UW Huskies-Stanford Cardinal: What to watch for
STANFORD (12-2, 1-0 Pac-12) VS. WASHINGTON (11-4, 1-1 Pac-12)
When: Thursday, 6 p.m. PT
Where: Maples Pavilion
TV: FS1
Radio: KOMO 1000 AM/97.7 FM
Projected starters
Stanford
G Daejon Davis, Jr. (6-3, 185): 9.1 ppg, 3.5 apg
G Tyrell Terry, Fr. (6-2, 160): 15.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg
G Bryce Wills, So. (6-6, 195): 6.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg
F Oscar da Silva, Jr. (6-9, 225): 17.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg
F Spencer Jones, Fr. (6-7, 195): 9.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg
Washington
G Quade Green, So. (6-0, 170): 11.6 ppg, 5.3 apg
G Nahziah Carter, Jr. (6-6, 205): 13.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg
F Jaden McDaniels, Fr. (6-9, 200): 13.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg
F Isaiah Stewart, Fr. (6-9, 250): 19.5 ppg, 9.1 rpg
F Hameir Wright, Jr. (6-9, 220): 5.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg
Outlook: Washington split its first two Pac-12 games, falling to UCLA before beating USC in arguably its best performance of the season. Stanford is coming off a conference-opening victory over Cal. The Cardinal’s only losses this season came against No. 6 Butler and No. 3 Kansas.
Limiting turnovers will be a key factor for the Huskies. They’ve struggled with ball security all season, averaging 14.9 turnovers per game, and Stanford is a team that forces mistakes. The Cardinal average 8.6 steals per game.
“We’ve got to handle the ball,” UW head coach Mike Hopkins said Tuesday. “There’s no getting around that. That’s been every game for us where we can be better. And transition defense is going to be huge. They really push the ball in transition.”
Stanford is led by junior Oscar da Silva, who is averaging 17.0 points per game this season after averaging 9.5 points last year. The Huskies beat the Cardinal twice last season. But in the second win — a narrow 62-61 victory at Stanford — da Silva finished with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.
“He’s so versatile,” Hopkins said of da Silva. “He could be in the high post, he could be on the 3-point line, he’s a great offensive rebounder, he’s driving the ball better to the basket. And then defensively, he’s huge on his double-teams. That length and that athleticism is what makes them a really, really good defensive team.”
Thursday’s game will indeed be a battle between two of the Pac-12’s top defenses. The Cardinal lead the conference in scoring defense, giving up just 58.3 points per game. They are third in field goal percentage defense (38.5%). UW is third in scoring defense (63.1 ppg) and first in field goal percentage defense (36.9%).
Stanford also ranks second in the Pac-12 in 3-point shooting at 38.7%. Spencer Jones (45.7%), Tyrell Terry (40.3%) and Daejon Davis (44.8%) are all shooting better than 40% from beyond the arc.
“Spencer Jones, he’s one of the best shooters that I’ve seen,” Hopkins said. “They’ve brought in a couple of guys that can really, really shoot the ball. It’s going to be a great test, they’ve had one of the best preseasons of any team in our league. This is a team that no one is talking about.”
