On Tuesday at 8:00 PM PT on ESPN2 and Cardinal Sports Network radio, Stanford men’s basketball will take on #12 UCLA at home. Stanford comes in at 14-8 overall and 7-5 in the Pac-12 while UCLA comes in at 16-4 overall and 8-3 in the Pac-12. UCLA won the first matchup of the season 66-43 at Pauley Pavilion.
Last time out: Stanford beat Washington 87-69 on Sunday. Jaiden Delaire (18 points & 8 rebounds) was the top scorer for Stanford followed by Harrison Ingram (17 points & 10 rebounds) and James Keefe (17 points & 5 rebounds). Terrell Brown, Jr. was the top performer for Washington with 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.
RECAP: Stanford MBB dominates Washington at Maples Pavilion
On UCLA: Despite getting swept on the road by Arizona and Arizona State this past week, UCLA is still a top 15 team in the nation. They should be coming to Maples Pavilion extremely motivated as they do not want to turn a two game losing streak into a three game losing streak. Stanford is catching them at both a good and bad time. Good in that they appear more vulnerable than they did a couple of weeks ago. Bad in that they should be playing with an extra chip on their shoulder.
The Bruins continue to be led by junior guard Johnny Juzang (18.1 points & 4.9 rebounds), who is back from COVID isolation. Stanford did not see him in their first meeting, so that’s a new dimension they’re going to have to deal with. He’s obviously a very talented player who can score in a variety of ways, so Stanford will have their work cut out for them tonight. Senior guard Jules Bernard (13.2 points & 5.1 rebounds), junior small forward Jaime Jaquez, Jr. (12.3 points & 5.3 rebounds), and redshirt junior guard Tyger Campbell (11.1 points & 4.5 assists) are also scoring in double figures, giving Juzang a good amount of support.
As a team, UCLA is averaging 78.0 points per game on 45.6% shooting from the field, 35.4% shooting from 3-point range, and 71.8% shooting from the foul line. They average 37.4 rebounds, 14.3 assists, 7.2 steals, 4.2 blocks, and 9.6 turnovers per game. They also average a +4.1 rebound margin and a +4.7 turnover margin. Their opponents average 63.9 points per game on 40.9% shooting from the field, 31.8% shooting from 3-point range, and 70.8% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is rebound better than they did in their first meeting. Stanford did win the rebounding battle last time, but it was only by three (39-36). If Stanford can dominate the glass even more and turn more of those rebounds into second chance points, they should be in a good position.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is stay in a good offensive flow for the entire game. In their first meeting, Stanford scored just 18 points in the first half and really struggled to get into any sort of rhythm offensively. As a result, they found themselves down by 19 points at halftime and in too big of a hole to climb out of. If Stanford is making shots early and getting everyone involved, they got a chance to win this game.
Lastly, Stanford needs to take much better care of the ball. They committed 22 turnovers at Pauley Pavilion while UCLA committed only 9. If Stanford can cut their turnover margin in half that would make a big difference. Stanford will not win this game if they’re being sloppy with the ball and giving away possessions.
Prediction: I do think Stanford will play better than they did the first time. They learned a lesson from their first meeting with Washington and played much better on Sunday, leading to a dominant victory. However, UCLA is a lot better than Washington and they’re even better than USC, who Stanford swept. I think UCLA wins tonight, but Stanford will play better than their first meeting. UCLA 78 Stanford 70 is how I see this shaking out.
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