SETTING THE SCENE
Returning home for the final weekend in conference play, Stanford men’s basketball welcomes Utah to Maples Pavilion on Thursday, Feb. 17 at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.
THE OPENING TIP
• Stanford is 15-10 (8-7 Pac-12) overall, with conference wins over Oregon, USC (twice), Washington State, Arizona State, Cal, Washington and Oregon State.
• Harrison Ingram leads the team with 11.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per night, while Jaiden Delaire and Spencer Jones are close behind at 10.8 points per game apiece. Michael O’Connell paces the squad with 3.8 assists per night.
• The Cardinal earned its fourth quadrant one win on Jan. 27 vs. USC, and is one of 30 teams nationally to meet that threshold. Stanford is one of two Pac-12 teams with at least four wins in the top tier (Arizona).
• Stanford is 10-3 at home this season, with six of the wins coming in double-digit fashion. The Cardinal remained unbeaten in November home games since 2018 (12-0), and got off to a 7-0 start at home for the second time in three seasons. The Cardinal is 5-3 in home Pac-12 games, including a buzzer-beating win over Oregon on Dec. 12 and an upset over then-No. 5 USC on Jan. 11.
• The Cardinal has outrebounded its opponent in 21 of 24 games, and has only been outrebounded once, posting a plus-7.8 margin on the glass, which is ninth-best nationally. Stanford ranks in the top-20 nationally in offensive rebound (18th, 34.9%) and defensive rebound percentage (15th, 77.1%) per KenPom.
THE NET RESULT
Stanford enters the matchup ranked No. 93 in the NET rankings on Feb. 16, and has been ranked as high as No. 71 this season on Jan. 14. The win over USC on Jan. 27 gave Stanford its fourth quadrant one victory, with Stanford one of two Pac-12 programs with four or more in the top tier. The Cardinal is one of 30 teams in the country with four quadrant one wins - 23 of which are in the NET top-40 - and one of 20 teams with four quadrant one wins and no quadrant three or four losses.
Stanford’s NET strength of schedule is the 29th-toughest in the country, with 15 of Stanford’s 25 games coming in quadrant one or two, and 11 in quadrant one. Utah enters the Thursday night fight at No. 130, making this a quadrant three opportunity.
vs. Quad 1: 4-7 (wins over Wyoming, USC (twice) & Washington State)
vs. Quad 2: 1-3 (wins over Oregon)
vs. Quad 3: 4-0 (wins over Liberty, Arizona State, Washington & Cal)
vs. Quad 4: 6-0 (wins over Tarleton, San Jose State, Valpo, NC A&T, Dartmouth and Oregon State)