Conference Leaders Clash

STANFORD, Calif. – Winners of five straight and tied for first place in the Pac-12, Stanford hosts No. 14 Arizona at 1 p.m. Saturday at Maples Pavilion in a nationally-televised game on CBS. The Cardinal enters Saturday's matchup tied with the Wildcats for the conference lead with identical 5-1 records.
 
INSIDE THE FIVE-GAME WINNING STREAK
• Longest winning streak in conference play in 10 seasons (2007-08)
• Longest winning streak overall in three seasons (2014-15, won five straight to win NIT title)
• Stanford has moved 140 spots in 16 days in the NCAA RPI from 214 on Jan. 2 to 74 on Jan. 18
• Has started 5-1 in conference play for just the second time (2012) in the last 14 seasons
• Posted first conference road sweep in eight seasons (at Oregon/Oregon St. Feb. 18/20, 2010)
• All five games have been decided by nine points or less
• Stanford has erased second-half deficits of nine points or more in three of the five wins
• Stanford has owned a lead of nine points or more in the second half of three of the five wins
• Daejon Davis' buzzer-beater to defeat UCLA was Stanford's first buzzer-beater in 14 seasons
• Defeated its first nationally-ranked opponent (No. 16 Arizona State) in 12 opportunities
• During the five-game winning streak, Daejon Davis has averaged 15.0 ppg. In the 12 games he played in prior, the freshman averaged 8.5 ppg.
                                   
THE PICKENS FACTOR
In the eight games senior tri-captain Dorian Pickens has played in, Stanford is 7-1. In the 11 games he was forced to miss with a left foot injury, the Cardinal was 4-7. 
 

 
STANFORD AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
No. 14 Arizona is Stanford's fifth nationally-ranked opponent this season. The Cardinal is 1-11 vs. ranked foes in the Associated Press poll in the Jerod Haase era, coming off the 86-77 win over No. 16 Arizona State. The win over ASU was the first over a ranked opponent since Stanford defeated No. 11 Oregon, 76-72, Feb. 13, 2016. 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 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 3-19 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. Wednesday's victory over No. 16 Arizona State was his first win over a top-25 opponent with Stanford. 
 
AGAINST ARIZONA
Arizona leads the all-time, 63-29. The Wildcats have won the last 15 games in the series. In the most recent game in the series, on Feb. 8 of last season in Tucson, Stanford and Arizona were tied at 65 with 2:27 remaining. The Wildcats went on to win, 74-67. Stanford's last win in the series was Jan. 4, 2009, when the Cardinal, led by a game-high 19 points from Landry Fields, defeated the Wildcats, 76-60, at home. 
 
CARDINAL PLAYERS AGAINST ARIZONA
Six active Stanford players have played against Arizona in their careers. Arizona natives Dorian Pickens and Michael Humphrey have played the most games. Pickens is averaging 9.0 ppg in six games against Arizona, while Humphrey is averaging 8.6 ppg in five games against the Wildcats.
 

 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
One of the top recruiting classes in school history has played a big role in this season's success. Each of the Cardinal's four freshmen have started at least one game and three - Daejon Davis, Oscar da Silva and Isaac White - started together in six games earlier this season. At least two freshmen have started in 17 of Stanford's 19 contests.
 
All four average more than 23 minutes per game. Davis leads the Cardinal in assists (4.6 apg), White leads the Cardinal in three-pointers (32) and da Silva leads Stanford in blocks (20). KZ Okpala, who made his collegiate debut seven games ago, is averaging 10.9 ppg in 31.0 mpg.
 
In Wednesday's win over Arizona State, the final 16 points were scored by freshmen. 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.
 

 
 
DAVIS FOURTH FRESHMAN ALL-TIME TO WIN PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
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, was voted the Pac-12 Player of the Week Monday. Davis is the fourth Stanford freshman to win conference Player of the Week honors 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. 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.
 

Your Pac-12 Player of the Week, @DaejonDavis.

?? https://t.co/21ci4oj7fM#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/UQ995DkH4J

— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) January 15, 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 20.0 ppg. 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 Saturday's game against Arizona with 1,125 points and 594 rebounds in his 82-game career so far. Travis ranks seventh in the Pac-12 in rebounding (7.5 rpg).
 
He ranks in the top-10 in the Pac-12 in 13 categories entering Friday. 
 

 
POST PRESENCE
Stanford's starting post players, Reid Travis and Michael Humphrey, have combined to average 31.2 points and 15.4 rebounds per game. The duo is second in the conference among starting post players in combined rebounding and third in scoring, 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 20.0 ppg, to go along with 7.5 rpg. Humphrey is fourth in the conference in rebounding at 7.9 rpg, to go along with 11.2 ppg. 
 
 
PICKENS' OUTSIDE TOUCH
Since returning from injury six games ago at the beginning of Pac-12 play, Dorian Pickens leads the team in three pointers (19) and is second on the team in scoring during conference games (15.8). He ranks 11th 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 149 career three-pointers, which ranks 14th 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.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Reid Travis had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Cardinal, which led by as many as 15 in the second half, before defeating No. 16 Arizona State, 86-77. Dorian Pickens added 19 points and Oscar da silva scored eight of his 14 points in the final four minutes to guide the Cardinal. Josh Sharma finished with a season-best 14 points, going 7-for-7 from the field with seven dunks against the Sun Devils. 
 

.@DaejonDavis is taking control of the point, and it's paying dividends.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/JyhVYzXapv

— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) January 17, 2018

DAVIS CONTROLS THE POINT
Freshman Daejon Davis, the Pac-12 Player of the Week, has started all 17 games he has played in. He is averaging 15.0 points, 6.0 assists and 5.4 rebounds during Stanford's five-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 five games ago. He posted his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in the win at Washington last Saturday.
 
After averaging 7.0 ppg in his first five games, he is averaging 11.8 points in his last 12 contests.
 
OKPALA MAKING IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Freshman KZ Okpala made his collegiate debut seven games ago and has made an immediate impact. The forward is fourth on the team in scoring at 10.9 ppg. He is also averaging 3.1 rebounds in 31.0 minutes per game. Okpala, who has started five of the seven games he has played in, scored a career-best 21-points at Washington State.
 
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 7.9 rpg. The forward ranks third in the conference and 45th nationally in defensive rebounds per game (6.4 drpg). He posted a career-high 18 rebounds against Pacific on Nov. 12. The senior, who is averaging 11.2 ppg, has four double-doubles this year.
 

7 threes for @DorianPickens11 tonight.

SEVEN.

Watch 'em all ?? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/tWVAhGoZw9

— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) January 12, 2018

CARDINAL FINDING ITS RANGE
After averaging 5.9 three-pointers per game through its first 10 games, Stanford nearly set a school single-game record with 13 three-pointers in the Dec. 15 win over Denver. The school record for three pointers in a game is 15. The Cardinal had averaged 17.1 three-point attempts per game in its first 10 games, before attempting 66 over its last nine contests, including 32 against Denver. Isaac White owns a team-best 32 three pointers. Dorian Pickens, who missed 11 games with an injury, has 17 three-pointers in his last five games.