2017-18 Season in Review2017-18 Season in Review
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Men's Basketball

2017-18 Season in Review

BEST SEASON IN A DECADE
Stanford completed the 2017-18 season 19-16 overall and 11-7 in the Pac-12. The Cardinal tied for third in the conference standings, earning its highest conference finish and most conference victories since the 2007-08 season.
 
RETURN TO THE POSTSEASON
For the first time in three years, Stanford earned a postseason berth. The Cardinal was a No. 3 seed in the postseason National Invitation Tournament. Stanford defeated BYU, 86-83, in the first round, before falling to Oklahoma State, 71-65, in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in the second round in the middle of March.
 
CARDINAL IN CONFERENCE PLAY
Stanford finished with 11 conference wins, its most in 10 seasons (13-5 in 2008) and five more than the 2016-17 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.

BY THE NUMBERS
Stanford's 2017-18 squad posted its highest scoring average (75.9 ppg) in 16 years, best field goal percentage (.461) in 14 years and collected the fourth-most rebounds (1,368) in a season in school history. The Cardinal led the Pac-12 in rebounding (39.1 rpg) this past season.
 
ACADEMIC SUCCESS CONTINUED
Stanford was one of seven men's basketball programs among the power five conferences and the only Pac-12 school to record a perfect score of 1,000 in the Academic Progress Report (APR). It was the fifth consecutive year Stanford has posted a perfect score.

PAC-12 TOURNAMENT
While Stanford finished tied for third in the Pac-12 standings with UCLA and Utah at 11-8, the Cardinal was the fifth seed in the conference tournament as a result of different tiebreakers. Stanford cruised past California, 76-58, in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament, before dropping an 88-77 decision to UCLA in the quarterfinal round at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
 
PAC-12 SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Senior Dorian Pickens was named the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Pickens, who was also an honorable mention All-Pac-12 selection, boasted a 3.42 cumulative grade-point average as a communications major. He was voted to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team as well. The Cardinal senior was also a three-time member of the Pac-12 All-Academic Team.
 
Pickens was the fourth Stanford men's basketball student-athlete to win the Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. Previous Cardinal winners include Chasson Randle (2015), Dwight Powell (2014) and Landry Fields (2010).

ALL-PAC-12 TRIO
Reid Travis was a First Team All-Pac-12 selection for the second consecutive season to highlight a trio of Stanford players on the men's basketball all-conference teams. Senior Dorian Pickens was an honorable mention All-Pac-12 selection and freshman Daejon Davis was one of five members on the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team.
 
HAASE INCREASES WIN TOTALS EACH SEASON
Stanford's Anne and Tony Joseph Director of Men's Basketball, 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 led the Cardinal to 19 wins and an NIT berth this season.

Coach's reaction = priceless. #GoStanford

A post shared by Stanford Men's Basketball (@stanfordmbb) on Feb 3, 2018 at 4:51pm PST

TRAVIS NAMED MVP FOLLOWING STELLAR SEASON
Reid Travis captured the Hank Luisetti MVP Award with one of the finest individual seasons in school history. The forward was a First Team All-Pac-12 selection and a National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District pick for the second consecutive season. A third-year captain, he completed the season ranked third in the Pac-12 in both scoring (19.5 ppg) and rebounding (8.7 rpg) and finished in the top-three in the Pac-12 in 10 categories overall, including free throw attempts (first, 243), field goal attempts (first, 474), total points (second, 682), free throws made (second, 164), total field goals made (second, 250), scoring (third, 19.5), double-doubles (third, 16), offensive rebounds per game (third, 3.0), rebounding (third, 8.7) and total rebounds (third, 306).
 
The forward posted the fifth-best scoring total in a season in school history with 682 points. His 306 rebounds ranked seventh all-time. Travis' 250 field goals ranked third, his 243 free throw attempts ranked fourth and his 164 free throws made ranked 10th on Stanford's single-season lists.
 
He was one of just nine players in Stanford history with at least 1,400 career points and 700 career rebounds and one of only three players to achieve the feat in less than 100 games. Travis, who played in 98 career games on The Farm, recorded 1,427 points and 758 rebounds. The totals rank 16th and 10th, respectively, in school history.
 
STANFORD LANDED THREE ON PAC-12 ALL-ACADEMIC TEAMS
Senior Dorian Pickens was recognized as a First Team Pac-12 All-Academic selection for the third consecutive season to highlight three Cardinal men's basketball student-athletes on the conference's three all-academic teams.
 
Guard Robert Cartwright and forward Kodye Pugh were honorable mention Pac-12 All-Academic picks.
 
Stanford's 66 total all-academic selections in the 33 years the Pac-12 has honored its academic standouts leads the conference. The total is 28 more than the next closest conference school (Washington State).
 
DAVIS BROKE FRESHMAN ASSIST RECORD
Point guard Daejon Davis set the Stanford record for assists by a freshman with 160 (previously held by Brevin Knight). His assist total was 10th best in a season in Stanford history and ranked fourth in the Pac-12 in assists per game (4.8).
 
PICKENS AMONG STANFORD'S ALL-TIME THREE-POINT FIELD GOAL LEADERS
Senior Dorian Pickens, who missed 11 games with a foot injury in 2017-18, completed his Cardinal career ranked eighth in school history with 196 career threes. Pickens was second on the Stanford roster in scoring and led the Cardinal with 68 three-pointers as a senior. He finished eighth in the Pac-12 in scoring at 15.9 ppg during conference action. He was the conference's top three-point shooter, leading the league at 3.1 three-point field goals per game during conference play. The forward finished sixth in the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.455) in league action. He finished his career as one of 47 members of Stanford's 1,000-point club, with 1,186 career points. 

HUMPHREY COMPLETED CAREER AMONG CARDINAL REBOUNDING LEADERS
Senior Michael Humphrey, the recipient of the Peter Sauer Most Inspirational Award at the program's awards banquet, completed his career among the all-time leaders in scoring and rebounding. His 716 career rebounds ranked 12th in school history. The forward was one of 47 all-time members of the 1,000-point club with 1,037 in his 125-game career. A three-year starter for the Cardinal, he started 93 career games on The Farm. Humphrey averaged 10.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game this past season. His rebounding average ranked seventh in the Pac-12. The forward was also among the Pac-12 leaders in blocks with a team-best 33 his senior season. In his final career game as a Cardinal, Humphrey posted his seventh double-double of the season and 15th of his career with a career-best 20 rebounds and 15 points against Oklahoma State in the NIT.

HOME SWEET HOME
Stanford completed the 2017-18 regular season 13-4 at Maples Pavilion. The 13 wins were 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. With the home victory over BYU in the NIT, the Cardinal finished with 14 wins at Maples Pavilion in 2017-18.
 
FRESHMEN PHENOMS
One of the top recruiting classes in school history played a big role in its first season on The Farm. Each of the Cardinal's four freshmen started at least one game and three - Daejon Davis, Oscar da silva and Isaac White - started together in six games. At least two freshmen started in 33 games and at least one freshman has started in all 35 games.
 
Three of the four averaged at least 24 minutes. Davis led the Cardinal in assists (4.8 apg), White was second in three pointers (38) and da Silva is second in blocks (30). KZ Okpala was fifth on the team in scoring with a 10.0 ppg average. The versatile da Silva set a Stanford freshman record with a team-leading 55.8 three-point field goal percentage
 
In the win in Stanford's first meeting with Arizona State, 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. PETER SAUER CAPTAINSHIP
Head coach Jerod Haase announced the establishment of the Peter Sauer Captainship prior to the 2017-18 season, 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.