On Tuesday at 8:00 PM PT on ESPN2, No. 2 Stanford men’s basketball will welcome Cal State Northridge to The Farm for a first round NIT game. Stanford comes in at 20-13 overall and 11-9 in the ACC while CSUN comes in at 22-10 overall and 14-6 in the Big West.
Last time out: Stanford fell to Louisville in quarterfinals of the ACC tournament by a final score of 75-73. Chucky Hepburn hit the game winner for the Cardinals.
RECAP: No. 7 Stanford MBB loses at the buzzer to No. 2 Louisville
On CSUN: The Matadors had a strong season in the Big West. Unfortunately for them, they fell to UC Santa Barbara in their first game of the Big West tournament despite beating the Gauchos twice in the regular season. The old adage that it’s tough to beat a team three times is really true.
The Matadors are no strangers to Maples Pavilion. They most recently played at Stanford in the opening game of the 2023-24 season. Stanford won that game 88-79.
The Matadors are led by sophomore forward Marcus Adams, a transfer from BYU who is averaging 16.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. The other two players scoring in double figures are junior guard/forward Scotty Washington (14.5 points) and senior forward Keonte Jones (13.0 points & 9.2 rebounds).
As a team, the Matadors average 80.6 points per game on 46.8% shooting from the field, 34.8% shooting from 3-point range, and 72.9% shooting from the foul line. They average 40.3 rebounds, 16.6 assists, 7.8 steals, 2.9 blocks, and 13.8 turnovers per game. They also average a +8.7 rebound margin and a +1.2 turnover margin per game. Their opponents average 72.5 points per game on 40.2% shooting from the field, 34.9% shooting from 3-point range, and 76.3% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is feed Maxime Raynaud. The senior big man is averaging 20.1 points & 10.6 rebounds per game on 47.0% shooting from the field, 34.4% shooting from 3-point range, and 76.1% shooting from the foul line. If Stanford can get him rolling, that more anything should lead them to victory. CSUN doesn’t appear to have much of an answer for him inside.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is contain Marcus Adams. It’s all rather simple. If Raynaud out-performs Adams, especially if Adams is held to below his averages, Stanford should be fine. Stanford cannot allow Adams to have a big night if they want to win.
Finally, Stanford needs to make their threes. When they get guys like Benny Gealer, Oziyah Sellers, Ryan Agarwal, and of course Maxime Raynaud to make their threes, Stanford is a very difficult team to stop. They should look to get their threes to fall at a healthy clip.
Prediction: I got Stanford winning this one. They’re at home and played a criminally underseeded Louisville team well in the ACC tournament. As far as a final score is concerned, I’ll say Stanford wins 80-72.
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