Stanford men’s basketball (8-8, 0-4 Pac-12) will seek its first conference victory as it hosts Washington State (9-6, 2-1) on Thursday night in Maples Pavilion.

The Cardinal started conference play on the wrong foot by going winless in their first four conference games. Stanford’s recent losses can be mostly attributed to injury to one of the team’s best players, junior forward Reid Travis (17.5 points per game, 9.6 rebounds per game) and a brutal strength of schedule (2nd in the nation).

In their previous game, the Cardinal’s balanced effort came up short against No. 4 UCLA (16-1, 3-1). Junior forward Michael Humphrey dropped a career-high 27 points and added 14 rebounds for a huge double-double. Junior guard Robert Cartwright also set career highs by scoring 18 points and dishing out nine assists.

Stanford is 75-60 all-time against Washington State with the Cardinal winning seven of their last 10 meetings.

Cougar seniors Josh Hawkinson  and Ike Iroegbu, who lead the team in points per game, will test the Cardinal’s defensive mettle as each player has scored his 1,000th career point this season.

The game is set to tip off at 8 p.m. on Thursday and will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu