Notables
SETTING THE SCENE
Taking on its rival to open the Pac-12 Tournament, Stanford men's basketball will travel to Las Vegas to face California on Wednesday, March 13 at T-Mobile Arena. The battle with Cal is the third in the last five seasons in Las Vegas, and the opening tip is set for 6 p.m. on Pac-12 Network.
THE OPENING TIP
• Stanford is 13-17 this season (8-12 Pac-12) with conference wins over then-No. 4 Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, UCLA, USC, Washington, Cal, and Oregon State. Stanford entered the weekend as one of seven major conference teams (18 overall) with five players in double-figure scoring (min. 10 GP): Maxime Raynaud, Kanaan Carlyle, Brandon Angel, Spencer Jones, and Michael Jones.
• Raynaud leads the Cardinal with 15.6 points per night and a team-leading 9.6 rebounds per game, while Angel is next at 12.8 points per game. Raynaud is 10th in the Pac-12 in scoring and third in rebounds.
• Michael Jones and Angel both rank in the top-25 nationally in effective field goal percentage and the top-20 in true shooting percentage, per KenPom. Stanford is the only program in the nation with multiple players fitting both categories.
• Stanford once again welcomed a top-20 recruiting class, led by five-star signee and McDonald’s All-American Andrej Stojakovic and top-50 rated Kanaan Carlyle. Stojakovic is averaging 8.3 points per game, including five performances of at least 16 points, while Carlyle has scored in double figures in 14 appearances this season, including 31 points against Washington State on Jan. 18.
TOURNEY TIME
Stanford is looking to open the Pac-12 Tournament with a win for the third year in a row, having downed Arizona State in 2022, 71-70 on a James Keefe buzzer beater, and Utah in 2023, 73-62. With a win, the Cardinal would face second-seeded Washington State in the quarterfinals. Stanford is 19-25 all-time in the Pac-12 Tournament and 2-3 against California. Stanford is 4-0 against Washington State - its best record against any team - but has not squared off with the Cougars in the Tournament since the 2014 event. Stanford also met Washington State in 2008, 2005 and 2004, all in Los Angeles.
ALL-CONFERENCE ACCOLADES
Maxime Raynaud was named the Pac-12’s Most Improved Player and the 7-footer from Paris was joined by Spencer Jones and Kanaan Carlyle with All-Pac-12 honors. Raynaud was also chosen to the All-Pac-12 second team, while Jones was named all-defensive honorable mention and Carlyle was an honorable mention all-freshman selection.
Raynaud becomes the fourth Pac-12 Most Improved Player in program history, joining Dwight Powell (2013), Anthony Brown (2014) and Jaiden Delaire (2021), while the second team nod is the first of his career. Jones earned his second consecutive All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honorable mention selection, while Carlyle gives Stanford a player with All-Freshman honors for the fourth time in five seasons, and fifth in seven.