STANFORD, Calif. – Winners of four straight, Stanford looks to continue its momentum this week as the Cardinal hosts No. 16 Arizona State Wednesday at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal, 10-8 overall and 4-1 in the conference, is tied with Arizona for first place in the Pac-12 standings. ASU is 14-3 overall and 2-3 in the conference, coming off a victory over Oregon State Saturday.
4-1 IN CONFERENCE PLAY FOR THIRD TIME IN 14 SEASONS
Stanford's 4-1 start in the Pac-12 is just the third time in the last 14 seasons the Cardinal has won four of its first five conference games. Stanford also opened the 2012 and 2015 conference seasons with 4-1 marks.
LONGEST WINNING STREAK IN 10 SEASONS
Stanford's four-game winning streak in conference play is its longest in 10 seasons, since the Cardinal won seven consecutive games in conference play during the 2007-08 season.
FIRST CONFERENCE ROAD SWEEP IN EIGHT SEASONS
Stanford's sweep in the Evergreen state last week was the first conference road sweep for the Cardinal in eight seasons. Stanford defeated Oregon and Oregon State, Feb. 18 and 20, 2010.
DAVIS AMONG RARE COMPANY WITH PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR
Freshman Daejon Davis, who averaged 15.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists to lead Stanford to road wins at Washington State and Washington last week, was voted the Pac-12 Player of the Week Monday. Davis is the fourth Stanford freshman to win conference Player of the Week honor in school history and the first since Jan. 29, 2007, when Brook Lopez recorded a triple-double against USC. The other two Cardinal freshmen to win the award are Jason Collins on Nov. 27, 1999 and Howard Wright on Feb. 3, 1986. Davis posted his first career double-double with 16 points and a career-high 10 rebounds at Washington in his first trip back to his hometown of Seattle. Against Washington State, Davis scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half, including eight during a pivotal 24-5 Cardinal run that turned a nine-point second-half deficit into a 10-point lead and eventual win over WSU.
Your Pac-12 Player of the Week, @DaejonDavis.
— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) January 15, 2018
?? https://t.co/21ci4oj7fM#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/UQ995DkH4J
STANFORD AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
No. 16 Arizona State is Stanford's fourth nationally-ranked opponent this season. The Cardinal is 0-11 vs. ranked foes in the Associated Press poll in the Jerod Haase era. It's most recent game vs. a ranked opponent was against No. 14 Kansas on Dec. 21, 2017. This week's games against No. 16 Arizona State and No. 14 Arizona marks the second time this season Stanford will face back-to-back nationally-ranked opponents. The Cardinal played No. 7 Florida and No. 9 North Carolina in back-to-back games in November.
JEROD HAASE AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
Head Coach Jerod Haase owns a 2-19 all-time record against nationally-ranked teams. He played 10 ranked foes as the head coach at UAB, leading the Blazers to a win over No. 9/10 Iowa State (60-59) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on March 19, 2015 in Louisville, and a victory over No. 16/16 North Carolina (63-59) in Birmingham, Alabama, on Dec. 1, 2013.
AGAINST ARIZONA STATE
Stanford leads the all-time series against Arizona State, 48-37. The Sun Devils have won the last four games in the series, including three last season. Stanford last defeated ASU on Jan. 23, 2016, with a 75-73 victory over the Sun Devils at Maples Pavilion.
CARDINAL PLAYERS AGAINST ARIZONA STATE
Five active Stanford players have played against Arizona State in their careers. Arizona natives Dorian Pickens and Michael Humphrey have played the most games. Humphrey is averaging 10.7 ppg in six games vs. ASU and Pickens is averaging 9.7 ppg in seven contests vs. Arizona St.
LAST TIME OUT
Freshman Daejon Davis, a Seattle native, returned to his hometown and recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead Stanford to a 73-64 victory over the Washington Saturday night. Reid Travis also finished with 16 points as the Cardinal completed its first two-game road sweep in conference play in nearly eight years. Jaylen Nowell led Washington with 20 points and David Crisp added 11. The Huskies were unable to overcome long scoreless stretches in both halves and were out-rebounded 48-28.
The Card earned its first conference road sweep since 2010 in last night's win.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/ySEnnGkCLx
— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) January 14, 2018
TRAVIS AMONG NATION'S BEST POST PLAYERS
Junior forward Reid Travis, a preseason All-American and candidate for several national player of the year awards, ranks second in the Pac-12 in scoring at 20.1 ppg. He averaged nearly 23 ppg over his final six nonconference games. The forward has matched his career-high with 29 points (first recorded against Kansas last season) in victories over USC and San Francisco this season. He became the 45th member of Stanford's 1,000-point club earlier this season and enters Wednesday's game against Arizona State with 1,107 points and 584 rebounds in his 81-game career so far. Travis ranks 11th in the Pac-12 in rebounding (7.3 rpg).
