PHOENIX, Ariz. – After Stanford's battle with No. 9 Arizona that went down to the final minute Wednesday in Tucson, the Cardinal returned home to The Farm for classes and exams. Friday, Stanford traveled back to the Grand Canyon state for its Saturday matchup with Arizona State in Tempe.
R2T2 AMONG THE PAC-12'S BEST
Reid Travis "R2T2" is among the conference leaders in many categories. The Cardinal's scoring and rebounding leader, who missed four games in a six game span with a shoulder injury, returned four games ago. In those four games vs. Cal, Colorado, Utah and Arizona, he is averaging 19.5 ppg and and 6.5 rpg. He posted his seventh double-double of the season Wednesday at Arizona with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Travis and UCLA's TJ Leaf are the only Pac-12 players to rank in the top-seven in the league in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage.
HUMPHREY AND PICKENS RETURN TO THEIR ROOTS
In Saturday's contest, Stanford juniors Michael Humphrey and Dorian Pickens will play just minutes from where they grew up. Pickens is a product of Pinnacle High School, while Humphrey attended Sunnyslope High School. Humphrey was also the starting quarterback for the Vikings football team. Both Phoenix natives starred for the Cardinal at Wells Fargo Arena last season, with Pickens posting a game-high 19 points (four three-pointers) and Humphrey recording 15 points and six rebounds. As freshmen, both Humphrey and Pickens played limited minutes in the game in Tempe. Humphrey converted his lone field goal attempt in that March 6, 2015 contest, but was forced to leave the game with an ankle injury after just four minutes.
AGAINST ARIZONA STATE
Stanford leads the all-time series against Arizona State, 48-35. The Cardinal has captured 10 of the last 15 games against the Sun Devils. Stanford dropped a 98-93 decision to ASU in its Pac-12 season opener on Dec. 30. The Cardinal has lost its last three games against the Sun Devils at Wells Fargo Arena. Stanford last won in Tempe on Feb. 9, 2013. Senior Christian Sanders is the lone Cardinal to have played in a win over ASU in Tempe, scoring three points in nine minutes.
BATTLE FOR CONFERENCE POSITIONING
The Cardinal and Sun Devils are one of four teams (Colorado, Washington State) tied for seventh place in the Pac-12 with identical 4-8 conference marks. With ASU having earned a 98-93 in the first meeting in January at Maples Pavilion, Stanford will try and even the season series as the two schools look to advance in the league standings with six games left in the regular season.
TRAVIS, HUMPHREY ANCHORING POST
Juniors Reid Travis and Michael Humphrey have combined to average 38.6 percent (26.5 out of 68.7) of the team's scoring and 43.3 percent (14.8 out of 34.2) of the team's rebounding average. The duo leads the Cardinal in conference play, with Travis averaging 16.4 ppg and 6.4 rpg and Humphrey contributing 11.3 ppg (third on the team) and a team-best 8.3 ppg.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
Stanford has forced 53 turnovers over its last three games against Colorado (23), Utah (17) and Arizona (13). Led by senior Marcus Allen's eight steals, the Cardinal has recorded 28 steals in the three contests. The 40 combined forced turnovers against Colorado and Utah was the most in a two-game stretch in conference play in more than 12 years, since Stanford forced 41 combined miscues against USC (21 turnovers - Jan. 22, 2005) and UCLA (20 turnovers – Jan. 20, 2005). Stanford ranks second in the Pac-12 in steals (6.6 spg).
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Stanford has played the third toughest schedule in the nation, according to ESPN's daily strength of schedule rankings as of Feb. 10. The Cardinal has played seven teams in the top-25 of the RPI as of Feb. 10. Stanford checks in at No. 66 in the latest edition of the NCAA's RPI. Look no further than a daunting nonconference slate that featured the likes of Miami, Seton Hall, No. 12/13 Saint Mary's, No. 4/5 Kansas and SMU. Earlier in conference play, Stanford also faced No. 18/18 Arizona, No. 25/RV USC and No. 4/5 UCLA in succession, representing its first three-game stretch against top-25 foes since 2002.
MARCUS ALLEN HEATING UP OVER LAST SEVEN GAMES
Marcus Allen has been one of the Cardinal's leaders on both ends of the floor over the last seven games. He is averaging 11.4 ppg (second on team), while leading the team in steals (15) and ranking second in assists (18) during this span. After averaging 4.4 ppg in his first 17 contests, Allen is averaging more than seven points better per game in his last seven contests.
HUMPHREY CONTROLLING THE GLASS
Michael Humphrey has totaled 81 rebounds (9.0 rpg) over the last nine
games. He ranks seventh in the Pac-12 in rebounding overall at 8.3 rpg during league play. Humphrey has played more than 30 minutes in seven of the last 10 contests, after not reaching the 30-minute mark in any of the first 14 games. At UCLA on Jan. 8, Humphrey set a career-high with 27 points and finished one shy of his career-best with 14 rebounds for his first double-double of the year. He followed that with 18 points and a 10-rebound performance in 34 minutes against Washington Jan. 14, and was one rebound shy of a double-double at California. The junior also fell two points shy of a double-double last time out with 10 rebounds and eight points at Arizona.
PICKENS ON TARGET FROM BEYOND THE ARC
Junior Dorian Pickens has posted at least one three-pointer in 21 games, with multiple three-pointers in 13 contests. He has totaled nine three-pointers in his last three games. Pickens is shooting 37.5 percent from three-point range, with a team-best 45 three-pointers. 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.
THE JUNIOR CLASS
Stanford's four-member junior class - Reid Travis, Dorian Pickens, Michael Humphrey and Robert Cartwright - has accounted for 67.2 percent of the team's overall scoring. Travis (17.2 ppg), Pickens (12.3 ppg), Humphrey (9.3 ppg) and Cartwright (7.4 ppg) are Stanford's top four scoring leaders. Cartwright is listed as a sophomore aft er receiving a medical redshirt for the 2015-16 season. In Wednesday's game at Arizona, the group combined for 48 of Stanford's 67 points.
CARTWRIGHT ON POINT
Junior Robert Cartwright has taken over as the Cardinal's starting point guard, starting the last eight contests. He ranks eighth in Pac-12 in assists (4.1) during conference play, and seventh in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1) overall.
