Stanford’s Travis scores 29 points in win over USF

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USF head coach Kyle Smith thought there was something wrong with the scouting report on Stanford forward Reid Travis.

“I can live with him making some post moves,” he said, “but he can’t hit the three off the dribble. Hey, that’s not on the (report).”

Travis matched his career high with 29 points in the Cardinal’s 71-59 win over the Dons on Sunday at Maples Pavilion.

The 6-foot-8 junior, who had not hit a three-pointer at Stanford until this season and had been 4-for-22 from beyond the arc for his career, hit two treys in three tries to go with his usual assortment of dunks, spin-move baskets, put-backs and mid-range jumpers.

“That’s a tip of the hat to him,” Smith said, “because we have to guard him out there and guard him in there. He’s special.”

The Dons’ big men couldn’t handle Travis, who hit 11 of 18 shots and grabbed eight rebounds.

“He was a monster,” Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said. “We were able to free him up some, but a lot of it he does on his own as well. Physically he’s such a presence. He can score in a variety of ways.”

Travis said his confidence grew as the Dons (6-4) backed off him on the perimeter. But his game is mainly on the inside.

“Just staying in attack mode — that’s one thing the coaches told me,” he said. “‘You’ve got to pick your spots. When the double-team comes, be ready to hit the shooter, but if they don’t come, you’ve got to be ready to attack the rim.’”

There were 12 lead changes before Stanford took control in the first half. Trailing 16-15, the Cardinal (6-6) outscored USF 23-5 the rest of the half, taking a 38-21 advantage into the break.

Backup center Josh Sharma helped ignite the run with eight of his 13 points. He hit a three, dunked off a fine pass by Isaac White on the break and converted a three-point play.

“He brings a lot of energy,” Travis said. “That’s the thing they preach to him: ‘When you come in, it should be like firecrackers going off.’ That’s definitely the way he’s been playing the last few games.”

It was by no means a completely satisfying experience for the Cardinal. They committed 20 turnovers and gave the Dons far too many open looks on threes for Haase’s liking. But USF was just 8-for-30 from beyond the arc.

“When we were a step slow and didn’t get to the three-point shooters, things happened,” Haase said. “On the offensive end, we were awfully creative in finding new ways to turn the ball over today.”

USF had 14 points each from senior guard Chase Foster and freshman guard Souley Boum. The Dons fought back from a 25-point deficit to make it a 64-56 game with under two minutes left before the Cardinal pulled away again.

Michael Humphrey had nine points and nine rebounds for the Cardinal, but freshman Daejon Davis, two days after a splendid 20-point performance against Denver, had eight turnovers, four fouls and just two points.

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