Cardinal look to bounce back against San Jose State

Nov. 14, 2021, 9:34 p.m.

Stanford men’s basketball (1-1, 0-0 Pac-12) will return to Maples Pavilion for a Monday night matchup against San Jose State (1-0, 0-0 Mountain West). It will be the third time in four years that the two South Bay teams face off, with Stanford winning both of the previous contests.

Stanford is coming off a 72-88 road loss against fellow Bay Area program Santa Clara. The Cardinal showed signs of promise in strong performances from their freshman forwards Harrison Ingram and Maxime Raynaud, who finished with 19 and 16 points, respectively. Freshman guard Isa Silva also made his presence felt, logging 23 minutes on his way to a 12-point performance.

However, Santa Clara’s offense proved to be too much for the Cardinal as the Broncos’ 88 points matched their second-highest single-game total from last season.

San Jose State enters Monday’s contest following a 78-76 win over Cal State Fullerton (0-2, 0-0 Big West), which concluded in a buzzer-beater from senior guard Trey Smith. The Spartans looked particularly sharp from deep, making 14 threes on a 50% clip.

San Jose State’s stellar shooting could pose some issues for the Cardinal, who allowed Santa Clara to knock down 12 threes in their Friday-night game. The Broncos were lights out from deep, shooting 48% from behind the arc due largely in part to the Cardinal’s lack of ability to contest shots.

Although still early in the season, the Spartans are looking to find their identity as a team, as this will be just their second game under new head coach Tim Miles. They also begin the new season without their two leading scorers, Richard Washington and Ralph Agee, who graduated last year. In their first game this year, the Spartans’ scoring attack was headed by Smith, who chipped in 14 points — two of which went towards the game-winner. Redshirt sophomore forward Shon Robinson contributed 14 of his own, and graduate student guard Caleb Simmons scored 11 points on four-of-six shooting from the field.

For Stanford, Ingram has shined through the first two games of the season, demonstrating an ability to score from all three levels of the court.  His efficient 17.5 points-per-game average (50% FG, 44% 3FG) leads the Cardinal and is followed by senior forward Jaiden Delaire’s 10 points-per-game average.

With only two double-digit scorers, the Cardinal will hope the emergence of sophomore guard Noah Taitz can spark some extra offensive firepower. After sitting out the season opener, the former four-star returned for one minute against Santa Clara, but should be more present on Monday night.

Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. PT at Maples Pavilion.

Zach Zafran was the Vol. 262 managing editor for the sports section. Now a senior staff writer, he has previous experience reporting and writing with SFGATE. You can find Zach around campus wearing swim trunks no matter the weather. Follow him on Twitter at @ZachZafran and contact him at sports 'at' stanforddaily.com.

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