On Thursday at 8:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks, Stanford men’s basketball will welcome Oregon State to The Farm. Stanford comes in at 5-12 overall and 0-7 in the Pac-12 while Oregon State comes in at 7-11 overall and 1-6 in the Pac-12.
Last time out: Last Saturday, Stanford fell to Washington State on the road by a final score of 60-59. Maxime Raynaud attempted a game winning 3-pointer which fell short and was almost tipped in by Brandon Angel.
RECAP: Stanford MBB finds a way to lose at Wazzu
On Oregon State: The Beavers are off to a rough start in Wayne Tinkle’s ninth year at the helm, but they at least have a win in league, defeating Washington 66-65 at home on December 1st. They also nearly picked up another December league win at USC, losing 63-62 while also losing by three points (54-51) to Duke in a neutral site game in Portland. The wheels have come off in the New Year as they are on a five game losing skid. While Stanford is looking at Oregon State as a golden opportunity to pick up a league win, Oregon State in turn has to be looking at this Bay Area road trip as an opportunity to pick up a road sweep.
The Beavers are led by freshman guard Jordan Pope (12.2 points) and sophomore forward Glenn Taylor, Jr. (11.6 points). The one other player knocking on the door in terms of nearly scoring in double figures is junior guard Dexter Akanno (9.3 points). The three of them are doing all they can for their team, but they aren’t getting much help from their friends.
As a team, the Beavers average 64.6 points per game on 42.9% shooting from the field, 33.0% shooting from 3-point range, and 75.2% shooting from the foul line. They average 31.3 rebounds, 11.6 assists, 5.6 steals, 3.4 blocks, and 13.6 turnovers per game. They also average a -1.6 rebound margin and a -1.7 turnover margin per game. Their opponents average 67.8 points per game on 42.2% shooting from the field, 32.5% shooting from 3-point range, and 73.6% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is get into a good offensive flow early. A major source of their struggles has often been offensive inefficiency, so if they can get shots to fall early, get going inside, and just find a good offensive rhythm right away, they should be in a good position to win this game.
The next thing they need to do is defend the perimeter. Even against teams that don’t shoot well coming in, Stanford has struggled to defend the perimeter. They need to find a way to make sure they are not giving up easy shots from deep and allowing the Beavers to heat up from downtown.
Finally, Stanford just needs to stay confident. It would be easy for them to get down on themselves and give up on this season, allowing things to snowball even further out of control. This season may not be salvageable from an NCAA tournament perspective barring a miracle run in Las Vegas, but they can still string together some wins and make this season not be a total dumpster fire. That starts with winning tonight and playing like a team that knows they’re better than their 0-7 league record suggests.
Prediction: Stanford is at home and favored by 11.5 points. One has to really think this Cardinal team is off the rails to not pick them to win tonight and while I have a lot of concerns and criticisms about how this season has gone, I do think they win tonight. Stanford 72 Oregon State 65 is how I see this one going.
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