Know Your Opponent: Stanford

By Bobby Hundley

Stanford (GoStanford.com)
Location: Stanford, Calif.
Rankings: Stanford - No. 71 KenPom, NR AP; UNC - No. 15 KenPom, No. 9 AP
Records: Stanford - 3-1; UNC - 2-0
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): UNC leads 10-0 (Carolina 74, Stanford, 57, Nov. 29, 2002, Madison Square Garden)

Carolina's first visit to Maples Pavilion in 34 years will reunite Roy Williams and the Tar Heels with longtime assistant Jerod Haase, who is in his second season as the head coach at Stanford. And while the Tar Heels have never lost to the Cardinal, Haase does have at least partial bragging rights over his mentor thanks to a 2014 win while Haase was at UAB.

Monday's contest wraps a five-game homestand that has seen mixed results for Haase's club. Each of the Cardinal's first four opponents rank outside the KenPom top 150, including No. 216 Eastern Washington, which left Maples with a 67-61 win last Tuesday. Stanford scored just 0.86 points per possession agains the Eagles thanks in large part to a 2 of 16 effort from behind the arc.

Despite the bulk of last year's roster returning, injuries have limited the Cardinal rotation. With senior Dorian Pickens nursing a foot injury, Stanford will likely start three freshmen against the Tar Heels on Monday. Daejon Davis and Isaac White form an all-rookie backcourt, with 6-9 Oscar da Silva starting in place of Pickens the last two games. Da Silva was a bright spot against EWU, notching his first career double-double with 12 points and 17 rebounds.

Forward Reid Travis is Stanford's best player, the 6-8 junior ranking as the top returning scorer and rebounder in the Pac-12. He leads the Cardinal with 21.3 points per game, due in large part to his ability to get to the free throw line. Through four games, Travis has been to the line 34 times and he is converting once he gets there at a career-best mark of 76.5 percent.

Michael Humphrey rounds out the starting five and is averaging a double-double early in his senior season. At 6-9, Humphrey is something of a stretch-5 who can step out as an effective perimeter shooter who has also dominated the defensive glass this season. Humphrey leads the Pac-12 in rebounding and is grabbing almost 32 percent of opponent misses when he's on the floor.

In Pickens' absence, White has emerged as the team's volume outside shooter. The 6-1 Aussie was 5 for 5 from deep in his collegiate debut against Cal Poly and 3 for 3 in Friday's win over Northeastern, but he made just 1 of 7 3-point attempts in the loss to Eastern Washington.

Stanford was picked to finish fifth in the Pac-12 in 2018 after tying for ninth in Haase's first season at the helm. Monday kicks off what should be a challenging week for the Cardinal, which heads to Portland for the PK80 tournament after hosting Carolina. Stanford will open bracket play against Florida, so the opportunity for quality wins is there. A win or two over the next seven days would go a long way toward Stanford building a postseason resume as the Cardinals try to get back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014.

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