On Sunday at 12:00 PM PT on ABC and Cardinal Sports Network radio, Stanford men’s basketball will take on #17 Texas in the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge in Las Vegas, Nevada. Stanford comes in at 6-3 overall and 1-1 in the Pac-12 while Texas comes in at 7-2 overall, yet to play a Big XII game this year.
Last time out: Stanford escaped with an 89-78 overtime win over Dartmouth on Thursday. Senior forward Jaiden Delaire was the top scorer with 22 points and 6 rebounds.
RECAP: Stanford MBB dodges a bullet in overtime win over Dartmouth
On Texas: The Longhorns’ two losses were on the road to #1 Gonzaga and #23/25 Seton Hall, which means they are undefeated at home this year. However, their home schedule has been a cake walk, facing a bunch of small mid major programs. So in some respects it’s hard to gauge how good this Texas team really is. This game being played at a neutral site should give us a better feel.
The leading scorer on this Texas team is former Utah standout Timmy Allen, who left the Beehive State not wanting to be part of a rebuild. Allen is averaging 13.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and making an impact early on in his Texas career. Junior forward Tre Mitchell, who transferred out of UMass, is the number two scoring option averaging 11.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
As a team, the Longhorns average 73.2 points per game on 48.1% shooting from the field, 36.0% shooting from 3-point range, and 75.6% shooting from the foul line. They also average a +3.6 rebound margin, 14.9 assists, 2.8 blocks, 9.6 steals, and 10.6 turnovers per game. Their opponents are averaging 53.6 points per game on 40.5% shooting from the field, 31.8% shooting from 3-point range, and 59.2% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is score baskets. This sounds like a really obvious key to the game, but Texas has done a really good job of keeping teams under wraps and winning with their defense. Stanford needs to avoid long droughts and keep in a good flow offensively. Jaiden Delaire, Harrison Ingram, Noah Taitz, Michael O’Connell, and Spencer Jones (if he’s available) will need to be the key guys making shots.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is come out with great energy. Stanford almost defeated Colorado on the road by coming out with great energy and they followed that up with great energy at home against Oregon. If Stanford is bringing energy on both ends of the floor and getting out to an early lead, that’ll be huge. They need to force Texas to be the team that’s making adjustments at the start of the game, not the other way around.
Third, Stanford needs to contain Timmy Allen. They’ve seen him a bunch before going back to his Utah days, so they should have a pretty robust scouting report for how to defend him. If Allen has a big game, Texas will be in good shape. If Allen has an average to slightly below average performance, that will give Stanford a bit of an edge.
Finally, Stanford does need to figure out how to get Harrison Ingram going more consistently. He took over on Thursday against Dartmouth to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat. He’s the best player on this Stanford team and while Stanford should continue to expect him to be an all-around player, there are moments where Stanford could use him to be a bit more assertive and get to the rim with force. When he’s doing that, Stanford goes to another level.
Prediction: If this game were in Austin, I’d pick Texas to win for sure. If the game were at Stanford, I’d be really tempted to pick Stanford. With the game being at a neutral site, it’s hard to pick against Texas. Especially with how close Stanford’s last two games were at home.
That all said, I don’t expect Texas to win in a blowout. I think Stanford will put up a good fight and make it competitive. Texas 70 Stanford 64 is how I see this shaking out. The opportunities for Stanford will be there. The question is will they be able to capitalize.
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