Stanford (7-8, 1-1) vs.
USC (11-5, 2-1)
Sunday, Jan. 7 • 7:00 p.m. PT
Maples Pavilion • Stanford, Calif.
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STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford closes its stretch of eight consecutive games in the state of California as the Cardinal hosts USC Sunday at 7 p.m. PT at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal enters Sunday 7-8 overall and 1-1 in the Pac12 after a double overtime victory over UCLA Thursday. The Trojans, winners of five of their last six, are 11-5 and 2-1 with an 18-point win over California Thursday. It's the fifth consecutive season Stanford has opened the Pac-12 slate at home and the fourth straight year the Cardinal has opened the conference schedule with consecutive home games.
A win over USC Sunday would give Stanford its second consecutive home sweep of the Los Angeles schools. The Cardinal defeated both USC and UCLA in 2016, the last time both teams visited Maples Pavilion. The LA schools did not travel to Maples Pavilion last year due to Pac-12 scheduling. Stanford has swept the LA schools at home in two of their last three trips to The Farm, posting home wins over USC and UCLA in 2014 and 2016.
That felt good.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/FKs9kXx4Gb
— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) January 5, 2018
THE GOLDEN STATE TOUR
Stanford concludes its stretch of eight consecutive games played in the state of California. It began with a Nov. 29 matchup with Montana at home, followed by a visit to Long Beach State and home games with Denver and San Francisco. Stanford then faced No. 14 Kansas in a neutral-site contest in Sacramento, before opening Pac-12 play against California and UCLA. USC is the fourth consecutive opponent from the state of California to visit Maples Pavilion. Stanford will travel to Pullman, Washington, to face Washington State this coming Thursday, ending a stretch of 45 consecutive days in the Golden State.
AGAINST USC
Sunday will be the 250th meeting between Stanford and USC. The Cardinal leads the all-time series by one game (125-124). Stanford has won five of the last six. The Trojans won last year's lone meeting in Los Angeles to snap a five-game Cardinal winning streak. Stanford has won its last three home matchups with USC. The Trojans haven't won in Maples Pavilion since Feb. 14, 2013. Members of the current Stanford roster have not lost to USC at home in their careers.
CARDINAL PLAYERS AGAINST USC
Six active Stanford players have played against USC in their careers. Michael Humphrey has averaged 9.8 ppg in four contests against the Trojans. Fellow senior Dorian Pickens is the lone other Cardinal to have played in four games against USC, averaging 5.0 ppg in those contests. With Reid Travis missing the entire 2015-16 season and last year's lone meeting with USC, the fourth-year junior has faced the Trojans just once as a freshman in 2015.
| Player vs. USC | Games | Minutes | Points | Rebounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reid Travis | 1 | 9 | 4 | 4 |
| Dorian Pickens | 4 | 76 | 20 | 15 |
| Michael Humphrey | 4 | 70 | 39 | 10 |
| Robert Cartwright | 3 | 44 | 5 | 4 |
| Marcus Sheffield | 2 | 30 | 7 | 2 |
| Josh Sharma | 2 | 38 | 10 | 10 |
LAST TIME OUT
Senior Dorian Pickens scored a career-high 26 points, including a 3-pointer in the final two minutes of the second overtime, to help Stanford surprise UCLA 107-99 at Maples Pavilion. Pickens posted his second career double-double in the contest finishing with 10 rebounds to go along with his career-best point total. The senior also had six 3-pointers in the contest. Daejon Davis added a season-best 22 points. Aaron Holiday scored 31 points, 29 after halftime, and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer of the first overtime to tie the game at 94 and give UCLA new life. Pickens also hit a 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime.
PICKENS' OUTSIDE TOUCH
Dorian Pickens showed his shooting prowess in the win over UCLA Thursday, finishing with six three-pointers. The total, one shy of his career-high, is the most of any Cardinal in a game this season. The senior missed 11 games after injuring his left foot in the second game against Pacific on Nov. 12. He returned to action two games ago against California on Dec. 30. Pickens owns 138 career three-pointers, closing in on the top-15 three-point field goal totals in school history (Aaron Bright ranks 15th with 147).
What a performance from @DorianPickens11 last night.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/kKGk1SI1QV
— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) January 5, 2018
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.
TRAVIS NEWEST MEMBER OF 1,000-POINT CLUB
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 20.7 ppg. He averaged nearly 23 ppg over his final six nonconference games. The forward matched his career-high with 29 points (first recorded against Kansas last season) in the victory over San Francisco on Dec. 17 to become the 45th member of Stanford's 1,000-point club. He enters Sunday's game against USC with 1,056 points and 563 rebounds in his 78-game career so far. Travis ranks 10th in the Pac-12 in rebounding (7.4 rpg).
