Stanford MBB Acrisure Invitational field set
Stanford men’s basketball has officially announced the field that they’ll be playing against in the Acrisure Invitational in Palm Desert, California. On Thanksgiving at 6:30 PM PT, they’ll face off against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. On Black Friday, they’ll face either Saint Louis or Santa Clara at either 4:00 PM PT or 6:30 PM PT.
Based on what has been posted, it looks like it’ll be a mini four-team tournament, giving the Cardinal an early taste of tournament play. Minnesota is coming off a season in which they went 15-17 overall and 7-13 in the Big Ten, hoping to turn the corner this coming season with the new additions they have to their roster.
Saint Louis is coming off a solid season in which they went 19-15 overall and 11-7 in the Atlantic 10, losing their opening round NIT game against Arkansas State. As for Santa Clara, they went 21-13 overall and 12-6 in the WCC, losing in the second round of the NIT just like Stanford did. Stanford had a huge win at Santa Clara last season, winning 71-69. Jaylen Blakes hit the game-winning bucket while Maxime Raynaud went bananas with 32 points and 16 rebounds. Santa Clara will look to get some pay back in that game as the two schools have formed a bit of a rivalry over the years across multiple sports.
Stanford played at the Acrisure Invitational last season against Grand Canyon in Palm Desert, losing by a final score of 78-71. Stanford will look to pick up a win this time and hopefully two given it’ll be a tournament format. It certainly is a quality event that will give Stanford an early indication of where they stack up against the rest of the teams in the nation.
On top of that, it’ll also be an opportunity for guys like Donavin Young, Ryan Agarwal, Benny Gealer, and Chisom Okpara to show that they are capable of leading this Cardinal team with Raynaud (Sacramento Kings) and Blakes gone. Personally, I’ll be interested to see what the newcomers look like, especially graduate student guard Jeremy Dent-Smith, who is making the jump from Division II to Division I. All around, it should be a fun and insightful weekend of hoops for the Cardinal.
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