Stanford thumps Florida Intl.

? Rob Little lost 30 pounds during the offseason thanks to a strict shape-up plan — and it’s doing wonders for his game.

Little matched his season-high with 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting and No. 9 Stanford remained unbeaten with a 77-50 rout Monday of Florida International.

“I feel 10 times lighter,” said Little, who now carries 250 pounds on his 6-foot-10 frame. “I don’t get winded and I’m not making those stupid fouls.”

Matt Lottich added 12 points and five assists and Dan Grunfeld had 13 points and four rebounds off the bench as the Cardinal outscored the Golden Panthers 41-24 in the second half.

Surging Stanford (6-0) has jumped from No. 21 in the poll to ninth in two weeks with wins over then-No. 1 Kansas University and a respectable UNLV team.

The Cardinal didn’t think they did enough of the little things right Monday — they had 12 turnovers and only 29 rebounds — and believe they’ll have to be a lot better Saturday when they play No. 13 Gonzaga in the Pete Newell Challenge.

“It’s hard to get up for a game like this like you do for a game like Kansas or Gonzaga,” Lottich said. “We were kind of stagnant. We had a 10-point lead at halftime, but it didn’t feel like it. They were controlling the tempo. I wanted to get a little emotion going. I knew they were going to have fight in the second half and we had to match their intensity.”

Carlos Morban shot 8-for-13 and scored 20 points for Florida International (2-6), which was held to its lowest point total of the season and lost its fourth straight game. It was the first ever meeting between the schools.

The Cardinal shot 53.8 percent in the first half to build a 36-26 lead and started the second half with a 16-6 run, flustering FIU with more intense defensive pressure that made it hard for the Golden Panthers to establish any rhythm on offense.

“This is the toughest team we’ve played this year by far,” Morban said.

Stanford forward Matt Haryasz dives for the ball in front of Florida International guard Carlos Morban, right. The Cardinal won, 77-50, Monday in Stanford, Calif.

No. 14 Wake Forest 78,

SMU 66

Dallas — Justin Gray and Eric Williams each scored 22 points for Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons (6-0) seemed headed to a runaway win when they stretched their lead to 17 early in the second half. Then they went cold and the Mustangs (3-2) got within 68-64. Chris Paul made six free throws in the final minute to seal the victory and finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.

No. 18 Pittsburgh 79, Georgetown, Ky. 74

Pittsburgh — Carl Krauser scored 18 points, including two free throws with 12 seconds left, and the Panthers remained unbeaten by holding off the determined bid of NAIA power Georgetown, Ky.

Freshman Chris Taft had 16 points and eight rebounds for Pitt (8-0), which held on despite going without a field goal for the final 5 1/2 minutes.

Marshall Williams scored 25 points for the Tigers (8-2), an NAIA national semifinalist last season.

No. 23 Marquette 68, Canisius 65

Milwaukee — Scott Merritt made two free throws with 2:47 left and the Golden Eagles held on despite not scoring the rest of the way.

Travis Diener had 14 points and nine assists for Marquette (7-1), which was 12-for-13 from the free-throw line in the second half.

Kevin Downey had 19 points for the Golden Griffins (3-5).