Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By: Ana Kieu

After a rough road trip in the Beaver State, Stanford men’s basketball rebounded with two straight home wins over rivals USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins, respectively. The Cardinal routed the Bruins 104-80 on February 16th and edged the Trojans 79-76 on February 13th. Not bad for two Bay Area versus Los Angeles style showdowns.

But Stanford (14-11, 7-6 Pac-12) now has a tall order with a brief stop in the desert, where they’ll take on the Arizona State Sun Devils, who currently stand tall with a 17-8, 8-5 Pac-12 record, and pay a visit to the Arizona Wildcats, who are third to last in the conference with a 14-12, 5-8 Pac-12 record. Tempe and Tucson are two different cities that are 100 miles apart, but I doubt the travel time and time difference won’t be factors in the Cardinal’s next two games. The Cardinal will bring a two-game win streak, while the Sun Devils will be looking to make it two wins in a row. ASU last defeated the Utah Utes 98-87 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on February 16th.

The Cardinal had won five of their last six games, which has been a positive sign for the wishy-washy team even though they likely won’t become a promising postseason contender this year. If you’re antsy for the game, you can check out GoStanford.com for their live countdown to the tipoff. You can thank me later, too.

Not only did Stanford beat UCLA, Josh Sharma–a Cardinal senior center–was voted the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Player of the Week Monday. Sharma led the Cardinal to a sweep of the LA-based schools. The Cardinal’s win over the Bruins was their largest in 22 years. The Cardinal’s currently tied with Colorado and USC for fifth in the conference at 7-6 in Pac-12 play.

Sharma averaged a double-double for the week at 18.0 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game. He posted his second career double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds in the win over UCLA. His 22-point performance was one shy of his career-high, which was set earlier this season against Long Beach State.

Sharma, the Pac-12’s field goal percentage leader at 69%, finished 10-of-11 from the field in the win over UCLA, becoming just the 10th player in Cardinal history with at least nine field goals made and just one or no missed field goal attempts in a game. He finished Saturday’s win with seven dunks.

Sharma registered 14 points and nine rebounds in the win over USC on Wednesday.

Sharma was recognized by the Pac-12 for the second time this season. He was also named the conference’s player of the week on Dec. 31. He’s the first Stanford player to be recognized with the conference’s weekly award multiple times in the same season since Landry Fields in 2009-10. He’s also the sixth Cardinal to accomplish the feat all-time, joining Fields (2009-10), Matt Haryasz (2005-06), Matt Lottich (2003-04), Adam Keefe (1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-92) and Todd Lichti (1988-89).