Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas
Stanford Cardinal (5-9) vs. California Golden Bears (2-13)
The 2022-23 college basketball betting action continues Friday, January 6, with the Pac-12 Conference showdown between the Stanford Cardinal and California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, California.
The tip-off is set for 9:00 PM ET, and California shoots for its second straight victory over Stanford. The Golden Bears open as 8-point home underdogs with a total of 124.5 points, so let’s take a closer look.
The Stanford Cardinal (5-9; 6-8 ATS) fell to 0-4 in the conference play following a 71-66 defeat to the Utah Utes on New Year’s Eve. It was their second consecutive SU and ATS loss, as the Cardinal suffered a 73-70 defeat to the Colorado Buffaloes on December 29.
Stanford trailed Utah by double digits for most of the game, allowing the Utes to make 57.5% of their field goals (6-for-14 from deep). The Cardinal forced 16 turnovers and posted a nice 13/6 assist-to-turnover ratio, but they shot just 42.2% from the field (9-for-28 from deep) and 3-for-8 from the charity stripe. Senior forward Spencer Jones led Stanford with 16 points and four rebounds, and he’s now averaging 12.3 points and 4.2 boards on the season.
First 5?#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/1e0at1bPbb
— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) December 31, 2022
Spencer Jones is a lone Cardinal with points per game north of ten. Stanford scores 105.0 points per 100 possessions (115th in the nation) on 52.3% shooting from inside the arc (140th) and 30.8% from beyond the 3-point line (311th). They lean on a stout defense, giving up 95.3 points per 100 possessions (58th). Also, the Cardinal rank 17th in the country in defensive rebound percentage. Stanford is No. 113 in the NCAA NET Rankings and No. 83 in the KenPom rankings.