1996-97 Review
The Stanford Cardinal finished the 1996-97 season with a 22-8 record ... The Cardinal finished the Pac-10 schedule with a 12-6 mark ... Stanford finished in a three-way tie for second place in the Pacific-10 Conference along with California and USC ... The Cardinal was 12-0 at Maples Pavilion, the only Pac-10 team with a perfect record at home ... Stanford had not had an unbeaten home season since the 1988-89 campaign when the team went 13-0 ... For the third straight season, Stanford hit the 20-win mark ... Stanford competed in its sixth NCAA Tournament, and the first time in school history that the Cardinal had been to back-to-back-to-back NCAA tourneys and to the Sweet Sixteen ... Stanford?s longest winning streak was seven games, its longest losing streak was three games ... Stanford beat every team in the Pacific-10 Conference, including NCAA champion Arizona and UCLA ... The Cardinal?s biggest wins were 48 points (109-61 over conference champion UCLA), and 47 points (97-50 over San Diego State) ... Stanford was 7-0 when it shot 50 percent or better.
Rankings Review
Stanford ended the season ranked 12th in the nation in the USA Today/CNN poll ... That is highest ranking for a Cardinal team since the 1988-89 campaign when the Cardinal finished 12th in the United Press International poll ... Stanford finished the 1996-97 season ranked 21st in the Associated Press poll.
StatisticsStanford was #2 in the Pac-10 in scoring offense at 80.9 ppg (#14 in the nation) ... Stanford shot the ball from 3-point territory ... The Cardinal shot .390 (in nine games, the Cardinal shot 46 percent or better) from 3-point territory ... Stanford was #2 in the Pac-10 and #13 in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage ... Stanford made at least ten 3-pointers in ten games, including a school and Maples Pavilion record 15 against UCLA ... Ryan Mendez was #5 (.427), Kris Weems was #6 (.426) and Brevin Knight was #7 (.409), in the Pac-10 in 3-point field goal percentage.
In 1996-97, the Cardinal was .746 from the free throw line, #1 in the Pac-10 and #8 in the country ... The Cardinal hit 16-of-17 free throws for 94 percent in the season opener against UNC Greensboro ... Stanford hit 24-of-26 free throws against USC for 92 percent ... That mark was just short of the school record of 95 percent set on two other occasions ... Stanford hit 19-of-21 free throws against Oregon State for 91 percent ... All-America guard Brevin Knight shot .834 (166-for-199) from the free throw line, #2 in the Pac-10.
The Cardinal held the opposition to a .414 shooting percentage, #2 in the Pac-10 ... In 16 of the 30 games, Stanford held the opposition to a shooting percentage of under 40 percent ... In only six games was the Cardinal outrebounded ... Stanford was 18-3 when it outrebounded its opponent ... Stanford was #1 in the Pac-10 in rebounds at 40.2 per game ... Stanford was #1 in the conference and #16 in the nation in rebound margin (6.4).
Record ReviewThe Stanford basketball team dented the record book ... The Cardinal scored 80.9 ppg, a school record ... The team blocked a school record 117 shots ... Stanford made 222 three-pointers, breaking the old mark of 168 set during the 1992-93 season ... The 15 three-pointers against UCLA was a new school mark and a Maples Pavilion record ... Stanford and Alaska Anchorage combined for 23 three-pointers, a Maples Pavilion record ... The two teams shot 53 three-point attempts, a new pavilion mark ... Stanford fired 34 three-point attempts at Oregon State, a school record ... Stanford set a school record with 570 three-point attempts, breaking the old mark of 465 set during the 1992-93 season ... All-American guard Brevin Knight set the school record for career assists (780) and career steals (298) ... Knight also broke the single season school record for assists (234) and steals (83) ... Knight tied his school record with 13 assists against Alaska Anchorage, Arizona State and California ... David Moseley broke the freshman school record for three-point attempts with 71.