On Saturday, January 4th at 3:30 PM PT on ESPN2, Stanford men’s basketball will take on the Pittsburgh Panthers on the road. Stanford comes in at 9-4 overall and 1-1 in the ACC while Pittsburgh comes in at 11-2 overall and 2-0 in the ACC.
Last time out: On New Year’s Day, Stanford fell to Clemson on the road by a final score of 85-71. Clemson led 43-41 before pulling away in the second half.
RECAP: Stanford MBB falls to Clemson on New Year’s Day
On Pittsburgh: The Panthers are off to a strong start this season with their only two losses coming to Wisconsin and No. 17 Mississippi State. Their two ACC wins are over Virginia Tech on the road and at home against Cal while their top wins are against Ohio State and LSU.
The Panthers are led by a pair of guards in senior Ishmael Leggett and sophomore Jaland Lowe, both of whom are averaging 17.5 points per game. Lowe is more of a facilitator averaging 6.2 assists per game while Leggett is more of a rebounding guard with 6.1 rebounds per game, so they complement each other well. Forward Cameron Corhen (11.1 points & 5.7 rebounds) and graduate student guard Damian Dunn (11.1 points) are scoring in double figures as well.
The Panthers are a little banged up at the moment. Dunn injured his ankle in the 7th game of the season and hasn’t played since. Based on what I’ve been able to read, Dunn is expected to still be out for Saturday. As for Leggett, he did not play against Cal due to a lower body injury (sounds like an ankle) and is listed as a game time decision for Saturday. If those two guys are unable to go, Stanford will have an opportunity to possibly steal a game on the road.
As a team, the Panthers average 84.2 points per game on 49.0% shooting from the field, 35.8% shooting from 3-point range, and 76.9% shooting from the foul line. They average 36.8 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 6.8 steals, 4.3 blocks, and 9.8 turnovers per game. They average a +3.5 rebound margin and a +2.5 turnover margin per game. Their opponents average 68.4 points per game on 41.7% shooting from the field, 29.8% shooting from 3-point range, and 68.5% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is get off to a hot start. Especially if Pittsburgh is without Leggett and Dunn. Cal got off to a nice start against Pittsburgh and then faded. If Stanford can come out with that same type of energy that Cal did, they’ll just have to make sure they close better than the Bears did.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is feed Maxime Raynaud inside. Raynaud is having a fantastic season, averaging 20.8 points and 11.9 rebounds per game. I’m not sure Pittsburgh has much of an answer for him inside. If he gets rolling and others feed off that, Stanford will be in a really good spot.
Finally, Stanford needs to take good care of the ball. At Clemson, they had a whopping 17 turnovers, 16 of which came off steals. If Stanford has better possessions and doesn’t commit so many turnovers, they’ll have an opportunity to win this game.
Prediction: Given they are at home, I’ll pick Pittsburgh to win, but I feel Stanford has a chance here given the injuries. Pittsburgh 77 Stanford 70 is my prediction. I think the Cardinal will battle hard but come up a bit short in the end.
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