Travis leads Stanford past Montana 70-54

STANFORD, Calif. -- Stanford freshman Daejon Davis, coming off a nightmarish 11-turnover game, scored 17 points to help spark the Cardinal to a 70-54 win over Montana on Wednesday night, snapping a four-game losing streak.

"Wins feel great regardless of my stats. If I turn the ball over 100 times and we win, I'm happy for my team," Davis said.

Reid Travis scored 20 points and Michael Humphrey added 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Cardinal (4-5), which lost three straight last week at the PK80 Invitational in Portland, Oregon. It was the seventh time in nine games Travis has scored at least 20.

Montana (4-3) led 50-44 with just under 10 minutes left, but was outscored 26-4 the rest of the way, including 14-0 to finish the game. They missed their final nine shots and were 17 of their last 19.

Stanford coach Jerod Haase has stayed with Davis despite early-season ups and downs. Davis still had five turnovers in 38 minutes against Montana, but his 11 giveaways came against a Portland State team that aggressively pressed.

"Part of that was on me. We weren't fully prepared for the press," Haase said. "He's a tough kid and very talented player. He's going to continue to improve just as you saw tonight."

Davis, who only began playing point guard as a high school senior, said he's gotten support from his coaches and teammates. "Everybody believes in me. I have to believe in myself," he said.

Montana coach Travis DeCuire said it was probably bad timing for his team to face Davis when he was going to be motivated to play well at home. "He's growing up," DeCuire said. "He's very capable of being a really good basketball player."

Michael Oguine scored 19 points and Bobby Moorehead had a season-high 16 points for the Grizzlies, who shot 29 percent from the field, including 4 for 25 from the 3-point arc.

BIG PICTURE

Montana: The Grizzlies lost for the 100th time to current members of the Pac-12. They have won 36 times, and dropped to 2-4 against Stanford.

Stanford: The Cardinal avoided losing a fifth straight non-conference game for the first time since the 1979-80 season. Stanford lost four times in seven days during Thanksgiving week, including to No. 13 North Carolina at home before heading to the PK80.

LINEUP TWEAK: Haase made a lineup change, going with junior Robert Cartwright in the backcourt to provide ball handling help for freshman point guard Davis. Cartwright contributed 11 points and five assists.

Freshman Isaac White, the Cardinal's No. 2 scorer, did not start for the first time this season, but made a four-point play midway through the second half to help trigger the comeback.

RORIE'S ROUGH ROAD: Ahmaad Rorie, Montana's leading scorer at 18.8 points per game, shot 1 for 12 from the field and scored a season-low four points. "That's not him," DeCuire said. The junior guard had scored at least 16 points in every game, and topped 20 three times.

STILL AILING: Senior Dorian Pickens and junior Marcus Sheffield, who figured to be Stanford's starting wing players, remain sidelined by foot injuries. Pickens, the team's top 3-point shooter and a 12.6 points-per-game scorer a year ago, missed his sixth straight game. Sheffield still has not played this season. Haase said he doesn't expect either back for Stanford's next game and is hoping they are healthy before the start of Pac-12 play in late December.

UP NEXT

Montana plays Sunday at home against Cal State Northridge.

Stanford plays at Long Beach State on Sunday.