SETTING THE SCENE
Its first repeat opponent in the ACC this season, Stanford welcomes Wake Forest on Wednesday, Feb. 5 to Maples Pavilion. The 8 p.m. tip will air on ESPNU.
THE STARTING FIVE
• The Cardinal is off to a 15-7 start (7-4 ACC), including conference wins over North Carolina, California, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Florida State, Syracuse and Miami, and quadrant one NET wins over Santa Clara and the Tar Heels. The Cardinal is 12-1 at home this season and 5-0 in ACC play.
• Stanford’s roster holds an exciting mix of returning players, transfers and freshmen, led by the premier center in the country, Maxime Raynaud. The Pac-12 Most Improved Player last season, Raynaud is ninth nationally in scoring at 20.4 points per game and third in rebounding with 11.8 per night. He leads the ACC in scoring and rebounding, and his 18 double-doubles this season pace the nation. No other player in the country has more than 16 and no other major conference player has more than 13.
• Three players are averaging double figures, paced by Raynaud but also including Jaylen Blakes (14.6) and Oziyah Sellers (14.5). Both players are posting career-best numbers by a comfortable margin.
• Blakes has showcased his clutch gene this season with game winning baskets in the closing seconds against both Santa Clara and North Carolina. Blakes made national headlines on Jan. 18 with his last-second winner against the Tar Heels, while his sister, Mikayla, a freshman at Vanderbilt, scored a game-winner of her own less than 24 hours later against Tennessee.
• Kyle Smith joined the Cardinal from Washington State as the reigning Pac-12 Coach of the Year, where he led the Cougars to 25 wins and the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2023-24.
WAKE UP
The Cardinal enters Wednesday's matchup with Wake Forest as winners of four of the last five games while posting a 5-0 mark at home in the ACC. Stanford is 12-1 at home for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign - a season in which the Cardinal won the NIT. The Cardinal fell in the first meeting with the Demon Deacons, 80-67, on Jan. 15 in Winston-Salem despite four players in double figures.
PROGRAM STANDARDS
Stanford is on track to break two single-season program records as a team in free throw percentage and turnovers per game. Stanford is currently shooting 77.7 percent from the stripe as a team, which would best the current program record of 76.3 percent, set by the 2005-06 team, and be just the fourth Cardinal program to shoot better than 75 percent as a unit. Stanford is also giving up only 10.5 turnovers per night, its lowest mark on record. The previous record is 10.8 per game, accomplished by the 2014-15 team.
Additionally, Stanford is 44th in the country in taking care of the ball per KenPom, while allowing steals on just 8.1 percent of possessions (31st nationally). The team is also forcing offenses to score one-on-one, ranking eighth nationally in opponent assists per field goal (40.3%, KenPom). Stanford ranks 22nd nationally in free throw percentage (77.7%) and leads the ACC in league play at 85.2 percent.