On Thursday at 6:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and Cardinal Sports Network radio, Stanford men’s basketball will take on Washington State at home. This will be the second game of a four-game homestand for the Cardinal. Stanford comes in at 13-7 overall and 6-4 in the Pac-12 while Washington State comes in at 12-7 overall and 5-3 in the Pac-12.

Last time out: On Tuesday, Stanford defeated Bay Area rival Cal 57-50. Senior forward Jaiden Delaire and freshman forward Harrison Ingram each had 12 points and 4 rebounds for Stanford. Graduate transfer guard Jordan Shepherd had 15 points and 5 rebounds for Cal.

RECAP: Stanford MBB channels “Winning Ugly” in victory over Cal

On Washington State: The Cougars continue to be led by senior guard Michael Flowers, who is averaging 12.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game on 40.5% shooting from the field, 37.1% shooting from 3-point range, and 87.5% shooting from the foul line. Junior guard Noah Williams (11.6 points & 3.9 rebounds) and redshirt junior guard Tyrell Roberts (10.9 points) are the other two Cougars scoring in double figures.

The Cougars are hanging around, right in the mix for the 4th seed in the Pac-12 tournament. They’ve missed some opportunities to pick up some signature wins, barely losing 63-61 to now top-20 USC earlier in the year, and yet they’ve also not stubbed their toe yet. No real bad losses, either.

As a team, the Cougars average 73.8 points per game on 42.5% shooting from the field, 33.6% shooting from 3-point range, and 74.6% shooting from the foul line. They average 38.7 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 6.4 steals, 4.4 blocks, and 12.2 turnovers per game. They also average a +6.0 rebound margin and a +2.3 turnover margin per game.

Keys to the game: Stanford defeated Washington State 62-57 on the road earlier this season, so they should have a good idea of how to beat them at home. A lot of the same principles applied to winning that game should be applied to this game as well.

The first thing Stanford needs to do is keep Michael Flowers right around his scoring average. In their first meeting, he scored 12 points, slightly below his average of 12.9 points per game. If Flowers doesn’t have a night in which he blossoms for like 16+ points, it’s going to be hard for the Cougars to manufacture enough offense. As an extension of this, Stanford also needs to make sure freshman forward Mouhamed Gueye doesn’t have a big night. He had 16 points in their first meeting.

Secondly, Stanford needs to win or tie the 3-point battle. In their first meeting, Stanford shot 6-19 (31.6%) from 3-point range while Washington State shot 7-26 (26.9%). Washington State did make one more three, but their percentage was a lot lower. If Stanford can shoot a little bit better from deep while also holding Washington State to a similar percentage, they should be fine.

Lastly, Stanford needs to do better on the glass. The rebound battle was a draw up in Pullman with both teams grabbing 34 rebounds. Stanford averages a +7.6 rebound margin per game, so for their standards, tying anyone on the glass is not a good night in the rebounding department. If Stanford wins the battle on the boards, they should be in a good spot.

Prediction: Given that they won up in Pullman, it stands to reason that Stanford should be favored in this game. They know they have to win this game and while Tuesday’s contest against Cal did not look great, a fair amount of credit has to go to Cal for making that happen. I think Stanford will win this game. 65-61 being the final score.

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