assists. Reid Travis added 16, and Michael Humphrey put in 13 and 9 boards before disqualification. Oscar da Silva played tough defense off the bench and pulled down 11 gritty rebounds.

Jaylen Nowell, Davis’ high school teammate, scored 20 for the Huskies. Big man Noah Dickerson never got it going, marred by early foul trouble and some awkward falls on the hardwood. He scored just 8 points.

This was Stanford’s first conference road sweep in seven years. With the victory, Stanford moves to 4-1 in conference, currently tied for first place with UCLA. The Johnny Dawkins era seems more and more distant all the time.

The Cardinal return to Maples to play host to the Arizona schools next week, both of whom are nationally ranked.