Anthony Goods caught fire from outside, Brook Lopez was as hot as ever down low and Stanford overcame 16 Washington points in the last 2:20 with lights-out shooting to down the Huskies 82-79 in Maples Pavilion last night.

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Anthony Goods complemented the efforts of Brook Lopez with deadly accuracy from the perimeter last night, helping to pull out a win against Washington despite a late run by the Huskies. Goods and the Cardinal face the Cougars tomorrow. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/8678
Alvin Chow

Anthony Goods complemented the efforts of Brook Lopez with deadly accuracy from the perimeter last night, helping to pull out a win against Washington despite a late run by the Huskies. Goods and the Cardinal face the Cougars tomorrow.

“This is the third game in a row where we’ve been out-physicaled and our rebounding took a step back,” said coach Trent Johnson, whose team has won 10 of its last 11 games. “We’re a lot better than that in rebounding and finishing and the kids understand that. Make no mistake, I’m excited we won, but we know we need to play better this time of year.”

Lopez scored 21 points (7-of-14 shooting, 7-of-7 free throws) on another efficient performance, which is quickly becoming the norm for him and for Stanford. The bigger surprise was Goods, who followed up a 20-point effort versus Cal (15-11, 6-9) last Sunday with 16 points thanks to exceptional accuracy (6-of-12 overall, 4-of-7 three-pointers). The junior’s stroke had regressed after a hot sophomore season, but Goods has been taking extra shots in practice over the past few weeks and the effort showed tonight.

“I feel like I’ve got my touch back,” he said. “That’s what happens with hard work.”

Stanford (23-4, 12-3 Pac-10) shot a superb 50 percent from the field (27-of-54) and deep (7-of-14), but it was their marksmanship from the free-throw line (21-of-30, 70 percent) that iced their 15th straight home victory over Washington (15-14, 6-10). The Cardinal made 15 consecutive free throws over a 17-minute stretch of the second half to run their home record to 15-1.

“We kept matching their intensity,” said junior point guard Mitch Johnson, Stanford’s unsung hero (14 points, 6-of-8 free throws, 2-of-2 three pointers). “They kept coming down and Coach kept saying, ‘It’s on the five guys out there to match them; we can’t depend on the crowd and we can’t worry about the refs,’ which we honestly had been doing a little.”

The Huskies, meanwhile, made each of those free throws count with an incredible late-game spurt of their own. They scored on their last seven possessions in the contest to total 16 points in the last 2:20, which would translate to a 274-point pace over a 40-minute game. Forward Quincy Poindexter (19 points, 8-of-11 shooting) and guard Justin Dentmon (12 points) had four points apiece down the stretch.

Four straight buckets from bulky forward Jon Brockman (20 points, 14 rebounds) cut Stanford’s lead from 56-51 nine minutes into the second to 60-59 with 7:08 remaining. But the Cardinal’s defense stiffened, allowing Washington just four points in the next 4:48, as Stanford reestablished itself with a 71-63 lead with 2:42 left.

“We kind of had that bend-but-don’t-break defense,” Mitch Johnson said. “We made big plays when we needed to.”

Two Goods three-pointers propelled Stanford to a 13-3 lead early and Johnson’s squad never trailed. The Cardinal led by a similar margin throughout the rest of the half, as they rotated in reserve guards Drew Shiller and Landry Fields and backup center Peter Prowitt, building a 41-34 halftime lead behind 13 points from Brook Lopez.

“Quite frankly, I think we’re probably doing too much to let them be fresh — we’ve got to get back to 4-on-4, 5-on-5, being physical,” Coach Johnson said of practices. “This time of year you worry taking guys legs away, and yes, Anthony’s banged up a little, Brook’s banged up a little, but you play like you practice.”

Stanford remains one game behind UCLA (25-3, 13-2) in the Pac-10 standings, with the Bruins throttling Arizona State (17-10, 7-8) 70-49 last night. Saturday, the Cardinal will host No. 22 Washington State (22-6, 10-6), 70-49 winners at Cal last night, before next Thursday’s monster showdown at UCLA. Win out, then beat USC (18-9, 9-6) two days later, and Stanford no less than clinches a share of the Pac-10 title.