Heading into conference play, Reid Travis leads the Pac-12 in scoring with 21.4 PPG.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/RS3iWTzR2G
— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) December 28, 2017
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 20.7 ppg. He ranks in the top-10 in the Pac-12 in 11 categories entering Saturday's games.
| Category | Conference Rank | National Rank | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoring Average | 2 | 34 | 20.7 |
| Total Points | 1 | 31 | 311 |
| Free Throws Made | 4 | 33 | 81 |
| Free Throws Attempted | 2 | 16 | 115 |
| Total Field Goals Made | 2 | 26 | 111 |
| Total Rebounds | 10 | 150 | 111 |
POST PRESENCE
Stanford's starting post players, Reid Travis and Michael Humphrey, have combined to average 32.7 points and 16.1 rebounds per game. The duo is second in the conference among starting post players in combined scoring and tied for second in 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 20.7 ppg, to go along with 7.4 rpg. Humphrey ranks fourth in the conference in rebounding at 8.7 rpg, to go along with 12.0 ppg.
Pac-12's Post Players in 2017-18
| School | Players | Combined Scoring | Combined Rebounding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford | Travis/Humphrey | 32.7 | 16.1 |
| Oregon State | Tinkle/Eubanks | 32.1 | 13.8 |
| Washington State | Franks/Bernstine | 23.9 | 14.5 |
| USC | Boatwright/Metu | 33.7 | 14.4 |
| California | Lee/Sueing | 24.7 | 13.1 |
| UCLA | Welsh/Golomon | 19.9 | 15.8 |
| Washington | Timmins/Dickerson | 21.8 | 13.3 |
| Arizona | Ayton/Ristic | 30.1 | 18.4 |
| Arizona State | White/Mitchell | 20.5 | 16.1 |
| Oregon | White/McIntosh | 19.6 | 9.4 |
| Colorado | King/Bey | 17.4 | 12.2 |
| Utah | Collette/Rawson | 25.0 | 11.0 |
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Stanford's roster has played 629 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 25 minutes per game. Davis leads the Cardinal in assists per game (4.2 apg), White leads the Cardinal in three-pointers (29) and da Silva ranks third on the roster in rebounding (5.5 rpg), second in blocks (14) and third in steals (11). Fellow freshman Kezie Okpala made his collegiate debut three games ago. He is averaging 10.0 ppg in 33.0 mpg over those three contests.
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 | Points | Rebounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isaac White | 15-9 | 25.4 | 9.2 | 1.9 |
| Daejon Davis | 13-13 | 29.2 | 9.5 | 4.2 (assists) |
| Oscar da Silva | 15-10 | 26.5 | 5.7 | 5.5 |
| Kezie Okpala | 3-2 | 33.0 | 10.0 | 3.0 |
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 8.7 rpg. The average is 62nd nationally. The forward ranks third in the conference and 28th nationally in defensive rebounds per game (7.0 drpg). He posted a career-high 18 rebounds against Pacific on Nov. 12. The senior, who is averaging 12.0 ppg, has four double-doubles this year.
DAVIS TAKING CONTROL OF THE POINT
Freshman Daejon Davis has started all 13 career games he has played in. After averaging 7.0 ppg in his first five games, he is averaging 11.1 points in his last eight contests. He is coming off a career-best 22-point performance, that included 13 in the second half alone, in the win over UCLA. Davis also registered a season-best seven assists against the Bruins.
WIN NO. 100 FOR HAASE
The Dec. 17 victory over San Francisco was head coach Jerod Haase's 100th career coaching victory. He is in his sixth season as a head coach and second with Stanford, following four successful seasons at UAB. The win was Haase's 20th at the helm of the Cardinal.
Shoutout to Reid and Coach Haase for reaching major milestones today! #GoStanford
A post shared by Stanford Men's Basketball (@stanfordmbb) on Dec 17, 2017 at 5:49pm PST
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 38 over its last five contests, including 32 against Denver. Isaac White owns a team-best 29 three-pointers. Dorian Pickens, who missed 11 games with an injury, posted six three-pointers in the win over UCLA last time out.
THE FOURTH-YEAR CLASS
The four members of Stanford's fourth-year class - Reid Travis, Dorian Pickens, Michael Humphrey and Robert Cartwright - accounted for 62.6 percent of the team's scoring and 55.4 percent of the team's rebounding last season. Pickens and Humphrey are true seniors, while Travis and Cartwright have each had their medical hardship waivers granted and are redshirt juniors with another year of eligibility remaining after this season. Cartwright missed the entire 2015-16 season with a compound fracture of his right forearm sustained in preseason practice on Nov. 2, 2015. Travis was forced to miss the final 22 games of the 2015-16 season with a right leg injury.
PETER SAUER CAPTAINSHIP
Head coach Jerod Haase announced the establishment of the Peter Sauer Captainship in September, naming Reid Travis, Dorian Pickens and Michael Humphrey captains. The three wear patches on their uniforms honoring the legacy of the late Peter Sauer, a team captain and leader of Stanford's 1998 Final Four team. Stanford will celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the 1998 Final Four team Feb. 24, 2018, against Washington State.