SETTING THE SCENE
Stanford (16-5, 5-3 Pac-12) takes off on the road for the third time in conference play, first with a Thursday night matchup with Utah (12-9, 3-6 Pac-12). The game will air on Pac-12 Networks.
THE OPENING TIP
• Stanford is one of five teams at the top of the Pac-12 table with three losses, though is two wins behind league-leading Oregon. The Cardinal’s .762 overall winning percentage ranks fourth in the Pac-12.
• Junior Oscar da Silva leads the team with 16.8 points per game, a mark which ranks eighth in the conference. He also holds the 25th-best national mark in field goal percentage (61.6), and is the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week.
• Stanford held 12 of its 13 non-conference opponents below 70 points and has limited its Pac-12 foes to an average of 61.3 points per game, which paces the conference. The program also boasts the best overall scoring defense in the Pac-12 (59.7), and the seventh-best nationally. As of Feb. 4, KenPom rates the Cardinal defense as the fifth-most efficient in the country.
• Scoring well from beyond the arc, three Cardinal players boast 3-point percentages above 40.0. Spencer Jones paces the team at 43.7 percent, while Tyrell Terry (41.0) and Isaac White (40.8) follow close behind. As a team, Stanford ranks 21st nationally in 3-point proficiency (38.0%).
• Stanford is looking for its first win over the Utes since Feb. 4, 2017, and its first victory in Salt Lake City since Jan. 27, 2013.
LAST TIME OUT
Oscar da Silva scored a career-high 27 points and had 15 rebounds, helping Stanford rally in the second half to beat No. 11 Oregon 70-60 on Saturday. The Cardinal trailed 44-35 with 14 1/2 minutes left, then held the Ducks without a basket for the next 10 minutes. Tyrell Terry hit a go-ahead 3-pointer and the Cardinal used a 15-1 burst to take a 59-50 lead. Stanford held each of Oregon’s top two scorers, Payton Pritchard and Chris Duarte, each to 6-for-21 shooting from the field, and Oregon, as a team, was limited to just six field goals in the second half.