Stanford (9-9, 2-4 Pac-12) vs. Utah (9-8, 3-2 Pac-12) | Thursday • Jan. 24 • 6:00 p.m.
Maples Pavilion • Stanford, Calif.
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Television: Pac-12 Networks | Radio: Stanford Cardinal Sports Network
Game Notes: Stanford | Live Stats: GoStanford.com
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UTES COME TO TOWN
Stanford hosts Utah Thursday at Maples Pavilion, where the Cardinal is 5-0 against the Utes since Utah joined the Pac-12 at the start of the 2011-12 season. Thursday's game will be the only regular-season matchup with the Utes. Tipoff is set for 6:02 p.m. on Pac-12 Networks and the Stanford Cardinal Sports Network.
OKPALA AMONG PAC-12's BEST
Sophomore KZ Okpala ranks second in the Pac-12 in scoring (17.9 ppg), third in three-point field goal percentage (.451), and ninth in rebounding (6.5 rpg). In conference play, he is averaging 21.2 ppg (third) and 7.6 rpg (eighth). He posted his second double-double of the year (22 pts., career-best 10 rebs.) at UCLA and matched his career-high with 29 points vs. Arizona this month.
BREAKING DOWN OKPALA'S PERFORMANCES
• 10 20-point games this season is the most in the Pac-12 and is six more than all of last year.
• Averaging 21.2 ppg and 7.6 rpg in conference play.
• Averaging 20.3 ppg in the last eight games, after averaging 15.8 ppg in the first nine contests.
• Posted three straight 20-point games for the first time in his career in his last three contests.
• Of the 11 performances of at least 29 points in the Pac-12 this season, only Okpala (29 vs.
Arizona and Seattle) and WSU's Robert Franks (31, 30) have achieved the feat more than once.
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 have more than two years of playing experience. Through 18 games, first and second-year players have accounted for 82% of Stanford's scoring (1,073 of 1,312) and 80% of Stanford's rebounding (513 of 641).
Stanford's starting lineup in seven games has been made up of freshmen and sophomores. In five games, sophomores Daejon Davis, KZ Okpala and Oscar da Silva have started alongside freshmen Cormac Ryan and Bryce Wills. Three freshmen - Ryan, Wills, Delaire - started at UCLA. 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.
AGAINST UTAH
Utah holds a 20-13 lead in the all-time series with Stanford, however the Cardinal is a perfect 5-0 against the Utes at home since Utah joined the Pac-12 at the start of the 2011-12 season. Stanford and Utah have split the 12 games played since Utah joined the conference. Thursday marks the lone regular-season appearance between the two schools. The Cardinal will not travel to the mountain schools this season, due to Pac-12 scheduling. Utah defeated Stanford, 75-60, in Salt Lake City last season.
CARDINAL PLAYERS AGAINST UTAH
Nine active Stanford players have faced Utah previously. Junior Marcus Sheffield is averaging 9.3 ppg in four games against the Utes. Sophomore Daejon Davis scored 14 points and recorded five assists in his only game against Utah.
LAST GAME AGAINST THE UTES
Stanford had one of its worst shooting efforts of the year in a 75-60 setback to Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Feb. 8, 2018. The Cardinal shot 35.8 percent for the game, while the Utes finished 50 percent from the field, using a pair of runs to open up the game.
Reid Travis finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while freshman Daejon Davis added 14 points and five assists for the Cardinal.
Stanford and Utah were locked in a tight contest early on with the Utes as Davis connected on a three pointer to pull the Cardinal within one point (20-19) with less than eight minutes remaining in the opening half. The Cardinal, however, went cold from the field after that, missing its next 10 attempts in being held without a field goal for a span of more than seven minutes. Utah took advantage, pushing that one-point advantage to a 14-point lead with a 16-3 run.
Utah used a 14-0 second-half run to extend it to a 23-point advantage for the Utes. Justin Bibbins had a game-high 18 points for Utah, followed by 17 from Sedrick Barefield.
DAVIS DOES IT ALL
Sophomore Daejon Davis has averaged 15.3 points, 5.5 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals in his last 10 games. The point guard has posted a season-best 19 points in three games this season, against No. 2 Kansas, Eastern Washington and San Francisco.
Davis is third in the Pac-12 in steals (1.6 spg) and seventh in assists (4.4 apg). He is second in the conference with 5.8 apg during Pac-12 action.
The sophomore has recorded at least four points, four rebounds, and four assists OR four steals in a game five times this season. Davis has posted at least four points, four rebounds, four assists AND four steals in two games this season against UNC Wilmington and Middle Tennessee.
Davis, who broke Brevin Knight's school freshman assist record with 160 last season, has started 49 of 50 career games he has played in.
RYAN AMONG PAC-12'S BEST 3-POINT THREATS
Freshman Cormac Ryan has recorded at least four three-point field goals in a game in five contests (6 vs. USC, 5 vs. Seattle, 4 vs. North Carolina, 4 vs. Florida, 4 vs. Eastern Washington). He has multiple three-point field goals in seven games and is shooting 33.7 percent from three-point range (30-of-89). Ryan's career-best six threes at USC (all in the second half) were the most threes in a game by a Stanford freshman since Chasson Randle (6) vs. Arizona State on March 7, 2012.
OKPALA'S IMPACT AS A SOPHOMORE
Sophomore KZ Okpala leads Stanford in scoring (17.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg) in 32.7 mpg through 17 games he has played in this season. He averaged 9.5 ppg in 27.7 mpg in his first 17 games last season. The forward, who has recorded a career-best 29 points twice this season (vs. Arizona and Seattle), is second in the Pac-12 in scoring, third in three-point field goal percentage (.451) and ninth in rebounding.
JOSH JAMS
Of Josh Sharma's 64 field goals on the season, 30 have been dunks. He has 23 dunks in the last 13 games. The center leads the Pac-12 in field goal percentage, shooting better than 66 percent (66.7) from the field.
SHARMA'S LAST SEVEN GAMES
Josh Sharma is averaging 11.7 ppg over his last seven games, after averaging 6.6 ppg in his first 11 contests of the season.
SHARMA PACES PAC-12 IN FG%
Senior Josh Sharma leads the Pac-12 in field goal percentage (.667), ranks ninth in blocks (1.2 bpg) and offensive rebounding (2.1 orpg). His 17 points at Washington last week was the second-best point total of his 108-game career.
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.
The freshman has started 10 games overall, including five of the last seven. He has averaged 26.5 minutes per game in his last eight games and is coming off a career-best scoring (13) and rebounding (8) performance at Washington State on Saturday.
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 ranks fourth in the conference in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 41.5 percent (17-of-41) this season. He was 5-of-5 from beyond the arc at No. 2 Kansas. White has averaged 15.2 minutes per game in Stanford's last 11 games, after averaging 3.3 minutes per contest in his first seven contests.
DA SILVA FINDS TOUCH FROM DOWNTOWN
Sophomore Oscar da Silva has connected on 17 threes in the last 10 games after opening the season 3-of-30 on three-point attempts. He finished with a career-high six threes against San Jose State.
SHEFFIELD PROVIDES SPARK
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 averaged 6.7 ppg during his true sophomore campaign in 2016-17. He is averaging 4.8 ppg in 13.9 mpg off the bench in 14 games of 2018-19. The junior is coming off a season-best 11-point performance in 23 minutes at Washington State on Saturday.