Card and Cougars Clash in NIT

STANFORD, Calif. – Returning to the postseason for the first time in three seasons, Stanford has earned the No. 3 seed in the National Invitation Tournament and will face No. 6 seed BYU in the first round on Wednesday at 7 p.m. PT at Maples Pavilion.

***PARKING ADVISORY***
Parking for Wednesday's Stanford-BYU NIT game will be free beginning at 4 p.m. Lots will be available on a first come, first served basis. Regular-season Buck/Cardinal Club parking passes will not be honored for Wednesday's game. 

STANFORD IN THE NIT
• Making ninth appearance
• Owns an 18-5 all-time record in the postseason tournament
• Won its last five and 11 of its last 12 tournament games
• Won its last eight NIT games played at Maples Pavilion
• Captured the NIT championship three times (1991, 2012, 2015)
• Last appearance was in 2015, when Stanford defeated Miami (66-64) in 2OT to win the title
• Reid Travis, Dorian Pickens, Michael Humphrey and Robert Cartwright part of 2015 NIT title
• BYU is Stanford's second West Coast Conference opponent in the NIT (Gonzaga, 1994)

HAASE INCREASES WIN TOTALS EACH SEASON
Jerod Haase has led his teams to increased win totals in each of his six seasons as a head coach. In his first season as a head coach in 2012-13, Haase guided UAB to 16 wins, eventually posting 26 wins and a second consecutive postseason berth in his final year with the Blazers in 2015-16. After Stanford earned 14 wins in his first season on The Farm in 2016-17, he has already led the Cardinal to 18 wins and an NIT berth this season.

CARDINAL RECORDED MOST CONFERENCE WINS AND HIGHEST FINISH IN 10 SEASONS
Stanford finished with 11 conference wins, its most in 10 seasons (13-5 in 2008) and five more than last season's league win total. The Cardinal tied for third in the conference, its highest finish in the standings since a second-place finish in 2008. Stanford has posted 10 or more conference wins just three times over the last 10 seasons. Stanford opened Pac-12 play with a 5-1 mark for the second time in the last 14 seasons. In January, the Cardinal won five consecutive conference games for the first time in 10 seasons and posted its first conference road sweep (Washington/Washington State) in eight seasons.

PAC-12 HONORS CARDINAL TRIO
Junior Reid Travis was a First Team All-Pac-12 selection for the second consecutive season, while senior Dorian Pickens was an honorable mention All-Pac-12 pick and freshman Daejon Davis was one of five members on the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team as selected by the coaches. Travis, the conference's only repeat first-team pick, is the first Cardinal repeat First Team All-Pac-12 selection since Chasson Randle (2014 and 2015). Davis is the first Cardinal to make the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team since Randle was selected to the squad in 2012.   
 
PICKENS VOTED PAC-12 SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Senior Dorian Pickens was named the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The senior was also a First Team Pac-12 All-Academic selection for the third consecutive year. Pickens, an All-Pac-12 pick for his performance on the court as well, owns a 3.42 cumulative grade-point average in communication. He was recently voted to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team.

R2T2
Fresh off his second consecutive First Team All-Pac-12 selection, All-America candidate Reid Travis has established himself as one of the top players at his position in the nation. The forward was recently named to both the NABC and USBWA All-District teams. He ranks in the top-three in the Pac-12 in 10 categories. The junior has registered seven double-doubles in his last nine games, including each of the last five contests. In Travis' last seven games, he is averaging 21.3 points and 11.6 rebounds in leading Stanford to 5-2 record during that span. He is ninth on Stanford's single-season scoring list with 643 points so far this season.   

AGAINST BYU
Stanford and BYU have met eight times previously, with the Cougars owning a 6-2 advantage. Wednesday will be the first postseason meeting between the two teams. In Jerod Haase's final game as the head coach at UAB before being hired at Stanford, his Blazers squad dropped a 97-79 decision at BYU in the first round of the NIT on March 16, 2016. Stanford and BYU last met on Dec. 20, 2014 in Provo, Utah, with BYU winning, 79-77. Dorian Pickens, Michael Humphrey, Reid Travis and Robert Cartwright, then freshmen, are the lone current members of the Cardinal to have played in that game. Travis collected 15 points and six rebounds in the contest. 

LAST TIME OUT
Dorian Pickens scored all 20 of his points in the second half for Stanford and the Cardinal held on through a wild final minute to beat Arizona State 84-83 this past Saturday in Tempe, Arizona. Reid Travis had 22 points and 14 rebounds and KZ Okpala 18 points and 10 boards for the Cardinal. A Daejon Davis spin move for a layup proved to be the winning basket with 42 seconds left.

