Projected Starters and 2017-18 stats:
* PG Daejon Davis (So.): 10.7 ppg, 4.8 apg, 1.2 spg, .403 3-pt %
* G Cormac Ryan (Fr.)
* F KZ Okpala (So.): 10.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.8 apg
* F Oscar Da Silva (So.): 6.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 0.8 bpg, .517 FG %
* C Josh Sharma (Sr.): 3.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.8 bpg, .565 FG %
6th man:
* G Marcus Sheffield (r-Jr.): DNP - MEDICAL REDSHIRT
The Cardinal return 2 starters from last year's squad, though Only
Daejon Davis started over 30 games (33) for Stanford last season.
KZ Okpala started 21 after missing the first half of the season. Meanwhile,
Oscar Da Silva lost his starting job midway through the season.
Thus, Stanford lacks experience on their 2018-19 squad.
Marcus Sheffield hasn't played since the 2016-17 campaign after receiving a medical redshirt last season. 7-footer
Josh Sharma only played 9.7 minutes per game last season as a junior.
Cormac Ryan is just a freshman. 2017-18 leading scorer Reid Travis, an NBA prospect, transferred before the season.
However, Stanford does NOT lack talent. This was evident in their season-opening win over Seattle on Tuesday night. In a 96-74 victory, 4 players finished scoring in double digits, led by Okpala's 29 on 8-12 shooting (2-2 from 3). Okpala also grabbed 10 boards, dished out 5 assists, blocked 3 shots and had a steal.
Cormac had an impressive freshman debut, adding 16 points on 5-6 shooting from 3. Davis chipped in 15 points and Sheffield dropped 10 points in 20 minutes off the bench.
Picked to finish 9th in the Pac-12 by the coaches this season, the Cardinal make their rare trip to the Atlantic Ocean coming off a season where they ranked 69th nationally in scoring, 9th in free throw attempts, and 23rd in rebounding. However, they struggled defensively, ranking 243rd in points allowed per game and 196th at defending the 3. The Cardinal also turned the ball over 525 times, ranking them 349th out of 351 D-I teams.
After losing Travis and being as young as they are, expect similar numbers out of the Cardinal this season. They'll display explosive offense but because of their youth will also make a lot of mistakes. Even against Seattle, the Cardinal committed 13 turnovers while causing just 11. Against better teams, that will be a problem once again in 2018-19.
Can the Seahawks win this contest? Absolutely. But much like the Campbell game, it'll likely have to come in a shootout. The Seahawks actually have the more veteran lineup, which should help, and some of Stanford's weaknesses mesh nicely with UNCW's strengths. But with the 2 teams playing similar styles, with Stanford having a little better athletes, it'll take more than just home court advantage for the Hawks to pull out the upset.