ORLANDO – Stanford will face Seton Hall, out of the BIG EAST Conference, on Sunday at 4 p.m. PT in the fifth-place game of the Advocare Invitational at HP Field House in the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The Cardinal defeated Indiana State on Friday, after falling to Miami in its opening contest of the tournament on Thursday.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Sunday's game against Seton Hall will air live on ESPNU, with Roy Philpott and Brad Daugherty on the call from courtside in Orlando. KNBR 1050 AM will also provide live coverage in the Bay Area, as Stanford alum John Platz will have the call from Orlando.
STRONG START
Stanford is 5-1 on the year. The Cardinal has now won five of its first six games of the season in three of the past six years, also opening 5-1 in the 2013-14 and 2011-12 seasons.
TRAVIS DOMINANT IN RETURN TO THE COURT
After missing the final 22 games last season, Reid Travis is back. He leads the team in scoring (17.7 ppg) and rebounding (10.7 rpg), ranks in the top five in the Pac-12 in both categories and is one of only four players in the Pac-12 averaging a double-double for the season. He ranks 19th nationally in rebounding and leads the nation in free throw attempts (59).
Travis has posted a double-double in each of Stanford's first two games of the Advocare Invitational. Four of his five career double-doubles have come in the first six games this season.
ADVOCARE INVITATIONAL RECAP
Stanford split its first two games in the Advocare Invitational, rebounding from a Thursday loss to Miami with a Friday victory over Indiana State.
In Friday's win over Indiana State, junior Dorian Pickens connected on a three-pointer with 2.0 seconds left to break a 62-62 tie to send Stanford to victory. Pickens and Reid Travis led all scorers with 19 points apiece to guide the Cardinal. Pickens' game-winning three-pointer came after Indiana State's Brenton Scott tied the contest with a three-pointer of his own with six seconds left. Pickens' game winner capped a wild back-and-forth second half that included nine lead changes and four ties. Travis collected 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the tournament.
Stanford led for the majority of the game Thursday against Miami, but a late surge by the Hurricanes handed the Cardinal its first loss of the season, 67-53. Travis finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Pickens led Stanford with 15 points against the Hurricanes. The Cardinal cut Miami's lead to four (56-52) with 3:41 remaining, but the Hurricanes scored 11 of the final 12 points of the game to take the victory.
AGAINST SETON HALL
Stanford and Seton Hall have met seven times previously, with the Cardinal holding a 4-3 edge in the all-time series. The teams have played two overtime games in the series, including the last meeting between the Cardinal and Pirates on Dec. 21, 1996, an 83-81 win for Stanford in New Jersey. They have played just one game previously at a neutral site, with Stanford defeating Seton Hall, 83-60, in the Bay Area Classic at San Jose, California, on Feb. 4, 1995.
AGAINST THE BIG EAST
Stanford has faced all 10 current members of the BIG EAST Conference previously, owning a 13-17 all-time record against the conference's teams. The Cardinal has faced Seton Hall (seven times) the most of any current conference team. Stanford's last meeting with a member of the BIG EAST Conference was last Dec 15, against DePaul, a 79-60 victory for the Cardinal at Maples Pavilion. Stanford also faced 2016 NCAA Champion Villanova (lost, 59-45) in Brooklyn, New York, last year.
PICKENS ON TARGET FROM BEYOND THE ARC
After going 0-of-2 from three-point range in the first game of the season vs. Harvard, junior Dorian Pickens has posted multiple three-pointers in each of the last five contests. He is shooting 48.1 percent from three-point range (fourth in Pac-12), with a team-best 13 three-pointers on the year. He registered a season-high four (4-of-6) vs. Colorado State. Pickens has five three-pointers in Stanford's two games in the Advocare Invitational, including three in the win over Indiana State. His third trifecta proved to be the game-winner with 2.0 seconds left against the Sycamores.
BIG PROVIDE BOOST
Stanford's group of Reid Travis, Michael Humphrey and Grant Verhoeven have provided a strong presence in the paint for the Cardinal through the season's first six games. The trio has combined to score 189 points (31.5ppg) and collect 118 rebounds (19.7 rpg) this season.
The Harvard game was the first time all three recorded double digits in the scoring column in the same game. Travis and Humphrey each scored in double figures in four of the first eight games of last season, before Travis was sidelined with a leg injury for the remainder of the season.
VETERAN GROUP
Boasting one of the most experienced rosters in the Pac-12, four starters - Reid Travis, Michael Humphrey, Marcus Allen, and Christian Sanders - and 10 of the top 11 scorers from last season are back. Including the first six games of this season, Stanford's roster has combined for 662 appearances.
MILES ADDING UP
Stanford will travel more than 21,000 miles from campus and back during its first nine games of the season. The 2016-17 campaign opened in Shanghai, China, more than 6,000 miles from campus. This week, Stanford is nearly 3,000 miles away in Orlando, Florida. The Cardinal will next travel nearly 2,000 miles to Lawrence, Kansas to face Kansas in its ninth game of the season on Dec. 3. The three trips will total almost 50 hours in an airplane.