R2T2
Junior preseason All-American Reid Travis is living up to his accolades. The forward, who entered the year as the Pac-12's leading returning scorer and rebounder, is second in the conference in scoring at 20.4 ppg. He ranks in the top-11 in the Pac-12 in nine categories entering Friday's games.
| Category | Conference Rank | National Rank | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoring Average | 22 | 37 | 20.1 |
| Total Points | 52 | 38 | 362 |
| Free Throws Made | 4 | 24 | 98 |
| Free Throws Attempted | 2 | 12 | 143 |
| Total Field Goals Made | 2 | 31 | 128 |
| Rebounding Average | 11 | 161 | 7.3 |
| Total Rebounds | 8 | 153 | 132 |
POST PRESENCE
Stanford's starting post players, Reid Travis and Michael Humphrey, have combined to average 31.7 points and 15.4 rebounds per game. The duo is second in the conference among starting post players in both combined scoring and combined rebounding, the only pair to rank in the top-three in both categories in the conference. Travis is second in the Pac-12 in scoring at 20.1 ppg, to go along with 7.3 rpg. Humphrey ranks fourth in the conference in rebounding at 8.1 rpg, to go along with 11.6 ppg.
PICKENS' OUTSIDE TOUCH
Since returning from injury five games ago at the beginning of Pac-12 play, Dorian Pickens leads the the team in three pointers (16) and is second on the team in scoring during conference games. He ranks 16th in the Pac-12 in scoring during conference action and is second in the league in three-pointers per game (3.2). Pickens matched his career-high with seven threes (7-for-10) in last week's win at Washington State. Pickens owns 146 career three-pointers, which ranks 16th in school history.
The forward, the only player to start all 31 games last season, posted at least one three-pointer in all but four games, with multiple three-pointers in 19 contests his junior season. He ranked ninth in the Pac-12 in three-point field goals made in conference play (39, 2.2) and 11th overall (67, 2.2) as Stanford's leading three-point shooter (67-of-169, 39.6 percent) last year.
7 threes for @DorianPickens11 tonight.
— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) January 12, 2018
SEVEN.
Watch 'em all ?? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/tWVAhGoZw9
DAVIS CONTROLS THE POINT
Freshman Daejon Davis, the Pac-12 Player of the Week, has started all 16 games he has played in. He is averaging 15.5 points and 5.5 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game during Stanford's four-game winning streak.
Highlighting his recent play is the 50-foot heave to win the game as the buzzer sounded against USC. The freshman registered a career-high 22 points and matched his career-high with seven assists in leading Stanford to a double overtime victory over UCLA four games ago. He is coming off his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in the win at Washington this past Saturday.
After averaging 7.0 ppg in his first five games, he is averaging 11.7 points in his last 11 contests.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Stanford's roster has played 657 combined games. The Cardinal entered the season with the fifth-most veteran roster (games played) in the nation. While fourth-year players Reid Travis and Michael Humphrey anchor the post, injuries limited several veteran perimeter players early on. This has given one of the nation's top recruiting classes a chance to play important minutes as freshmen. All four members of Stanford's freshman class have started at least one game and three freshmen - Daejon Davis, Oscar da Silva and Isaac White - started together in six games earlier this season.
All four freshmen on the roster average more than 23 minutes per game. Davis leads the Cardinal in assists per game (4.4 apg), White leads the Cardinal in three-pointers (32) and da Silva leads Stanford in blocks (19). Fellow freshman KZ Okpala made his collegiate debut six games ago. He is averaging 12.0 ppg in 30.5 mpg over those six contests, which includes four starts.
In last week's victory at Washington State, Stanford's four freshmen scored the first 23 points of the second half during the Cardinal's 21-3 run to erase its deficit en route to the road win.
Prior to this season, Stanford last started three freshmen on January 27, 1983 (at Washington) with Keith Ramee, Andy Fischer and Earl Koberlein earned the starting nod in that contest.
Freshman Production
| Name | G-S | Minutes (avg.) | Points (avg.) | Rebounds (avg.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daejon Davis | 16-16 | 29.5 | 10.3 | 4.4 (assists) |
| Oscar da Silva | 18-11 | 27.2 | 5.6 | 5.7 |
| KZ Okpala | 6-4 | 30.5 | 12.0 | 3.0 |
| Isaac White | 18-9 | 23.8 | 8.3 | 1.7 |
OKPALA MAKING IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Freshman KZ Okpala made his collegiate debut six games ago and has made an immediate impact. The forward is third on the team in scoring at 12.0 ppg. He is averaging 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 30.5 minutes per game. Okpala, who has started four of the six games he has played in, scored a career-best 21-points at Washington State last week.
HUMPHREY CONTROLLING THE GLASS
Michael Humphrey, who was among the Pac-12 leaders in rebounding last season, ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in rebounding with an average of 8.1 rpg. The forward ranks third in the conference and 48th nationally in defensive rebounds per game (6.5 drpg). He posted a career-high 18 rebounds against Pacific on Nov. 12. The senior, who is averaging 11.6 ppg, has four double-doubles this year.