SETTING THE SCENE
Stanford finishes its two-game stretch in the Evergreen State, taking on Washington State on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 5 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on Pac-12 Network.
THE OPENING TIP
• The Cardinal is 5-11 (0-6 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 16 games, Spencer Jones leads the team with 12.3 points per game, and joined Stanford’s 1,000-point club on Dec. 29 with a 25-point outing against Colorado. Jones paces the program in Pac-12 play with 16.2 points per game, which ranks fourth in the league. He also ranks fourth in made triples, sixth in free throw percentage and third in offensive rebounds.
• 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 the first Pac-12 Freshman of the Year to return since Jahii Carson (Arizona State) in 2013-14.
• 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. The 31 points remain tied for the best single-game mark by a Pac-12 player this season.
• Stanford has won 10 of the last 12 meetings with the Cougars, and five of the last six matchups in Pullman. The Cardinal won on the Palouse by five a year ago, 62-57.
PALOUSE PATTERNS
Stanford has controlled the recent history with the Cougars, winning 10 of the last 12 matchups and five of the last six at Beasley Coliseum. Spencer Jones averaged 20.0 points per game against Washington State last season, and averages 11.8 in his career against the Cougars, while Michael O'Connell averages 7.8 for his career in the series. O'Connell also set a program record in Pullman in 2021 with 52 minutes played in the second-longest game in program history, a 3OT thriller.