For Thanksgiving weekend, Stanford men’s basketball is in Orlando, Florida as participants in the ESPN Events Invitational. On Thanksgiving Day, they will get things started against Ole Miss at 10:30 PM PT on ESPNU. The other six teams in the tournament are Siena, Florida State, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Memphis, and Seton Hall. The winner of today’s Stanford/Ole Miss game will face off against Siena, who defeated Florida State 80-63. The loser will face Florida State.
Last time out: Stanford is coming off a dominant 80-43 victory over Cal Poly. Michael Jones and Max Murrell led the way with 15 points. Stanford is now 2-2 on the season.
RECAP: Stanford MBB pummels Cal Poly on The Farm
On the competition: Ole Miss is 4-0 with wins over Alcorn State, Florida Atlantic, Chattanooga, and UT Martin. The Rebels are 1.5 point favorites over the Cardinal, so today’s game should be a toss-up. Stanford’s two losses came against a ranked San Diego State team and a Wisconsin team that is 4-0 coming into today. So, their two losses aren’t bad at all.
The Rebels are led by junior guard Matthew Murrell (no relation to Max). Murrell is the only player on this Rebels team scoring in double figures, averaging 17.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game on 41.0% shooting from the field, 38.9% shooting from 3-point range, and 87.5% shooting from the foul line. He’s really the engine that makes this Rebels team go.
As a whole, the Rebels have had a strong start to their season, though their competition hasn’t been super strong. Their fourth win over UT Martin was by just four points 72-68. So, this game against Stanford will be their first real test of the season.
Taking a look at the rest of the competition as just a snapshot, Siena is now 3-2 on the season, off to a solid start after beating Florida State today while Florida State is now 1-5, off to a really rough start. On the opposite side of the bracket, Oklahoma and Nebraska are both 3-1. So, it’ll be interesting to see who wins that match up. And then Memphis is 2-1 while Seton Hall is 3-1. So similar deal, those teams are off to decent starts. That matchup should be interesting as well.
If Stanford can win today’s game against Ole Miss, they should be in a good spot to reach the final of this tournament. I’d have to think Siena is a school who they could beat on a neutral site, though the Saints definitely should not be overlooked just because they play for a small school.
Keys to the weekend: I have to start with the 3-point shooting. This Stanford team is looking to make the most of their 3-point shooting with guys like Brandon Angel and Spencer Jones. If Stanford makes their triples, I like their chances to make a run in Orlando.
Secondly, I would like to see more out of Harrison Ingram. While his rebounding and passing are good, I would like to see more out of him in terms of scoring. If Ingram can get going offensively and take some of the scoring pressure off Michael Jones and Spencer Jones, that would be huge.
Finally, Stanford needs to take care of the ball. They need Michael O’Connell and Isa Silva to do a good job running the offense and not make very many turnovers. If Stanford plays a clean game, I like their chances to make a run in this tournament.
Prediction: I think Stanford will do well in this tournament, but I don’t see them winning it. I think we’ll see them go 2-1. Winning today against Ole Miss is very doable, if they win, I like their odds to beat Siena. If they reach the championship, I wouldn’t be surprised if they lose. And then if they do lose today, I think they bounce back against Florida State and find a way to win their third game. So, either way, I think we’ll see a 2-1 finish for the Cardinal, but hopefully for them it will be as a result of reaching the championship game as opposed to being in the consolation bracket.
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