SETTING THE SCENE
Looking for its first road sweep of the desert schools since 2003-04, Stanford men’s basketball travels to Arizona State on Saturday night. The 7 p.m. PT contest will be televised on ESPN2.
THE OPENING TIP
• Stanford is off to an 10-5 start (6-3 Pac-12), with league wins vs. Arizona (twice), Oregon State, Washington, Washington State and UCLA. A win on Saturday would be Stanford’s third Pac-12 road win.
• The Cardinal opened conference action with a 78-75 win over Arizona, which snapped a streak of 20 straight defeats in the series. Stanford finished its Wildcat sweep on Thursday in Tucson, 73-64.
• Through 15 games, Stanford ranks ninth nationally in defensive efficiency (per KenPom, as of Jan. 29) while posting the 29th-best field goal defense in the country (39.4%). Stanford ranked seventh nationally in defensive efficiency a year ago, while boasting the nation’s 16th-ranked scoring defense.
• The Cardinal is 8-0 this season when winning the rebounding battle, and 9-0 when scoring at least 70 points.
• Stanford is the only power conference program yet to play at its home facility this season. The Cardinal’s only “home” games have been played in Santa Cruz. The Cardinal is also one of two power conference teams to boast multiple road wins in non-conference play, joining Oklahoma State.
• Oscar da Silva is stating his case as the Pac-12’s top player through nine games, averaging 20.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per night in conference play.
• Stanford picked up its first win in the McKale Center since Feb. 16, 2008 on Thursday. A victory on Saturday would be Stanford’s first in Tempe since 2018 (84-83).
THE NET RESULT
Stanford debuted at No. 55 in the first edition of the NCAA’s NET rankings released on Jan. 4, and currently stands at No. 53 as of Jan. 29. Stanford is the sixth-highest rated team in the Pac-12, following Colorado (17), USC (23), UCLA (31), Arizona (42), and Oregon (51).
vs. Quad 1: 2-4 (wins over Alabama and Arizona (A))
vs. Quad 2: 2-1 (wins over UCLA and Arizona (H))
vs. Quad 3: 3-0 (wins over Washington State, CSU Bakersfield, Oregon State)
vs. Quad 4: 3-0 (wins over Washington, CSUN and NC A&T)