When Stanford coach Jerod Haase suited up for the Jayhawks from 1994-97, he owned a 42-0 record inside of Allen Fieldhouse.
It certainly will be a different feeling this time around in an underdog role.
Stanford, ranked 68th by KenPom, has a strong defense, especially in the interior with tall post players protecting the rim. But then there’s the inconsistency on offense outside of its top two scorers — Reid Travis and Dorian Pickens.
“For us to be successful we need multiple guys on the offensive end to be efficient,” Haase said. “It can’t just Reid or Dorian. We need four or five guys a night that have a chance to get double figures. We’re not to that point, yet.”
Opening the season with a 6-2 record, Saturday’s matchup against the fourth-ranked Jayhawks will be Stanford’s first road game. The Cardinal own losses against Miami and No. 12 St. Mary’s.
**Interesting note:** Haase, who started 99 of the 101 games he played at Kansas, ranks 11th in KU history in career three-pointers (156) and steals (174). He scored 1,264 points, which ranks 33rd all time.
**Series history:** Kansas leads, 8-3. The Cardinal won the last meeting when it knocked the Jayhawks out of the NCAA Tournament in 2014 with a 60-57 victory.
**Interesting note, Part II:** After playing 12th-ranked St. Mary’s on Wednesday, this will be the first time Stanford has played back-to-back ranked opponents since the 2014 NCAA Tournament, when the Cardinal beat New Mexico and Kansas in the first two games.
**STANFORD STARTERS**
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*No. 1 — G Christian Sanders | 6-4, 192, sr.*
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– Stanford’s top point guard, Sanders ranks seventh in the Pac-12 with 3.6 assists per game (29 through eight games).
– Sanders is averaging 3.6 points on 42 percent shooting (10-of-24), relying on jump shots. According to hoop-math.com, he’s only attempted 17 percent of his shots at the rim and he’s missed all of them.
– He was suspended at the end of last season for a violation of team rules.
– His father, Brad, played at Kansas from 1975-79. He played in 91 games in his KU career, hitting 80 of 185 shots for 43.2 percent. Christian was born in Wichita.
– *QUOTE:* “My dad played basketball at Kansas, so growing up it was a school for our family to cheer for,” Sanders said when he was in high school. “When we moved, it lost a little bit, but in our hearts, it’s always been a good school for us.”
*No. 15 — G Marcus Allen | 6-3, 190, sr.*
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– Known for his defense, Allen is only averaging 4.3 points in 23.4 minutes per game. He’s shooting 15 percent from behind the three-point line (2-of-13) and 30 percent from the floor (13-of-43). Those numbers are significantly down from last year, averaging 11.1 points on 41 percent shooting.
– He’s started 56 games in his career, the most on the team. He missed a few games last year with a stress fracture in his right foot.
– His twin brother, Malcolm, is a junior on the team and has played in two games this year. They were co-valedictorians out of high school. His mother, Trina, was a former gymnast at Stanford.
– *QUOTE:* “I’ve met Jarron (Collins) and I’ve seen Brook and Robin around,” said Allen, who is two inches taller than his brother. “It’s pretty awesome, the legacy of twins here. It’s just always a cool thing to say.”
*No. 11 — G Dorian Pickens | 6-5, 215, jr.*
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– Ranks second on the team with 13.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Pickens is Stanford’s top deep threat, shooting 43.8 percent from behind the three-point line (14-of-32). He averaged 18.3 points in the Advocare Invitational and was named to the all-tournament team.
– According to hoop-math.com, Pickens takes mostly jump shots. He’s only taken 23 percent of his 75 shots at the rim. He’s also a great free-throw shooter, making 24 of his 28 attempts this year.
– Wednesday’s loss against St. Mary’s was the first time Pickens didn’t score in double digits, snapping an eight-game streak.
– A noted shoe enthusiast, Pickens says he owns more than 150 pairs of shoes. He was named Arizona’s 2014 Gatorade Player of the Year.
– *QUOTE:* “Dorian is so smooth, so confident, so fluid,” Haase said.
