STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford welcomes the Washington schools to The Farm this week, beginning with a Thursday night contest against Washington State at 8 p.m. PT at Maples Pavilion. Thursday marks the lone regular-season meeting between the Cardinal and the Cougars, due to Pac-12 scheduling. Last season, Stanford traveled to Pullman, Washington, but did not host WSU.
AGAINST WASHINGTON STATE
Stanford and Washington State have met 135 times previously, with the Cardinal holding a 75-60 advantage. Stanford has won six of the last seven games, including last year's 72-56 victory in Pullman. The Cardinal owns a 43-22 home record at home against Washington State. WSU's last win at Maples Pavilion came on Jan. 15, 2011, a 61-58 victory by the Klay Thompson-led Cougars. Thompson finished with 21 points and eight rebounds in the game. Nobody on the current Stanford roster has played in a loss to Washington State at home.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
In its first 16 games, Stanford played eight teams projected to be in the 2017 NCAA Tournament field, according to ESPN's Joe Lunardi. All eight teams - UCLA (3), Kansas (5), USC (20) Saint Mary's (22), Arizona (27), Miami (31), Seton Hall (35) and SMU (47) - also rank among ESPN analyst Jay Bilas' list of "Top 68 Teams In The Land." The Cardinal played only two of these teams (Arizona and Saint Mary's) at home. Stanford's strength of schedule as of Jan. 11 ranks second nationally.
HUMPHREY STEPPING UP IN TRAVIS' ABSENCE
Michael Humphrey has stepped in with Reid Travis out indefinitely with a right shoulder injury. Humphrey, who started the first nine games, returned to the starting lineup at USC two games ago. He has played more than 30 minutes each of the last two games, scoring 33 points and collecting 20 rebounds. Last time out at UCLA, Humphrey set a career-high with 27 points and finished one shy of his career-high with 14 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
TRAVIS' INJURY IMPACT
Forward Reid Travis sustained a right shoulder injury during practice and is out of action indefinitely. The junior has been the Cardinal's leader and has been among the Pac-12 leaders in scoring and rebounding all season. Through 14 games, Travis accounted for 25.3 percent (245-of-967) of the Cardinal's scoring and 27.0 percent (134-of-497) of Stanford's rebounding total.
CARTWRIGHT'S CAREER NIGHT AT UCLA
Junior Robert Cartwright came off the bench at UCLA on Sunday to set career-highs in points (18), assists (9), rebounds (5) and minutes (34). After averaging 23 minutes in his first nine contests, Cartwright has averaged 26.8 over his last five games (starting in three of those contests).
PICKENS ON TARGET FROM BEYOND THE ARC
Junior Dorian Pickens has posted at least one three-pointer in 14 games, with multiple three-pointers in nine contests. He is shooting 39.7 percent from three-point range, with a team-best 31 three-pointers (12th in the Pac-12). He registered a career-high seven (7-of-10) vs. Idaho. Pickens connected on the game-winning trifecta against Indiana State with 2.0 seconds left.
RUNNING POINT BY COMMITTEE
Stanford has started three different players at the point guard position this season. Senior Christian Sanders started the first 11 games, while redshirt sophomore Robert Cartwright started three contests and sophomore Marcus Sheffield started the last two contests. Sanders ranks eighth in the Pac-12 with an average of 3.6 assists in 18.0 minutes per game. Cartwright, who missed all of last season with an arm injury, is averaging 6.5 points and 3.2 assists in 24.1 minutes per contest. Sheffield, who has started the last four games, started the last two contests as the Cardinal's point guard.
