Preview: Stanford Men’s Basketball heads to San Jose State to battle the Spartans
On Saturday, December 13th at 4:00 PM PT on CBS Sports Network, Stanford men’s basketball will head to the South Bay to battle the San Jose State Spartans on the road. Stanford comes in at 7-2 overall while San Jose State comes in at 5-5. This game has implications for my biweekly Bay Area Men’s College Basketball rankings. The next installment will be dropped on Monday, December 15th.
READ: Bay Area Men’s College Basketball Power Rankings: December 1st
Last time out: Stanford fell to UNLV at home 75-74 back on Sunday, December 7th.
RECAP: Stanford Men’s Basketball falls to UNLV at Maples
On San Jose State: The Spartans are led by junior guard Colby Garland, who is averaging 18.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game on 53.4% shooting from the field, 33.3% shooting from 3-point range, and 79.6% shooting from the foul line. Senior forward Yaphet Moundi (12.3 points & 8.5 rebounds), sophomore guard Jermaine Washington (12.2 points), senior guard JaVaughn Hannah (12.0 points), and sophomore guard Ben Roseborough (10.6 points) are also scoring in double figures. Hannah has only played in one game so far this season with a return timeline unclear. The sooner they can get him back, the better.
The Spartans have wins over Bethesda (not DI), Southern, Loyola Chicago (neutral floor), San Diego, and Long Beach State. They’ve won two games in a row over San Diego and Long Beach State, so they’re coming in with a little momentum as both of those wins came at home. They have losses at Utah, at UC Santa Barbara, at No. 9 Michigan State, vs. Tulsa (neutral floor), and vs. UC Irvine. They’re not having a great start, but under the coaching of Tim Miles, who is in his fifth season at the helm, they play good basketball and are certainly a much more serious program than they’ve been in the past. The Jean Prioleau and Dave Wojcik years made you wonder why they even bothered having a basketball program.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is contain Garland. He’s the engine that makes this Spartans team go. If they want to win this game, it has to start with playing good defense on him.
Secondly, Stanford needs to make their free throws. They did a great job getting to the foul line against UNLV, shooting the ball 27 times from the charity stripe. However, they missed 10 free throws, shooting 63.0% for the game. Stanford has to make their free throws at a better clip. Especially AJ Rohosy, who is shooting a woeful 25.0% from the line on 2.2 attempts per game. He’s gotta be at least going 1-2 every time.
Finally, Stanford needs take care of the ball. They turned the ball over 16 times against UNLV while having just 10 assists. They need to have those numbers flipped. If Stanford takes care of the ball and wins the turnover battle, they should be good.
Prediction: I think San Jose State will put up a real fight, but Stanford will find a way to come out on top. 77-73 Stanford is how I see this one going.
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