PICKENS AMONG THREE-POINT LEADERS FROM MAJOR CONFERENCES IN LAST 8 GAMES
Dorian Pickens' 49 threes in the last 16 games ranks as the sixth-most among players from the six major conferences (ACC, BIG EAST, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) in that span. (as of March 2)

TRAVIS AMONG RARE COMPANY
Junior Reid Travis is one of just nine players in Stanford history with at least 1,300 career points and 700 career rebounds. He enters Wednesday's NIT game vs. BYU with 1,388 points and 733 rebounds in 96 career games. 
 
Stanford players with at least 1,300 points and 700 rebounds
 

PICKENS EIGHTH ON CAREER THREE POINTERS LIST
Dorian Pickens, who missed 11 games with a foot injury this season, ranks eighth in school history with 193 career threes. The senior has totaled 34 threes in the last 10 games, with multiple threes in each of his last 15 games. He led the Pac-12 in threes per game (3.1), was sixth in three-point percentage (.455) and eighth in scoring (15.9 ppg) during conference play. Despite missing the 11 contests, Pickens leads the team with 65 threes. Pickens, the 46th all-time and one of three active members of Stanford's 1,000-point club, enters Wednesday's NIT game with 1,158 career points.

TRAVIS AMONG NATION'S ELITE POST PLAYERS
Reid Travis is third in the Pac-12 in both scoring (19.5 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg). He and Arizona's DeAndre Ayton are the lone players to rank in the top five of the conference in both categories. Travis ranks in the top three in the Pac-12 in 10 categories. The junior posted a career-high 33 points in the win over Washington in February. He became the 45th member of Stanford's 1,000-point club earlier this year.
 

Throw it DOWN, @2ReidTravis2.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/zwQYHPrdRQ

— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) February 20, 2018

 
HOME SWEET HOME
Stanford completed the 2017-18 regular season 13-4 at Maples Pavilion. The 13 wins are tied (2014-15) for the most regular-season home victories in the past six years. The 2011-12 team won 17 home games during the regular season and 20 overall with three NIT victories at Maples Pavilion.

WINNING THE BATTLE OF THE BOARDS
Reid Travis and Michael Humphrey have helped Stanford win the rebounding battle in 26 of 33 games, including 22 of the last 26 contests. The Cardinal is second in the Pac-12 in rebounding at 38.4 rpg. Only four opponents (Arizona's DeAndre Ayton (12 pts., 10 rebs.), Washington's Noah Dickerson (14 pts., 13 rebs.), USC's Chimezie Metu (12 pts., 10 rebs.) and UCLA's Thomas Welsh (18 pts., 11 rebs.)) have recorded a double-double against Stanford in the last 38 games.

OKPALA'S LAST FIVE GAMES
After missing all but the final nonconference game, freshman KZ Okpala made his collegiate debut in late December. He has played 21 games with 19 starts. The forward is fourth on the team in scoring at 10.2 ppg in 28.0 minutes per contest. Okpala is averaging 14.6 ppg in the last five contests. He recorded his first career double-double in the regular-season finale at Arizona State with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Last time out against UCLA in the Pac-12 quarterfinal, the freshman scored a career-high 23 points in a career-long 37 minutes. 

DAVIS DIRECTING THE OFFENSE
Freshman Daejon Davis has started all 31 games he has played in. He's averaging 11.0 points, 5.0 assists and 4.4 rebounds in his last seven contests.
 
Davis' 149 assists so far are one shy of Brevin Knight's (1993-94) Stanford freshman record.
 
Highlighting his play is the 50-foot heave to win it at the buzzer against USC. The freshman registered career-highs in points (23) and assists (10) against UCLA on Jan 27. He has posted two double-doubles with 16 points and 10 rebounds in the win at Washington and the 23-point, 10-assist performance at UCLA. The freshman recorded 22 points seven rebounds and five assists in the win at California in February.

A cool 2??2?? from @DaejonDavis in Berkeley last night.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/jzKY8eyIh8

— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) February 19, 2018

YOUTH MOVEMENT
One of the top recruiting classes in school history has played a big role in its first season on The Farm. 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. At least two freshmen have started in 31 games and at least one freshman has started in all 33 games.
 
All four average at least 17 minutes per game. Davis leads the Cardinal in assists (4.8 apg), White is second on the team in three pointers (38) and da Silva is second on the Cardinal roster in blocks (28). KZ Okpala, who made his collegiate debut 21 games ago, is averaging 10.2 ppg in 28.0 mpg.
 
In the win in Stanford's first meeting with Arizona State this season, the Cardinal's final 16 points were scored by freshmen. In the victory at Washington St., Stanford's four freshmen scored the first 23 points of the second half during a 21-3 run to erase Stanford's deficit en route to the road win. 

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 celebrated the 20-year anniversary of the 1998 Final Four team on Feb. 24 against Washington State.