Stanford survives a scare from Idaho, wins 86-80

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Losing to St. Mary’s, Kansas and SMU in recent weeks wasn’t too demoralizing for Stanford. But had the Cardinal lost on their homecourt to Idaho on Thursday night, it would have been a different story.

The Vandals came in with a 5-5 record and were playing without starting point guard Perrion Callendret, who has a bruised knee. Yet the visitors from the Big Sky Conference led most of the night and trailed by just a point with 2:30 left.

Reid Travis scored a big layup in the final minute, and Robert Cartwright hit two free throws with 26 seconds left as Stanford avoided the upset, securing an 86-80 win to end nonconference play with an 8-4 record.

Dorian Pickens hit a career-high seven three-pointers while leading Stanford with 25 points. Travis had 20 points and 12 rebounds. Cartwright, who made his first start of the season, added 13 points and Michael Humphrey 10.

Stanford gave up 45 points in the first half and trailed by six at the break.

“We really struggled in the first half,” head coach Jerod Haase said. “Whether we didn’t defend the three well enough or they made tough shots, we’ll evaluate the film and decide that. But at no time did I look at the guys in their eyes and sense panic, frustration or feeling sorry for themselves.

“We kept after it and played with a little more passion in the second half. Then it snowballed.”

Victor Sanders had 17 points to lead the Vandals, who had 42 points from their bench, led by Brayon Blake with 14 and Tyler Brimhall with 13.

The Cardinal have not shot well this season, ranking last in the Pac-12 in field-goal percentage (42.6) and last, by plenty, in three-point shooting (27.7). From beyond the arc, they had shot just 19.2 percent in the previous five games (11-for-57). Against Idaho, though, they shot 52 percent from the floor and the same percent from long range (11 for 21).

“They played zone most of the game, and the way to beat a great zone is with ball movement,” Pickens said.

The Vandals widened the lead to 50-39 early in the second half. But Stanford went on a 12-1 run and tied it 51-51 on Pickens’ sixth three-pointer. The Cardinal opened a 76-67 spread before Idaho made it tight at the end.

“Our defense is what changed the game overall,” said Cartwright, who also hit a big three in Stanford’s late rally. “In the first half we didn’t do a good job. Forty-five points is unacceptable to give up for any team. We were really upset about that at halftime. We came out and started getting stops. Once we started stringing them together, that’s what turned the game.”

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