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		Igbinosa sparks Stanford in Pac-10 tourney upset By Morris Phillips March 11, 2010

	After Stanford established its biggest lead—15 points—psychologically, the tenor of the game changed. Arizona State, desperately needing to get back into a game they had to have, surged. Stanford, playing well and comfortably ahead, lapsed. Emmanuel Igbinosa, Stanford’s senior psych major sensed it, and set out to seize momentum back for Stanford. After a pair of Ty Abbott baskets cut Stanford’s lead back to ten, 50-40, Igbinosa responded. First he grabbed an offensive rebound as was fouled. By hitting one of his two free throws, Igbinosa got back on the scoreboard after two empty possessions. Then after another ASU hoop, Igbinosa rebounded teammate Da’Veed Dildy’s miss and scored on a putback. After that, Igbinosa blocked Rihards Kuksiks jump shot, and fouled Eric Boateng, preventing a sure layup. For almost six minutes, from Landry Fields’ 3-pointer with 11:47 remaining until Andrew Zimmerman’s made free throws with just under six minutes remaining, Stanford only got Igbinosa’s basket and a free throw. But afterwards, the Stanford double-digit lead was still intact, thanks to the senior’s heady, aggressive play. “I’m just playing the role I was given and going by the plan we created earlier,” Igbinosa said. “We were told that we couldn’t let Boateng finish all those easy shots because that’s where he gets going and they make a run.” Not bad for a guy doesn’t even normally play on Thursdays so he can attend a critical class that’s required for his psychology degree. With his basketball career expiring this week or next, he worked a deal with his professors to miss class for the first time. Only by doing extra case work, did Igbinosa get cleared for opening round play in the Pac-10 tournament. In addition, Igbinosa misses practice twice a week, also so he can fulfill commitments for his psychology degree. When asked about Igbinosa’s situation, the normally-placid Coach Johnny Dawkins just laughs. Big-time college basketball coaches don’t have time, patience or playing time for guys that don’t practice, let alone can’t play in basically half of the conference games. But with Igbinosa, Dawkins has been open-minded, citing his commitment to working out alone after practices and staying abreast of the team’s schemes and strategies. And with his play, in the limited minutes he gets, Igbinosa has made it work. And the surprising quarterfinal win over Arizona State, was the big payoff as he contributed a career-high 12 points and three rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench. So much of Stanford’s season has been about Pac-10 leading scorer Fields and second-leading scorer Jeremy Green, and the lack of offensive help they get. The pair average nearly 40 points a game combined, but somewhere within a 40-minute game they need help, but often don’t get it. When Stanford doesn’t have a third double-digit scorer in games this season, they’re only 3-9. But on Thursday, Fields struggled with six turnovers and Green did all his damage in the first 26 minutes of the game. But instead of things slipping away at that point, the Cardinal surged, thanks to Igbinosa. Now Stanford can look forward to Friday’s matchup with Washington in the semis, which seemed unlikely after Stanford dropped its final four home games, including Saturday’s tough loss to rival Cal. For Igbinosa, the win means everything. Everything that is, other than his degree from Stanford. “For me it means that I get to fight another day. I’m a senior; this could be the end of the road for me so each game needs to be fought hard.”