On Sunday at 4:00 PM PT on FS1, Stanford men’s basketball will take on the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder. Stanford comes in at 10-12 overall and 4-7 in the Pac-12 while Colorado comes in at 13-11 overall and 5-8 in the Pac-12.
Last time out: On Thursday, Stanford upset Utah in Salt Lake City by a final score of 78-72. Spencer Jones led the way for the Cardinal with 22 points and 5 rebounds.
RECAP: Stanford MBB shocks Utah in Salt Lake
On Colorado: The Buffaloes have had a bit of an up and down season. They’re 10-2 at home, 1-7 away, and 2-2 in neutral site games. Their lone road win came at Stanford. They did get off to a really good start this season by getting wins over then-No.11 Tennessee and then-No.24 Texas A&M in November but have since cooled off.
The Buffaloes having evolved into a two-headed monster with junior forward Tristan da Silva (16.2 points & 5.1 rebounds) and sophomore guard KJ Simpson (16.0 points & 4.1 rebounds) really leading the way. Nobody else on the team averages in double figures or comes close enough to mention as knocking on the door. I guess maybe junior guard J’Vonne Hadley (8.0 points), but his scoring average is half of what each of theirs is. Simpson and da Silva are the ones who really make the motor run for the Buffs. The problem is that their supporting cast isn’t that great.
As a team, the Buffs average 70.7 points per game on 43.9% shooting from the field, 31.5% shooting from 3-point range, and 67.0% shooting from the foul line. They average 37.8 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 8.3 steals, 3.7 blocks, and 14.0 turnovers per game. They also averaged a +4.5 rebound differential and a +0.9 turnover differential. Their opponents averaged 65.8 points per game on 41.6% shooting from the field, 33.0% shooting from 3-point range, and 71.0% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is come out and be the first ones to punch instead of being the ones reacting to the punches being thrown by the other team. These punches of course are a metaphor for coming out strong and being the team that sets the tone. This is something they’ve talked about all season as a major key to their winning streak and that needs to continue today.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is contain KJ Simpson. Simpson went off for a career-high 31 points at Stanford earlier this season, allowing the Buffaloes to escape with a 73-70 win. If Stanford contains Simpson and he doesn’t have the kind of success he had against them in game one, they’ll have a good chance to win this game.
Finally, Stanford needs to keep being physical and playing well inside. Both in terms of rebounding and scoring. When Stanford is attacking the glass well and getting buckets inside, they’re a much better team than when they are settling for perimeter shots.
Prediction: I’m going to pick Colorado to win 75-69 only because it’s just really hard to get a road sweep in the Rockies. Stanford has clearly turned a corner and figured some stuff out. They’re playing a lot better than they were a month ago and now are one of the more dangerous teams in the conference in terms of being a team who NCAA tournament bubble teams don’t want to face. I would not be surprised at all if Stanford did win this game because of the streak they are on, but smart money still has to pick Colorado to win given how tough it is to win in Boulder.
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