The emotion was thick on Senior Day, and once Josh Childress started attacking the rim and swishing 3-pointers, there was no doubt Stanford was going to remain perfect. Childress scored 29 points and had 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks Saturday to lead the top-ranked Cardinal to a 76-55 victory over Oregon at Maples Pavilion.
"I was trying to be aggressive and open up things for my teammates," said Childress, a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward. "And if I attack and am aggressive, maybe it permeates a little bit to my teammates."
Yes, he said "permeates." This is Stanford, after all. The Cardinal also played tough team defense to run its record to 25-0, 16-0 in the Pac-10, and remain one of two unbeaten teams in the country, along with second-ranked St. Joseph's (26-0).
"We have a better chance to go undefeated than almost anybody else in the country," Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery said.
Childress was 4 of 6 from 3-point range, and the senior center Joe Kirchofer set career highs with 13 points and 10 rebounds after getting the start in a ceremonial move. Stanford, which long ago clinched its fourth conference title in six years, beat the Ducks (12-11, 7-9) at home for the 18th consecutive time.
Stanford opened the game with a 13-0 run, holding the Ducks, who missed their first 10 shots, scoreless for the first 6 minutes 29 seconds. Childress made two of the Cardinal's four 3-pointers in that span as Stanford demonstrated its typical ball movement and unselfishness.
Aaron Brooks, Oregon's point guard, scored on a reverse layup to make the score 13-2, and the Ducks then went on a run that silenced the rambunctious capacity crowd of 7,391 for the only time all game.
Oregon was trailing by only 23-19 when Childress exploded down the baseline for a drop-in and Chris Hernandez hit a 3-pointer. After a Ducks basket, the Cardinal put the game away with a 13-3 spurt to end the half. Childress had 7 points in the final 4:12 and finished the half with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists.
Oregon shot 29 percent in the first half and 31 percent for the game. The Ducks' 55 points were a season low, as Stanford shut down Luke Jackson, one of seven players in the country to lead his team in scoring, rebounding and assists.
"Our defense will keep us in games," Montgomery said. "And then we keep probing offensively until we find something. Josh did a great job on Luke Jackson."
Childress held Jackson to 7 points on 3-of-8 shooting and 3 rebounds in the first half. Jackson finished with 18 points after he was forced to move to power forward in the second half.
"They play great team defense," Jackson said. "They don't have any stars on the team, but they all play solid. Childress did a good job crashing the boards."
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