Marcus Allen steady influence for Stanford at crunch time

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Stanford guard Marcus Allen had taken just three shots and scored a mere four points in the first half of Thursday night’s game against Cal.

Coach Johnny Dawkins pulled him aside at halftime, Allen said, and told him, “You can attack these guys. You can get by them on your first step.”

Allen said he took the advice to heart and repeatedly pressed the gas in the second half. He took only two more shots from the field, but, as a result of being fouled often by the Bears, hit 10 of 14 free throws after the break, most of them down the stretch, and Stanford outlasted Cal 77-71.

He was being given driving lanes, he said, partly because the Bears were concentrating on stopping the three-point tries by Rosco Allen (22 points) and Dorian Pickens (14).

The 6-foot-3 junior — whose fraternal twin, Malcolm, sometimes joins him in the backcourt — scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Both Allen brothers have tremendous jumping ability in addition to explosive quickness. Both are capable of acrobatic moves around the basket. Maybe it helps that their mother, Trina, was a former Stanford gymnast.

Like Malcolm, Marcus started the season on the injury list. He missed the first two games because he was still recovering from a stress fracture in his foot.

When he returned, he immediately scored 18 points, still his season high, in an 85-70 loss to SMU. He’s scoring 12.9 points per game and is the Cardinal’s second-leading scorer after Rosco Allen (14.6).

Stanford guard Marcus Allen scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half against Cal and Jabari Bird, and also had 10 rebounds Thursday night in the Cardinal’s 77-71 victory. Stanford guard Marcus Allen scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half against Cal and Jabari Bird, and also had 10 rebounds Thursday night in the Cardinal’s 77-71 victory. Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, Associated Press Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Marcus Allen steady influence for Stanford at crunch time 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

In close games, it appears that Marcus Allen will be the one whom Dawkins wants with the ball on critical possessions. He doesn’t yet have the outside shot that Chasson Randle had the past few years in becoming Stanford’s all-time leading scorer. Allen is hitting just 32 percent of his three-point tries (12-for-38).

But that first step to the hoop takes just an instant. He can burst through tiny openings in the defense, leaving opponents the choice of trying to go up with him at the rim or fouling him before he gets there.

As was the case when it had Randle, Stanford doesn’t really have an established point guard, a player who thinks “pass first” and creates scoring opportunities for others. It hasn’t had a player like that since Aaron Bright transferred to St. Mary’s in 2014.

That helps explain why Stanford is last in the Pac-12 in assists with just 12.0 per game. It had just nine in the victory over Cal. It scored just 21 baskets, making up for it with a 30-for-38 performance at the foul line.

At some point, though, Stanford’s ball movement will have to improve if it’s going to make the postseason. For one thing, defending conference champion Arizona, which visits Maples Pavilion on Thursday night, is unlikely to commit 27 fouls as the Bears did.

The Cardinal (10-6, 3-2 Pac-12) played their eighth game without top rebounder Reid Travis. There’s no telling when he’ll be back from his leg injury. But Stanford has already beaten three teams — Utah, Oregon State and Cal — predicted to finish above it in the Pac-12 preseason media poll.

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald