Stanford (7-5, 0-0 Pac-12) at UCLA (7-6, 0-0 Pac-12) | Thursday • Jan. 3 • 8:00 p.m.
Pauley Pavilion • Los Angeles, Calif.
Game Notes: Stanford | UCLA
Television: ESPN | Radio: Stanford Cardinal Sports Network
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PAC-12 OPENER IN LA
Stanford opens the Pac-12 Conference schedule in Los Angeles Thursday, meeting UCLA at Pauley Pavilion at 8 p.m. on ESPN. The Cardinal, winners of five of its last seven, finished the regular-season nonconference slate with at least seven wins for the eighth time in nine years.
YOUNG SQUAD
Eleven of Stanford's 15 players are in their first or second year playing. Only senior Josh Sharma and juniors Marcus Sheffield, Trevor Stanback and Rodney Herenton entered the year with at least two seasons played. Through 12 games, first and second-year players have accounted for 81.2% of Stanford's scoring (714 of 879) and 79.2% of Stanford's rebounding (346 of 437).
Stanford's starting lineup in five games this season has been made up of three sophomores and two freshmen. In four games, sophomores Daejon Davis, KZ Okpala and Oscar da Silva have started alongside freshmen Cormac Ryan and Bryce Wills. Against Long Beach State last time out, the sophomore trio of Davis, Okpala and da Silva started alongside Wills and fellow freshman Jaiden Delaire. The Cardinal is one of only four teams in Division I that have started all freshmen and sophomores this season, joining East Carolina, Incarnate Word and Mount St. Mary's.
DAVIS DOMINANT IN DECEMBER
Sophomore Daejon Davis averaged 17.6 points, 5.2 assists and 2.0 steals in Stanford's five games in December. The point guard has matched his season-high scoring total of 19 in three of the last five games against No. 2 Kansas, Eastern Washington and San Francisco.
Davis is averaging 19.3 points, 6.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds in three career games against UCLA. He posted career-highs in points (23) and assists (10) at UCLA as a freshman last season.
FREQUENT FLYERS
Thursday marks Stanford's eighth game away from The Farm in its first 13 contests, with the Cardinal traveling 16,771 miles. Stanford has played outside the Pacific time zone in six of its seven previous road games, traveling to Chapel Hill and Wilmington, North Carolina, Lawrence, Kansas and the Bahamas. Stanford spent 16 of the first 26 days of the season (Nov. 6-Dec. 2) on the road.
SHARMA'S CAREER NIGHT EARNS THE SENIOR PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior Josh Sharma was voted the Pac-12 Player of the Week on Monday, following his career-night against Long Beach State on Saturday. Sharma earned his first career conference honor following his first career double-double with a career-high 23 points and a career-best 18 rebounds. He played 28 minutes off the bench, finishing 10-of-15 from the field with three dunks.
HOW SHARMA'S PERFORMANCE STACKS UP HISTORICALLY
Josh Sharma's performance against Long Beach State marked just the third time in the last 22 years a Stanford player posted at least 23 points and 18 rebounds in a game. Michael Humphrey recorded 26 points and 18 rebounds against Pacific on Nov. 12, 2017 and Curtis Borchardt registered 25 points and 21 rebounds against Arizona on Feb. 2, 2002. He is one of seven players in the nation to record at least 23 points and 18 rebounds in a game this season and one of 23 players in the Pac-12 in the last 22 years to achieve the feat.
Sharma's 12 offensive rebounds in the contest tied for the most in the nation this season. He joined Washington's Jon Brockman (vs. Stanford on Jan. 8, 2009) as the only Pac-12 players with at least 12 offensive rebounds in a game since the 1996-97 season.
The senior's rebounding total is the most in a game by a Stanford player since Humphrey posted 20 rebounds at Oklahoma State last March. It is the second-most by a Pac-12 player this season.
The rebounding total was more than double his previous career-high of nine against Middle Tennessee State earlier this season. The point total was eight points better than his previous career-best total of 15 against Cal State Northridge during his sophomore season.
AGAINST UCLA
UCLA leads the all-time series, 145-94. Stanford and UCLA split last year's regular-season series, with each team winning at home. The Bruins defeated the Cardinal in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament last season. Stanford has lost 12 consecutive games at UCLA. The Cardinal's last victory against the Bruins at UCLA was Jan. 20, 2005, as Dan Grunfeld scored a game-high 25 points to lead Stanford to a 75-64 victory.
STANFORD IN CONFERENCE OPENERS
Stanford owns a 20-20 record in conference openers since the 1978-79 season (15-9 home, 5-11 away). The Cardinal has lost its last two Pac-12 openers, falling to California (77-74) last season and Arizona State (98-93) the year before. Thursday marks the first time in six years Stanford will open the Pac-12 season on the road. Stanford last opened the conference schedule with UCLA on Dec. 29, 2011 at home, a 60-59 victory over the Bruins. Thursday marks the first time since Dec. 29, 2005, Stanford will open the conference slate at UCLA.
