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Men's Basketball

Headed East

 Stanford (1-0) at UNCW (0-1) | Friday • 4 p.m. PT
Trask Coliseum • Wilmington, N.C.
Game Notes: Stanford | UNCW
Video Stream: UNCW | Audio Stream: Stanford Cardinal Sports Network 
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STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford embarks on its first cross country trip ­of the season with stops in Wilmington and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Cardinal will face its first road test of the year in a Friday matchup with UNCW at Trask Coliseum, before a Monday night tangle with the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
The Stanford Cardinal Sports Network has a live audio broadcast of the game available at GoStanford.com/watch or on the TuneIn app on mobile devices. Former Stanford men's basketball standout John Platz has the call from courtside at Trask Coliseum. UNCW will produce a live video stream of the contest as well.

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STRONG DEBUT
Stanford nearly eclipsed the century mark in its season opener, with a 96-74 victory over Seattle Tuesday night at Maples Pavilion. Sophomore KZ Okpala led the way with a career-best 29 points and 10 rebounds while dishing out five assists. Fellow sophomore Daejon Davis added 15 points and freshman Cormac Ryan poured in 16 in his Cardinal debut. With Tuesday's victory, Stanford has now won its last nine and 29 of its last 31 season openers.

 
SCHOOL-RECORD PERCENTAGE FROM DOWNTOWN
Stanford's 73.3 three-point field goal percentage against Seattle Tuesday was a school record. The Cardinal connected on 11-of-15 attempts, led by Cormac Ryan's 5-of-6 field goal percentage from beyond the arc against the Seahawks. The old mark was 72.7 percent (8-of-11) against Oregon State on Dec. 17, 1988.
 
RYAN POSTS THIRD-BEST POINT TOTAL IN DEBUT
Freshman Cormac Ryan's 16-point performance in his collegiate debut 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).

 
HITTING THE ROAD
Stanford hits the road for its first of seven games away from Maples Pavilion during the nonconference portion of its schedule. The Cardinal has lost its first true road game of the season each of the last four years, falling at Long Beach State (2017-18), at Kansas (2016-17), at Saint Mary's (2015-16) and at DePaul (2014-15). Stanford's last victory in its first true road contest of the season came at Denver (66-57) on Nov. 17, 2013. However, the Cardinal has won its first game away from Maples Pavilion twice during this four-year stretch, defeating Harvard (80-70) in Shanghai, China, to open the 2016-17 season on Nov. 12, 2016, and UNLV (89-60) in Brooklyn, N.Y. in the third overall game of the 2014-15 season on Nov. 21, 2014.          
 
CARDINAL IN THE TAR HEEL STATE
Stanford's game Friday at UNCW marks the Cardinal's eighth game in the Tar Heel State in the 104-year history of the program. The Cardinal is 1-6 all-time playing both true road and neutral site games in the state. Stanford's lone win in the state of North Carolina came against South Carolina (82-79) on Dec. 1, 1995 in the Diet Pepsi Tournament of Champions in Charlotte. The Cardinal's last appearance in the state came on Dec. 18, 2012, an 88-79 loss to NC State in Raleigh.
  
AGAINST UNCW
Friday marks the first ever matchup between Stanford and UNCW on the hardwood. The Cardinal is the first Pac-12 team to play UNCW since Nov. 29, 2006, when Colorado dropped a 67-55 decision to the Seahawks in Wilmington. Friday's game marks the second consecutive season Stanford has played a team from the Colonial Athletic Association. Last season, Stanford defeated Northeastern, 73-59.
 
SCOUTING THE SEAHAWKS
UNCW enters Friday 0-1 on the season, after falling to Campbell in overtime on the road, 97-93. The Seahawks got 29 points from junior Ty Taylor in the defeat. UNCW finished the 2017-18, its first under head coach C.B. McGrath, 11-21 overall and 8-12 in the CAA. Friday marks the home opener for UNCW.
 
COACH CONNECTION
Stanford head coach Jerod Haase and UNCW head coach C.B. McGrath go back. They were college roommates for two years at Kansas, playing for head coach Roy Williams in Lawrence. Both then went on to coach on Williams' staff at North Carolina.
 

 
CARDINAL SNAPSHOT
Stanford's 2018-19 roster includes two returning starters and nine letterwinners overall from last season's squad that won 19 games overall and reached the postseason for the first time in three years.
 
Davis, who started all 33 games he played in, was named to the five-member All-Pac-12 Freshman Team last season after averaging 10.7 points and 4.8 assists. He broke Brevin Knight's freshman assist record with 160 last season. Okpala, who started 21 of the 23 games he played in, averaged 10.0 ppg last year.
 
BACK-TO-BACK TOP-20 RECRUITING CLASSES
Stanford's heralded freshman class made its debut Tuesday, with three true freshmen making their first collegiate appearances. Cormac Ryan led the way with 16 points in 33 minutes. Jaiden Delaire had eight points in 25 minutes. Lukas Kisunas had two points in five 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 recruiting class of Daejon Davis, KZ Okpala, Oscar da Silva and Isaac White was ranked as high as No. 8 nationally. 
 
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 of playing under their belt. In Tuesday's season opener, first- and second-year players accounted for 79.2 percent of the scoring (76 out of 96 points).