Following a 70-54 defeat of Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, Stanford men’s basketball (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12) will face the 49ers of Long Beach State (1-1, 0-0 Big West) on Tuesday night. The game is the third of six straight home games for the Cardinal to open the season.
The 49ers, whose first victory of the season came Saturday over San Diego State, have been led largely by sophomore guards Chance Hunter and Michael Carter III. The duo has combined for 74 of the team’s 139 points over the course of two games, averaging 20 and 17 points per game, respectively. With six three pointers each on the season, Hunter and Carter III could prove threatening to the Cardinal’s success if given too much space beyond the arc.
Unfortunately for Long Beach, however, the Stanford defense has managed to make uncontested shots hard to come by. Between Montana — who fell to Stanford 72-63 in the season opener — and CSUF, opponents have gone 11-for-43 from three.
Stanford has seen particularly strong defensive performances from guards Tyrell Terry and Daejon Davis, who together have tallied 14 of the team’s 20 steals. The freshman and junior have also snagged seven defensive rebounds each.
“We spent a lot of time on defense in the offseason,” Davis said. “Focus has been to be an elite defensive team, and I think that everything that we’ve done to prep up to this point has been to do so.”
Davis finished the 2018-19 season with 39 steals — just one shy of the 40 he recorded as a freshman on the Farm.
For offensive dominance, the Cardinal will likely continue to look to forward Oscar da Silva, who posted 21 points against Montana, including a perfect six-for-six from the foul line. That being said, Terry and fellow freshman Spencer Jones have been eager to add to Stanford’s side of the scoreboard. In his first career start on Saturday, Jones netted four from deep to pick up 12 points for Stanford. Terry also added 12 of his own.
Tip-off from Maples Pavilion is set for 6 p.m. PT on Tuesday night.
Contact Savana Stewart at savnstew ‘at’ stanford.edu.