Brown's 17 points help rally Stanford over Denver 49-43

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Anthony Brown overslept Saturday morning and had to sit out the first part of the game. It became a motivating factor.

Brown came off the bench to score 17 points, leading Stanford to a come-from-behind 49-43 victory over Denver on Saturday.

"When I went into the game I wanted to make a difference," Brown said. "After losing to DePaul the last game, there was no way I was going to let the team lose."

Stefan Nastic and Chasson Randle scored all nine points during a run in the final 3:28 to put Stanford (5-2) ahead to stay. The Cardinal survived their worst shooting game of the season as Randle, who was 5 of 5 from the foul line, and Nastic combined for a 6-of-24 effort from the floor.

"It's one of those games, you're coming off finals and haven't played two weeks," Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. "It's a difficult game. That was one of the best defensive efforts we've had since I've been here."

Marcus Byrd scored 11 points to lead the Pioneers (4-5), who lost two straight for the first time this season.

"I thought we competed, and we gave ourselves all the chances we needed to win the game," Denver coach Joe Scott said. "That's all you want as a coach. We competed unbelievably hard."

Robert Cartwright gave the Cardinal their first lead of the game, hitting a 3-pointer with 8:15 left to play. Brown extended the lead with a layup.

Jalen Love and Byrd hit consecutive 3-pointers to help Denver regain the lead, setting up the final minutes.

"We turned the ball over too many times late in the second half," Scott said. "I don't care who you are playing, you can't do that."

The Pioneers sprinted to a 13-2 lead, led by Byrd's eight points, before Stanford rallied to tie the game at 15, sparked by a pair of Brown 3-pointers.

Denver pushed its lead to 25-15, with Nate Engesser and Brett Olson scoring all 10 points, before Rosco Allen hit a pair of free throws in the final minute to draw the Cardinal within 25-17 at halftime.

TIP-INS

Denver: The 17 points allowed by Denver in the first half were the second-fewest it had allowed in a half this season. The Pioneers held Idaho State to nine second-half points on Nov. 16. . Denver does not have a player from California, nor does Stanford have a player from Colorado.

Stanford: The Cardinal were held to their lowest first-half point total of the season. . Cardinal seniors Anthony Brown, Stefan Nastic and Chasson Randle are each working toward a master's degree this year. . Stanford shot a season-low 27.3 percent in the first half.

TIME MANAGEMENT

Brown, a fifth-year senior, accidentally set the alarm for 8 p.m. instead of 8 a.m. "I usually set two alarms but I figured my body clock would get me up. I got called about 9 a.m.," he said. "I was pretty tired after finals." Dawkins said it was difficult to bench him. "This was the first time Anthony has ever been late for anything," said the coach. "It was difficult for me but we have a policy in place."

UP NEXT

Denver returns home to host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Wednesday to kick off a six-game homestand.

Stanford hosts Loyola Marymount on Wednesday. The Cardinal are 5-0 against the Lions, though the teams have not met since Dec. 21, 1984.