On Saturday, December 21st at 5:00 PM PT on Big Ten Network, Stanford men’s basketball will take on No. 10 Oregon at the SAP Center in nearby San Jose. Stanford comes in at 9-2 overall while Oregon comes in at 10-1.
Last time out: Stanford defeated Merrimack 74-68 at home on Tuesday. Stanford wing Oziyah Sellers led the way for the Cardinal with 19 points.
RECAP: Stanford MBB grinds out win against Merrimack
On Oregon: The Ducks are off to a hot start with their lone loss being at home to UCLA by just two points. They defeated No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 23 San Diego State by double figures and for the most part have looked like a top ten team. The rest of their games have been cakewalks.
The Ducks are led by senior center Nathan Bittle, who is averaging 14.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game. Guard Keeshawn Barthelemy (10.5 points), guard TJ Bamba (10.5 points), guard Jackson Shelstad (10.4 points), and forward Brandon Angel (10.3 points) are also scoring in double figures. TJ Bamba is a former Washington State player, so Stanford head coach Kyle Smith knows him well from his days coaching at Wazzu and then of course, being the former Wazzu coach, Smith knows Oregon well. On top of that, Brandon Angel is a Stanford alum, opting to play his final year of college basketball on a contending team. So there is a lot of familiarity between these two teams.
As team, the Ducks average 79.0 points per game on 46.0% shooting from the field, 34.1% shooting from 3-point range, and 74.4% shooting from the foul line. They average 38.1 rebounds, 16.2 assists, 8.3 steals, 4.1 blocks, and 11.7 turnovers per game. They also average a +4.3 rebound margin and a -2.0 turnover margin per game. Their opponents average 67.5 points per game on 39.9% shooting from the field, 30.0% shooting from 3-point range, and 70.6% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is they need Maxime Raynaud to hold his own against Nathan Bittle. Bittle has slowly become one of the top big men in the nation and is a terrific shot blocker inside. Raynaud is averaging 21.5 points, 11.7 rebounds, and a shade over one block per game just to give you a sense of how the two match up. If Raynaud outplays Bittle, maybe Stanford makes this a game. If not, Oregon will win easily.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is knock down shots from the perimeter. Guards Jaylen Blakes and Oziyah Sellers have both been solid from downtown this season. Blakes shooting 33.3% from 3-point range and Sellers shooting 37.3%. If those guys can get going and knock down some shots from the perimeter, they could keep this game close.
Finally, Stanford has to avoid extensive dry spells on offense. That’s been an issue for them at times during the season. If they can maintain a good offensive flow and not have multiple minutes of not scoring, they’ll give themselves an opportunity to win this game.
Prediction: I got Oregon winning by a final score of 78-70. I think Stanford will come out swinging and play with a lot of fire, but Oregon being a top ten team, I have to give them the edge in this one.
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