On Saturday at 1:00 PM PT on ESPNU, Stanford men’s basketball will welcome Virginia to The Farm. Stanford comes in at 10-5 overall and 2-2 in the ACC while Virginia comes in at 8-7 overall and 1-3 in the ACC.

Last time out: On Wednesday, Stanford defeated Virginia Tech 70-59. Maxime Raynaud and Oziyah Sellers each had 19 points for the Cardinal.

RECAP: Stanford MBB wins ACC home opener against Virginia Tech

On Virginia: The Cavaliers are in their first season without Tony Bennett as he stepped down from head coaching duties before the season. Ron Sanchez is currently the interim head coach and has his work cut out for him. The Cavaliers’ lone win of ACC play is against NC State while their most recent outing in Berkeley was a 75-61 loss to Cal on Wednesday. They are a far cry from the program that won a national title in 2019.

The Cavaliers are led by junior forward Elijah Saunders, who is averaging 12.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. The other player scoring in double figures on average is junior guard Isaac McKneely, who is averaging 11.7 points per game. They’re the only two guys scoring in double figures on average, so it’s very much a by committee scoring approach.

As a team, the Cavaliers average 61.3 points per game on 43.0% shooting from the field, 36.3% shooting from 3-point range, and 74.6% shooting from the foul line. They average 31.3 rebounds, 14.3 assists, 5.1 steals, 4.1 blocks, and 11.1 turnovers per game. They also average a -2.2 rebound margin and a -1.4 turnover margin per game. Their opponents average 62.4 points per game on 40.2% shooting from the field, 32.4% shooting from 3-point range, and 75.4% shooting from the foul line.

Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is dominate in the paint. Stanford averages a +3.0 rebound margin per game while Virginia on average gets out-rebounded by more than two rebounds per game. If Stanford can win the rebound battle and control the paint, they’ll be in a great spot to win this game.

The second thing Stanford needs to do is not get down early. They trailed Virginia Tech 16-4 early on before pulling ahead in the final few minutes to win. Stanford needs to come out with better energy and get off to a better start by making more shots and just not looking so lethargic. If they come out with the right energy, they should win this one rather handily.

Finally, Stanford needs to keep Virginia away from the foul line. At Cal on Wednesday, Virginia shot 16-18 at the foul line while Cal shot a crazy 27-33. If Stanford can be the team that gets to the foul line more while shooting a better percentage, odds are really good they win this one rather comfortably.

Prediction: Given what happened on Wednesday both at Stanford and at Cal, I gotta roll with the Cardinal in this one. Virginia is in a funk right now and Stanford seemed to find their groove again a bit against Virginia Tech. I got Stanford winning by a final score of 77-67.

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