Stanford (2-0) at No. 7 North Carolina (2-0) | Monday • 4 p.m. PT
Roy Williams Court at Dean E. Smith Center • Chapel Hill, N.C.
Game Notes: Stanford | North Carolina
Television: ESPN2 | Radio: Stanford Cardinal Sports Network
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TAR HEEL STATE TOUR CONTINUES IN CHAPEL HILL
Coming off a 72-59 win over UNC Wilmington on Friday, Stanford continues its tour of the Tar Heel state with a stop in Chapel Hill to face No. 7 North Carolina on Monday a 4 p.m. PT on Roy Williams Court at the Dean E. Smith Center. It is the Cardinal's third visit to the Smith Center.
Locking it in for a big one. #GoStanford
A post shared by Stanford Men's Basketball (@stanfordmbb) on Nov 11, 2018 at 12:22pm PST
THE HAASE-WILLIAMS CONNECTION
Jerod Haase and Roy Williams have become close friends over the last 25 years. After a season at Cal, Haase transferred to Kansas in 1993 to play for Williams. Haase started 99 of his 101 games in his three-year Kansas career, where he helped lead the Jayhawks to three conference titles and scored 1,264 points. Following his playing career, Haase spent 13 years on Williams' staff with Kansas and North Carolina.
Haase got his start as Kansas' Director of Operations from 1999-2003, where the Jayhawks reached the 2002 Final Four and the 2003 national championship game. When Williams was named head coach at North Carolina prior to the 2003-04 season, he brought Haase with him as an assistant coach and director of operations, a title Haase held from 2003-09. Haase served exclusively as an assistant coach his final three seasons at UNC, before he was hired as the UAB head coach prior to the 2012-13 season.
Haase faced Williams once as a player, scoring 10 points in 24 minutes for California in a 93-76 loss to Kansas in a Sweet 16 game of the 1993 NCAA Tournament. It was Haase's last game at Cal, before transferring to Kansas.
COACH CONNECTION
The two-game trip to the state of North Carolina has a special meaning for head coach Jerod Haase. Friday's game at UNCW, matched him with Seahawks head coach C.B. McGrath. Haase and McGrath were teammates and college roommates for two seasons at Kansas under head coach Roy Williams. Both went on to coach on Williams' staff at Kansas and North Carolina. Haase and Williams have known each other for more than 25 years. He has played for Williams, coached with him at both Kansas and North Carolina, and coached against him as the head coach at UAB and Stanford.
AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
No. 7 North Carolina is Stanford's first nationally-ranked opponent of the season. Stanford is 1-13 vs. ranked foes in the AP poll in the Jerod Haase era, defeating No. 16 Arizona State (86-77) Jan. 17, 2018. Stanford's last road win over a ranked team came at No. 9 Texas (74-71 OT) Dec. 23, 2014. Jerod Haase owns a 3-21 record against ranked teams as a head coach. He played 10 ranked foes at UAB, leading the Blazers to a win over No. 9 Iowa State (60-59) in the NCAA Tournament on March 19, 2015, and a victory over No. 16 North Carolina (63-59) in Birmingham, on Dec. 1, 2013.
THE ROAD MORE TRAVELED
Stanford will play more than half of its 13-game nonconference schedule away from Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal will hit the road for seven games inside and outside the United States. In Stanford's first nine games, Stanford will travel a total of 16,339 miles, with stops in Wilmington, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Lawrence, Kansas and Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Stanford's 16,339-mile season-opening journey.
| Date | From | To | Opponent | Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 8 | Stanford, Calif. | Wilmington, N.C. | UNCW | 2,957 |
| Nov. 10 | Wilmington, N.C. | Chapel Hill, N.C. | North Carolina | 156 |
| Nov. 12 | Chapel Hill, N.C. | Stanford, Calif. | Return home | 2,821 |
| Nov. 17 | Stanford, Calif. | Paradise Island, Bahamas | Battle 4 Atlantis | 3,297 |
| Nov. 24 | Paradise Island, Bahamas | Stanford, Calif. | Return home | 3,297 |
| Nov. 30 | Stanford, Calif. | Lawrence, Kan. | Kansas | 1,855 |
| Dec. 2 | Kansas City, Mo. | Stanford, Calif. | Return home | 1,956 |
| Total | 16,339 |
AGAINST NORTH CAROLINA
Stanford and North Carolina have met 11 times previously, with the Tar Heels winning all 11 contests. Stanford has previously played a pair of games in Chapel Hill, in 1985 and 1988, and hosted the Tar Heels twice. The other seven games were contested on a neutral court. Stanford and UNC met last season on The Farm, with No. 9 UNC posting a 96-72 win on Nov. 20, 2017.
