UP NEXT: Eastern Washington

(Nov. 14, 1-1 Big Sky)

Game Notes:

Last Friday, it was Reid Travis. On Monday, it was Michael Humphrey. Regardless of who steps up and takes control of the game when the Stanford Cardinal (2-0) take on the Eastern Washington Eagles (2-1) Tuesday night, as long as the two big men keep rolling, the Cardinal will be tough to stop.

Stanford’s power duo will look to continue their dominant start to the season when they battle the Eagles in Maples Pavilion. In the season opener against Cal Poly on Friday, Travis posted 26 points and 12 rebounds. After being held scoreless in that game, Humphrey responded with 26 points and 18 rebounds against the Pacific Tigers on Monday. Together, the two leaders of this Cardinal team make the Stanford front court a force to be reckoned with.

But despite huge performances from Travis and Humphrey, the Cardinal still haven’t completely clicked on both offense and defense, something that may take a while as their skilled crop of freshmen becomes accustomed to the pace of the college game.

Stanford let Cal Poly hang around at times on Friday and let the Tigers make a big second-half run in Monday’s game. With a critical battle against defending national champions North Carolina looming on the horizon, the Cardinal will look to get rid of all their early-season jitters before facing the Tar Heels next Monday.

Another bright spot for Stanford has been freshman guard Isaac White, who scored 17 in the opener and has shown flashes of brilliance on both offense and defense. However, White’s fellow freshmen have been quiet so far this season. If freshman guard Daejon Davis contributes more on offense, he and White could provide head coach Jerod Haase with an equally potent backcourt to pair with the big men up front.

Tuesday night’s game starts at 8 p.m. and will be streamed live on the Pac-12 networks.

 

Contact Gregory Block at gblock ‘at’ stanford.edu.