*No. 22 — F Reid Travis | 6-8, 245, jr.*
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– Stanford’s best player, Travis leads the Cardinal with 16.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, shooting 54 percent from the floor and ranking second in the Pac-12 with 3.5 offensive rebounds per game. He’s recorded four double-doubles this season.
– He missed the final 22 games last year with a stress reaction in his left leg. The Minneapolis native was a part of the “Big Three” recruiting class out of the state in 2014, which included former Duke standout Tyus Jones and former UNLV star Rashad Vaughn.
– Travis plays with a lot of strength inside of the paint, posting up against bigger opponents. But what separates him is a strong motor on the glass and his comfort level with finishing at the rim. According to hoop-math.com, Travis has converted on a team-best 67 percent of his shots at the rim.
– His biggest weakness: free throws. Travis is shooting a career-high 65 percent after shooting missing more than half his freebies during his freshman and sophomore years. He went 0-for-3 at the line against St. Mary’s on Wednesday.
– *QUOTE:* “His work ethic to change his shot was extremely impressive,” Haase said. “And I’ve been around college basketball for a little while now, and not many players can change their shot once they get to college, and he did it in one summer.”
*No. 10 — F Michael Humphrey | 6-9, 220, jr.*
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– Stanford’s starting center is averaging 7.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in 19.9 minutes through eight games. He’s recorded five blocks and nine steals after ranking 10th in the Pac 12 last season with 38 blocks.
– Humphrey is shooting 41 percent from the floor, but isn’t afraid to stretch out to three-point line, converting on 2 of his 9 attempts.
– At 6-9, Humphrey played quarterback for his high school football team at Sunnyslope High in Phoenix.
– *QUOTE:* “I think the general feel of going into practice has changed a lot,” Humphrey said. “Everyone is really excited to go into practice. Practice is really up-tempo and quick. Everything serves a purpose. You really see the carryover from drills into scrimmages. And I think the overall feel of practice has changed. It’s more intense and productive.
**STANFORD BENCH**
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*No. 30 — C Grant Verhoeven | 6-9, 250, sr.*
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– Through eight games, Verhoeven is averaging a career-best 6.3 and 4.0 rebounds per game. He’s shooting 19-of-33 from the field and 2-of-5 from deep.
– He’s played double-digit minutes in each of the last four games after playing single-digit minutes in three of the team’s first four games. He was limited to only eight games in the 2014-15 season because of a hip injury.
– Prounciation: Ver-who-van. His father, Pete, played for four teams during a six-year NBA career, including the Kansas City Kings in 1984-85 (54 games off of the bench, 2.3 points per game).
– *QUOTE:* “He’s been fantastic and … he’s a warrior in so many ways and I think that sets the tone for the entire team,” Haase said Wednesday. “I probably need to find a few more minutes for him in the first half. I thought in the second half he was one of the brights spots and there weren’t a whole lot.”
*No. 2 — G Robert Cartwright | 6-2, 180, soph.*
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– He missed all of last season after suffering a gruesome compound fracture in his right forearm during practice, emphasis on the gruesome. With a sizable scar around his elbow, Cartwright said he had “an S-shaped arm” after falling to ground on a layup attempt.
– Through eight games, Cartwright is averaging 5.5 points and 2.1 rebounds off of the bench. But he’s only shooting 30 percent from the floor (15-of-50) and 26 percent from deep (5-of-19).
– A backup point guard, he has 24 assists — matching his total from his freshman season — compared to 12 turnovers. He’s added 12 steals.
– *QUOTE:* “I think it’s a miracle to go from going through all those surgeries less than a year ago to running the show in practice,” Travis said. “It blows my mind.”
*No. 14 — G Marcus Sheffield | 6-5, 180, soph.*
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– Averaging 4.4 points and 1.1 rebounds in 18.4 points per game. He’s fourth on the team with 11 assists this year.
– After scoring 17 points against Cal State Northridge in the second game of the season, he’s scored a combined 13 points in the next six games.
– His father, Marcus, played basketball at Morgan State.
*No. 20 — C Josh Sharma | 7-0, 220, soph.*
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– He’s recorded 11 blocks in 96 minutes. He’s averaging 4.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.
– Not afraid to step behind the three-point line, Sharma is shooting 2-of-11 from deep this year.
