photo by gostanford.com: KZ Okpala (0) of the Stanford Cardinal drives the lane and the Cardinal scored 17 unanswered first half points and had a total of 23 points against UNC-Wilmington on Friday night
By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Friday, November 09, 2018
Stanford used a big first-half run to pull away from UNC-Wilmington early and defeat the Seahawks 72-59 Friday in non-conference men’s basketball in Wilmington, N.C.
Sophomore KZ Okpala led the Cardinal with 23 points, and Cormac Ryan added 14 points for Stanford (2-0). The Cardinal are logging significant frequent flyer miles. They traveled 2,500 miles to play UNCW and North Carolina, then fly back home for one game, then fly to the Bahamas for a Thanksgiving holiday tournament – the Battle 4 Atlantis.
After Stanford trailed by eight points early, the Cardinal scored 17 unanswered points in the first half and held the Seahawks without a field goal over the final 7 ½ minutes before halftime, leading 39-25.
The Cardinal built an 18-point lead in the second half, and UNCW never came closer than eight points.
Jeantal Cylla and Devontae Cacok each scored 14 points to lead the Seahawks (0-2). UNCW finished with 20 turnovers that the Cardinal converted into 26 points.
It was the first time UNCW hosted a power-conference opponent since Wake Forest of the ACC beat them in December 2009. Both teams are coached by former Kansas teammates – Stanford’s Jerod Haase and the Seahawks’ C.B. McGrath. UNCW will visit Stanford next season.
The Cardinal collected 15 steals, their best since getting 15 in January 2006 against Oregon State.
After Stanford practices in Wilmington on Saturday, the Cardinal travel to No. 8-North Carolina on Monday.
1. Let’s talk football first. San Jose State was unable to make it two wins in a row against Wyoming. The Spartans lost to the Cowboys 24-9 in Laramie, Wyo. on Saturday.
2. San Jose State set to visit No. 14 Utah State in Logan, Utah this Saturday. What do the Spartans need to do to escape with a win and what’s your score prediction for this roadie?
3. Let’s switch gears to men’s basketball. San Jose State welcomed Life Pacific College on Wednesday night. The Spartans beat the Warriors 89-72 at the Event Center. Do you feel like head coach Jean Prioleau has the potential to help the Spartans get more than four wins this season?
On the Stanford Cardinal Football podcast with Jerry:
#1 The Stanford Cardinal (5-4) wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside will be out of action for Saturday’s game against the Cal Bears.
#2 Whiteside has a right ankle injury after he got tackled by Washington’s Bryron Murphy after an 11-yard touchdown.
#3 The Cardinal, who lost 27-23 last Saturday to the Washington Huskies, have lost four out of their last five games.
#4 Also not appearing this Saturday against Cal, Stanford kicker Jet Toner, OLB Joey Alferi, guard Foster Sarell…with three players out and five players as probables, this could be a tough game against Cal.
#5 Stanford’s bowl hopes gone, but coach David Shaw said that Arcega-Whiteside is a candidate for the NFL draft.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose State Spartans men’s basketball team opened its 2018-19 season versus the Life Pacific College Warriors inside the Event Center on Wednesday night. SJSU was seeking their third straight season-opening win and third straight win over LPC. Last season, SJSU routed LPC 109-70 at home.
Perhaps it was the loud, rabid crowd (and yes, that includes the uber-talented SJSU Cheer squad) that fired up the Spartans, who opened the first period with a 9-0 run, thanks to Brae Ivey’s 3-pointer, Zach Chappell’s layup, Seneca Knight’s pair of free throws on the fastbreak and Oumar Barry’s layup in the paint. The Warriors then responded with a 8-0 run of their own, which consisted of Edgardo Campo’s two threes and Chez Lister’s layup on the fastbreak.
Both teams exchanged threes, free throws and layups throughout the first, but the Spartans played high-quality defense to keep themselves on top. SJSU carried a 49-38 lead over LPC to the locker room at halftime. Moreover, Knight led the Spartans 15 points, one assist, one steal, one block plus 5-10 shooting from the field goal line, 3-6 shooting from beyond the arc and 2-2 shooting from the free throw line in 12:08 minutes at halftime.
The Spartans continued to dominate early in the second period. Michael Steadman threw down a dunk to expand SJSU’s lead to 13 for a 51-38 advantage just 52 seconds into the second. This time, SJSU didn’t go on a prompt run, as Adam Gotelli hit a three to reduce the Warriors’ deficit to 10 for a tinier trail of 51-41 just 24 seconds later.
— San Jose State Men’s Basketball (@SanJoseStateMBB) November 8, 2018
Gotelli proceeded to give the Spartans a hard time with a jumper in the paint and a subsequent field goal. Also, Andre Allen made a layup to pull the Warriors within nine at the 16:43 mark of the second.