LAST YEAR VS. THE TAR HEELS
In last year's meeting, Joel Berry II scored 29 points, Kenny Williams posted career highs with 20 points and six 3-pointers, and No. 9 North Carolina beat Stanford 96-72. Luke Maye added 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Reid Travis scored 21 points to lead Stanford, while Isaac White added 20. Stanford was short-handed as Dorian Pickens, KZ Okpala and Marcus Sheffield were not available for the game.
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina, ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press poll, is 2-0 with road victories over Wofford and Elon. Monday marks the Tar Heels' home opener. Graduate student Cameron Johnson leads UNC with 19.0 ppg and 6.5 rpg. Senior Luke Maye is averaging 16.0 ppg and 8.5 rpg. Freshman Nassir Little is averaging 14.0 ppg. North Carolina reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, falling to Texas A&M.
CARDINAL IN THE TAR HEEL STATE
Monday's game at North Carolina marks Stanford's ninth game in the Tar Heel state in the 104-year history of the program. The Cardinal is 2-6 all-time playing both true road and neutral site games in the state. Friday's win at UNCW was its first win in the state of North Carolina since Dec. 1, 1995, when the Cardinal defeated South Carolina (82-79) in the Diet Pepsi Tournament of Champions in Charlotte.
NOTABLE MARKS FROM THE FIRST TWO GAMES
In last Tuesday's season-opening win over Seattle, Stanford posted a school-record 73.3 three-point field goal percentage. The Cardinal connected on 11-of-15 attempts, led by Cormac Ryan's 5-of-6 FG percentage from beyond the arc against the Redhawks. The old mark was 72.7 percent (8-of-11) against Oregon State on Dec. 17, 1988.
In the win at UNCW on Friday, Stanford recorded 15 steals, matching its best total in a game in the last 22 years. The only other time Stanford had 15 steals in a game during that span was against Oregon State on Jan. 5, 2006.
"Gabbin' with Gavin" is back!
— Stanford Athletics (@GoStanford) November 7, 2018
Watch as the son of @StanfordMBB head coach, @CoachJerodHaase, grills a few of the team's newcomers.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/a0HasgK4G3
RYAN POSTS THIRD-BEST POINT TOTAL IN DEBUT
Freshman Cormac Ryan's 16-point performance in his collegiate debut last Tuesday in the win over Seattle was the third most by a true freshman in his debut in the 104-year history of the program. Ryan also connected on five three pointers in the contest, similar to now-sophomore Isaac White's collegiate debut last season (17 points on five three pointers).
OKPALA'S IMPACT
Sophomore KZ Okpala is averaging a team-best 26.0 ppg through two games. His 52 points over a two-game span are the most since Reid Travis totaled 53 in wins over Washington (33) and Washington State (20) on Feb. 22 and 24, respectively, last season.
With a career-high 29 in the season opener against Seattle and 23 in Friday's game at UNCW, he now has six career 20-point games.
His 10 rebounds against Seattle matched his career-high, first achieved against Arizona State last season.
?? Look, I just flipped a switch ?? #GoStanford
A post shared by Stanford Men's Basketball (@stanfordmbb) on Nov 10, 2018 at 11:11am PST
YOUNG SQUAD
Among the 15 players on the 2018-19 Stanford roster, 11 are in either their first or second year playing. Only senior Josh Sharma and juniors Marcus Sheffield, Trevor Stanback and Rodney Herenton entered 2018-19 with at least two seasons under their belt. Through the season's first two games, first and second-year players have accounted for 80 percent (79.8) of the Cardinal's scoring (134 of 168 points). The underclassmen have also accounted for 78.7 percent of Stanford's rebounding total (59 of 75 rebounds).
BACK-TO-BACK TOP-20 RECRUITING CLASSES
In Stanford's first two games, four true freshmen have made their first collegiate appearances. Cormac Ryan led the way with 16 points in 33 minutes in the season opener against Seattle. Jaiden Delaire had eight points in 25 minutes against the Redhawks. Lukas Kisunas had two points in five minutes. Bryce Wills made his collegiate debut in Friday's game at UNC Wilmington, with three points in 14 minutes. The Cardinal's class of newcomers was ranked as high as No. 20 nationally, giving the program back-to-back top-20 recruiting classes. Stanford's 2017 class of Daejon Davis, KZ Okpala, Oscar da Silva and Isaac White was ranked No. 8 nationally.
SHEFFIELD RETURNS
Redshirt junior Marcus Sheffield has returned to the lineup, after missing the entire 2017-18 season. He injured his leg in practice a couple days before the regular-season opener last year. Sheffield, who poured in a career-best 35 points against Arizona State on Dec. 30, 2016, averaged 6.7 ppg during his true sophomore campaign in 2016-17. Sheffield is averaging 9.0 ppg in 20.0 mpg off the bench in the first two games of 2018-19. The Alpharetta, Georgia, native will have 11 family and friends making the four-hour drive north to Chapel Hill for Monday's game.