What do laughter, mad cow disease and ugly basketball have in common? Apparently, all three are contagious.

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Jeff Keacher

Stanford’s Fred Washington drives down the court against OSU on Saturday. Washington had six points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Cardinal.

No. 9 Stanford (20-3, 9-2 Pac-10) downed Oregon State (6-17, 0-11) 71-56 Saturday, with sophomore center Brook Lopez and junior forward Lawrence Hill each scoring a game-high 14 points. The Cardinal’s 20th victory earned it a tie with UCLA atop the Pac-10, but there were few style points in the process, save for a 15-0 run to close the first half.

“We’re happy to win but not proud of our effort,” Hill said. “They knocked us on our heels.”

Stanford trailed 17-11 ten minutes in, but scored 24 of the half’s last 29 points — and the last 15 straight in the half’s final five minutes — to take a 35-22 halftime lead and break the contest open.

Kenny Brown’s three-pointer with two defenders in his face was the most memorable bucket, but six different Stanford players scored during the 15-0 run, including reserve senior forward Taj Finger, who had nine points and 10 rebounds on the night.

“Kenny and Taj gave us the same effort, the same lift they always do,” coach Trent Johnson said. “Taj has been doing it all year long, and Kenny stepped up when we needed someone to step up and make the play.”

The Beavers chipped away at a 50-30 Stanford lead, closing to 58-49 with 3:42 to play. But again it was Finger with a key offensive rebound and two free throws, and Oregon State would come no closer.

The Beavers led 20-16 at the six-minute mark, as Stanford tripped over its own shoes early and often, committing 10 of its 17 turnovers in the first 17 minutes. Brook Lopez, consistently trapped by two smaller, quicker defenders in the paint, struggled passing out of double teams, finishing with seven turnovers and no assists. The frustration visibly affected him, as he was seen swearing at his brother Robin during the game.

“A little frustrated?” Trent Johnson said of his star big man. “For the most part, he lost his cool. He just needs to make better decisions.”

But, like it has all season, the Cardinal took control with its defense and rebounding. Stanford outboarded Oregon State 23-6 in the first half and 46-21 overall, capping its first weekend of Pacific-10 Conference play since 1980 that saw the team hold its two opponents to fewer than 100 points combined. (Oregon State beat Stanford 18-16 in 1980, on the last such weekend. So, yes, this game could have been uglier yet.)

“The only thing we did pretty well is we rebounded and we shot good free throws,” said Johnson, whose team made a season-high 24 on 28 attempts. “The good thing is we’re 20-3 and 9-2 in the Pac-10. It says something when you don’t play up to your standards and you win, regardless of who it is.”

The Beavers, who fired coach Jay John and dismissed their most talented player C.J. Giles — a Kansas transfer — midway through the season, have now lost 13 straight, and ten of their last 11 by double figures. So poorly are they regarded that Stanford’s RPI actually dropped with the victory, from No. 17 to No. 19, according to WarrenNolan.com. Though casual fans follow the computer-based RPI less than the traditional polls, the former carries more weight in determining a team’s selection and placement in the NCAA Tournament come mid-March.

As relieved as Stanford was with a weekend sweep Saturday, and as proud as they will be today — when they will likely move up a few spots with the release of this week’s AP and Coaches’ polls — yesterday must have been better yet.

Former Stanford and current Washington guard Tim Morris avoided a last-minute five-second call by throwing the ball off UCLA forward Alfred Aboya’s face at full velocity on an in-bound play (no violation was called), and his Huskies shocked the No. 5 Bruins 71-61 in Seattle.

The result drops UCLA into a tie for first in the Pac-10 with Stanford, with the next-closest competitors (Washington State, USC, Arizona State and Arizona) a full three losses behind. Stanford now controls its own destiny in its quest for its first Pac-10 regular season crown since 2003-04.

The team’s March 6 visit to Westwood, Calif. is shaping up to be a de facto Pac-10 title game, but Stanford first visits the Arizona schools this weekend before hosting Cal and the Washington schools in the following two weeks.

“Our goal is to win the Pac-10,” said Hill last week, “and we really need to win all our games to have a shot.”