The Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball team (2-1) will host the Wofford Terriers (2-1) at Maples Pavilion on Friday, November 15 at 7 p.m. EST. Though it is early in the season, both teams have already played against the No. 7 ranked University of North Carolina Tar Heels (3-0) with similar results.
Stanford started off the season strong with commanding wins against Seattle (3-1) and UNC Wilmington (0-3). However, the Cardinal suffered a humbling 72-90 defeat in their most recent game against North Carolina on Monday. From the opening tip, things were just not clicking for Stanford, missing on all but one of their first 11 field goal attempts. Stanford ended the half shooting a frigid 35 percent from the field. On the other end of the floor, North Carolina was able to capitalize on a collapsing Stanford defense, shooting a scorching 60 percent in the first half and going up 52-26. Despite the shooting slump, the Cardinal did finish the game with three players in double digits. Sophomore forward KZ Okpala delivered 16 points and nine rebounds for Stanford, followed by freshman guard Cormac Ryan with 14, 12 of which came from beyond the arch. Sophomore forward Oscar Da Silva put up 11 points and seven boards.
Wofford did not fare much better in their matchup against North Carolina, in which the Tar Heels spoiled the Terriers’ home season opener, 78-67. The Terriers then went on to win their next two contests. Their most recent game was against the Carver Cougars on Tuesday, in what could be described as nothing less than utter carnage, hammering the Cougars 94-35. The entire Terrier lineup got double-digit minutes in the game, and all but one player scored. Even though they dominated the first half 58-22, Wofford did not take their feet off the gas pedal the rest of the game, scoring nearly three times as many points as the Cougars in the second half, 36-13.
After witnessing what the Terriers are capable of, the Cardinal should definitely not let their guard down in this matchup.
Though Thanksgiving may mean a break from academics, the Cardinal will continue their season campaign in the Battle for Atlantis tournament, playing back to back to back games on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Contact Stephen Ren at rensteph ‘at’ stanford.edu