On Saturday at 11:00 AM PT on ESPNU, Stanford men’s basketball will take on No. 14 Louisville on the road. Stanford comes in at 19-11 overall and 11-8 in the ACC while Louisville comes in at 24-6 overall and 17-2 in the ACC.
Last time out: Stanford fell to Notre Dame on Wednesday by a final score of 56-54. Stanford was unable to force overtime after having the last possession of the game.
RECAP: Stanford MBB loses heartbreaker at Notre Dame
On Louisville: The Cardinals have had a really strong season, dropping only two games in ACC play to No. 2 Duke and Georgia Tech. They’ve pretty much cruised through league play and will look to get another decisive victory against Stanford.
The Cardinals are led by senior guard Chucky Hepburn, who is averaging 16.3 points and 5.9 assists per game on 45.3% shooting from the field, 36.1% shooting from 3-point range, and 84.8% shooting from the foul line. 5th year guard Terrence Edwards Jr. is the number two scorer for this Cardinals team averaging 15.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. In addition, senior guard Reyne Smith (13.4 points), 5th year guard J’Vonne Hadley (12.4 points), and 5th year forward Kasean Pryor (12.0 points) are also scoring in double figures.
As a team, the Cardinals average 79.7 points per game on 45.6% shooting from the field, 33.5% shooting from 3-point range, and 74.6% shooting from the foul line. They average 37.5 rebounds, 14.3 assists, 6.6 steals, 3.0 blocks, and 11.4 turnovers per game. They also average a +4.2 rebound advantage and a +1.8 turnover margin. Their opponents average 69.2 points per game on 42.8% shooting from the field, 33.6% shooting from 3-point range, and 70.8% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: The first thing Stanford needs to do is they need to keep the 3-ball falling. Point guard Benny Gealer has been getting his 3-point shot to fall as of late, which has made a huge difference for Stanford. If they can keep making their threes, they’ll have a chance to keep this game interesting.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is keep feeding Maxime Raynaud. He’s arguably the best player in the conference and really has been phenomenal all season long. If Stanford can get a strong outing from him, that more than anything could keep this game interesting.
Finally, Stanford needs to have good shot selection. Against Notre Dame, Stanford started taking some ill-advised shots. While they do need to get their 3-ball to fall and get that going, there were some threes they took that just weren’t good shots. If you are going to beat a ranked team on the road, you have to have quality possessions. Any bad shot is essentially a turnover.
Prediction: I have to roll with Louisville to win by a final score of 77-64. They’re the better team and with the NCAA tournament just around the corner, they do not want to pick up a home loss that could negatively impact their tournament seeding.
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