SETTING THE SCENE
For the first time since the calendar turned to 2023, Stanford men's basketball returns to Maples Pavilion. The four-game homestand begins Jan. 19 against Oregon State at 8 p.m. on Pac-12 Network.
THE OPENING TIP
• The Cardinal is 5-2 (0-7 Pac-12) to open the campaign, including home wins over Pacific (88-78), Cal Poly (80-43) and Green Bay (85-40) and neutral site wins over Florida State (70-60) and Loyola Chicago (75-62).
• Through 17 games, Spencer Jones leads the team with 12.4 points per game, and joined Stanford’s 1,000-point club on Dec. 29 with a 25-point outing against Colorado. Jones paces the program in Pac-12 play with 15.9 points per game, which ranks sixth in the league. He also ranks sixth in made triples and free throw percentage and fourth in offensive rebounds.
• Harrison Ingram, who was Stanford’s first Pac-12 Freshman of the Year since Casey Jacobsen in 2000, withdrew his name from the 2022 NBA Draft to return to The Farm for his sophomore campaign. He is the first Pac-12 Freshman of the Year to return since Jahii Carson (Arizona State) in 2013-14.
• The Cardinal returns eight of its top nine rotation players from a year ago, ranking sixth nationally in minutes continuity, per KenPom, while also bringing in the program’s first transfer in 12 years and the first graduate transfer in program history in Michael Jones (Davidson). Jones had a game to remember in the season opener, with his 31 points the most by a Stanford player in his team debut on record. The 31 points remain tied for the best single-game mark by a Pac-12 player this season.
• Stanford has won eight of the last 12 meetings with the Beavers, but have split the last six at Maples Pavilion. The teams only met once last season, an 11-point Stanford win in Corvallis.
THREE BALL, AGARWAL
Ryan Agarwal has had a great start to his career from beyond the arc, ranking second in the Pac-12 in 3-point percentage at 47.1% and seventh in Pac-12 games at 45.5%. Agarwal has connected on multiple treys against three Pac-12 opponents, UCLA, Colorado and Washington, and two non-league foes, Cal Poly and Green Bay. Agarwal is on pace for a top-three single-season mark by a freshman in 3-point percentage in program history (min. 25 FGA).
Agarwal ranks fifth nationally among true freshmen in 3-point percentage (min. 1 3PM per game), and second among all power conference freshmen, trailing only Kansas' Gradey Dick (48.0%).