JEROD HAASE IN CONFERENCE OPENERS
Jerod Haase is 2-4 in conference openers as a head coach with an 0-2 mark at Stanford. He coached UAB to victories over Middle Tennessee to open the 2015 and 2016 Conference-USA slate, after dropping conference-opening decisions to Middle Tennessee in 2014 and UCF in 2013.
THREE-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE
Stanford is third in the Pac-12 and 38th nationally in three-point field goal percentage defense. The Cardinal has limited opponents to just 29.6 percent on threes (56-of-189) this season. Five of Stanford's first 12 opponents have recorded four or less three-pointers against the Cardinal. Stanford held Middle Tennessee without a three-pointer in its Battle 4 Atlantis finale.
SHARMA'S LAST SEVEN GAMES
Josh Sharma is averaging 9.7 ppg over his last seven games, after averaging 5.8 ppg in his first five contests of the season. He now ranks sixth in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage (.606) and offensive rebounding (2.3 orpg), and eighth in blocks (1.1 bpg).
DAVIS DOES IT ALL
Sophomore Daejon Davis, who broke Brevin Knight's school freshman assist record with 160 last season, has started 44 of 45 career games. He is averaging 17.6 points, 5.2 assists and 2.0 steals in his last five games. Davis ranks second on the team in scoring (11.8 ppg). His 1.7 steals per game average is third in the Pac-12 and his 3.8 assists per game ranks eighth in the conference. The sophomore has posted at least four points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals in two games this season against UNC Wilmington and Middle Tennessee. He has posted at least four points, four rebounds and four assists in four contests. Davis matched his career-high rebound total with 10 boards vs. Middle Tennessee in November.
OKPALA'S IMPACT AS A SOPHOMORE
Sophomore KZ Okpala is averaging a team-best 16.6 ppg and 6.1 rpg in 31.3 mpg through 12 games this season. He averaged 9.0 ppg in 28.1 mpg in his first 12 games last season. The forward, who had a career-best 29 points in the season opener against Seattle, is seventh in the Pac-12 in scoring, third in three-point field goal percentage (.469) and 14th in rebounding.
RYAN AMONG PAC-12'S BEST 3-POINT THREATS
Freshman Cormac Ryan is second in the Pac-12, averaging 2.3 three-point field goals per game. The freshman has recorded at least four three-point field goals in a game in four of nine contests (5 vs. Seattle, 4 vs. North Carolina, 4 vs. Florida, 4 vs. Eastern Washington). He has multiple three-point field goals in five games and is shooting 33.9 percent from three-point range (21-of-62). He scored a team-best 12 points, all in the second half and all on three-pointers, against Florida. Ryan's 11.0 ppg ranks third on the team.
WILLS ONE OF NATION'S YOUNGEST PLAYERS
With a birthdate of October 13, 2000, Bryce Wills is the youngest player in the Pac-12 and one of the youngest in Division I. Wills is the seventh-youngest player in the nation. He has started six games, including two of the last three. The freshman posted a career-best 10 points against Portland State and at San Francisco. The guard is averaging 22.7 minutes per game over the last three contests.
SHEFFIELD BACK
Redshirt junior Marcus Sheffield returned to the lineup this season, 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. He is averaging 5.1 ppg in 15.3mpg off the bench in the first 12 games of 2018-19.
JOSH JAMS
Of senior Josh Sharma's 40 field goals on the season, 19 have been dunks. He has 12 dunks in the last seven games. The center ranks sixth in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage, shooting better than 60 percent (60.6) from the field.
The center also has a presence on the defensive end, ranking eighth in the Pac-12 with 13 blocks.
DA SILVA FINDS TOUCH FROM DOWNTOWN
Sophomore Oscar da Silva has connected on 13 of his last 28 three-point attempts, dating back to late in the first half against Eastern Washington four games ago. He opened the season 3-of-30 on three-point attempts. The sophomore finished with a career-high six threes vs. San Jose State.
DA SILVA'S SECOND-HALF PRODUCTION
Oscar da Silva has scored 82 of his 115 points on the season in the second half. Over the last 10 games, 78 of his 105 points have come after halftime. He posted all 12 of his points at San Francisco, all 11 of his points at North Carolina and all seven of his points against Wisconsin in the second half.
WHITE DIALED IN FROM LONG RANGE
Sophomore Isaac White, who led Stanford with 38 three-pointers last season, is one of the Pac-12's top three-point threats again. The guard is shooting 41.4 percent from three-point range (10-of-25) this season. He was 5-of-5 from beyond the arc at No. 2 Kansas. White has played 95 minutes in Stanford's last five games, after totaling 23 over the first seven contests.
CARDINAL PLAYERS VS. UCLA
Eight active Stanford players have faced UCLA previously. Sophomore Daejon Davis is averaging 19.3 points, 6.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds in three games against the Bruins last season. Fellow sophomore KZ Okpala is averaging 12.3 points and 4.0 rebounds in three contests.