SETTING THE SCENE
In a rematch of an early February contest in Salt Lake City, Stanford (18-9, 7-7 Pac-12) hosts Utah (15-12, 6-9 Pac-12) on Wednesday night at Maples Pavilion. The action will air on Pac-12 Networks.
THE OPENING TIP
• Junior Oscar da Silva leads the team with 16.0 points per game, a mark which ranks 10th in the conference. He also holds the 20th-best national mark in field goal percentage (58.8), and was the Pac-12 Player of the Week for Jan. 27-Feb. 2.
• Stanford was tripped up by the Utes in overtime on Feb. 6, 64-56 in the last meeting between the two.
• Stanford held 12 of its 13 non-conference opponents below 70 points and has limited its Pac-12 foes to an average of 64.2 points per game, which leads the league. The program boasts the best overall scoring defense in the Pac-12 (61.6), and the 12th-best nationally. As of Feb. 25, KenPom rates the Cardinal defense as the fifth-most efficient in the country.
• Despite Stanford’s .500 conference mark, the Cardinal holds the Pac-12’s third-best scoring margin in conference play (plus-4.2 points per game). Each of the conference losses came by single digits, while the team has recorded double-digit wins over Cal, Washington State (twice), UCLA and Oregon.
• Stanford is looking for its first win over the Utes since Feb. 4, 2017 - which ended 81-75 in Stanford’s favor after Reid Travis scored 26 points to outduel Kyle Kuzma’s 18.
VALUING THE THREE
Excelling on both ends of the floor beyond the arc, Stanford is one of four teams nationally to rank in the top-20 in both 3-point percentage and 3-point defense, joining San Diego State, Nevada and Northern Colorado. The Cardinal holds the 14th-best defensive mark, limiting its opponents to just 29 percent from 3-point range (including 28.1 percent in Pac-12 play), and the 19th-highest 3-point percentage at 37.6.
Three Stanford players are shooting north of 40 percent from 3-point range this season - Isaac White (44.6), Spencer Jones (43.4) and Tyrell Terry (40.3).