SETTING THE SCENE
The Pac-12 conference slate resumes on Thursday, Dec. 29, as Stanford men’s basketball hosts Colorado at 8 p.m. on ESPNU. The Cardinal is coming off of a 75-62 win over Loyola Chicago in Santa Cruz.
THE OPENING TIP
• The Cardinal is 5-7 (0-2 Pac-12) to open the campaign, including home wins over Pacific (88-78), Cal Poly (80-43) and Green Bay (85-40) and neutral site wins over Florida State (70-60) and Loyola Chicago (75-62).
• Through 11 games, Spencer Jones leads the team with 10.8 points per game, while three players are posting at least nine points per game. Michael Jones is second at 10.5 per night.
• Harrison Ingram, who was Stanford’s first Pac-12 Freshman of the Year since Casey Jacobsen in 2000, withdrew his name from the 2022 NBA Draft to return to The Farm for his sophomore campaign. He is averaging 9.8 points, 4.67rebounds and a team-best 3.0 assists per game.
• The Cardinal returns eight of its top nine rotation players from a year ago, ranking sixth nationally in minutes continuity, per KenPom, while also bringing in the program’s first transfer in 12 years and the first graduate transfer in program history in Michael Jones (Davidson). Jones had a game to remember in the season opener, with his 31 points the most by a Stanford player in his team debut on record.
• Spencer Jones paces the program in Pac-12 play with 15.5 points per game, which ranks eighth in the league. He also averages 4.0 offensive rebounds per game, which is the second-most league-wide.
• The Cardinal returns to conference action following a 2-1 non-league stretch from Dec. 16-22. Michael Jones and James Keefe scored in double figures per game over the stretch, and Stanford shot 49.7 percent from the floor and 40 percent from 3-point range.
THROUGH TWO PAC-12 GAMES
Each Pac-12 member has played two conference games, with Stanford ranking second in the league in steals (10.5 per game), assists (15.5) and made 3-pointers (7.5). Spencer Jones ranks eighth in scoring at 15.5 points per game, and second in offensive rebounds (4.0), while also ranking in the top-10 in made threes. Max Murrell is third in blocks, while Harrison Ingram (steals), Ryan Agarwal (3-point percentage), Michael Jones (3-pointers) and Maxime Raynaud (field goal percentage) rank in the top-10 of their respective categories.