However, SJSU wasn’t bothered by LPC’s efforts. Christian Anigwe made a pair of free throws. Knight wrecked some more havoc with a layup and some other shots. Ivey and Chappell made their pairs of free throws, respectively. And, let’s not forget, Isaiah Nichols’ three. Nichols was one of the biggest forces on the Spartans’ roster last season.
The Spartans remained at a steady pace for the remainder of the second. SJSU defeated LPC 89-72 for its first win of the season. Spartan nation received coupons for free tacos from Chacho’s and went home happy, which was excellent considering the fact the Spartans’ football team has been pretty darn bad this season.
Notes SJSU’s starting lineup boasted Michael Steadman, Zach Chappell, Oumar Barry, Brae Ivey and Seneca Knight. SJSU’s projected roster featured Steadman, Ivey, Chappell, Barry, Knight, Isaiah Nichols, Christian Anigwe, Noah Baumann, Kaison Hammonds, Craig Lecesne, Brian Rodriguez-Flores, Ashtin Chastain and Trey Smith.
Up Next
The Spartans host the Southern Utah Thunderbirds on Saturday, November 10 at 6:00 pm PT.
washingtonpost.com photo: Former Washington National Bryce Harper turned down a $300 million deal from the Nats and is seeking employment elsewhere. The Giants are actively seeking Harper’s services and could strike up a deal.
On Headline Sports with London:
#1 How realistic is it that the San Francisco Giants will be able to sign free agent Bryce Harper?
#2 The San Francisco Giants tried to pull all the strings without a general manager. The position was filled when they hired Farhan Zaidi as they rebuild the team. In reality everyone knows the one pulls all the levers and ropes behind the curtain for the Giants player personnel is that ole wizard team vice president Brian Sabean.
#3 How big of a mistake was it for the Oakland Raiders in waving defensive end Bruce Irvin?
#4 The Cal Bears will be in Shanghai this Friday for their second game of the season against Yale on Friday. Fans in Shanghai have been flocking to see the Cal and Yale teams.
#5 The Oakland A’s Matt Olson and Matt Chapman each won Gold Gloves. This is first time any A’s first or third baseman have won in 12 years.
PALO ALTO, Calif. — The 2018-2019 regular season got off to an energetic start for the Stanford Cardinal on Tuesday night as they hosted Seattle University at Maples in the season opener. The Cardinal beat the Redhawks by a score of 96-74.
Stanford’s return to the court got off to an energetic start, however, the energy didn’t translate into a favorable score for the Card. Despite collecting the opening tip, a Daejon Davis bucket on the first offensive possession, and a shot clock violation on their first defensive possession, Seattle kept pace as the Stanford defense began to yield easy buckets and the offense began to stagnate.
Two early fouls on Josh Sharma sent him to the bench and gave Trevor Stanback substantial playing time, however his play was inadequate as he provided little support to Stanford on both offense and defense. Seattle’s lead grew to eight points with the score 24-16 at which point Stanford seemed unwound and lacked defensive discipline.
Stanford was able to climb within two points of Seattle on three separate occasions as the clock wound down on the first half. The first two times, Seattle was able to counter with the three-point shot, however, they couldn’t respond the 3rd time and Stanford was able to tie the game on a pair of foul shots for KZ Okpala. A Jaiden Delaire three-pointer took the lead with a minute and a half left and Stanford closed the first half with a 40-36 lead while shooting only 42% from the field.
KZ Okpala led the force in the first half with a team-leading 13 points and 6 rebounds. Alternately, for the Redhawks, Junior forward Anand Hundal came off the bench to contribute a team-high 11 points while going 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.
Stanford rode the 3-ball to a twelve point lead within the first ten minutes of the second half; Cormac Ryan hit 4 consecutive three-pointers just as Daejon Davis and KZ Okpala each hit one. Fittingly, after the game, Ryan couldn’t remember the last time he lost a game of horse.
Stanford started to heat up on the backs of KZ Okpala, who contributed another 3 as well as a number of points in the paint, and Josh Sharma who contributed six points of his own, Stanford stretched the lead to 20 points with just under six minutes to play. Stanford only got hotter as the lead grew to 29 points by the time there were only three minutes left.
KZ Okpala finished a double-double with a whopping 29 points to pair with 10 assists in 36 minutes of play. The others to collect double digits in the points column were Cormac Ryan with 16 (5/6 from beyond the arc), Daejon Davis with 15, and Marcus Sheffield with 10. Despite KZ’s big night, after the game Coach Hasse was quick to recognize the 3 turnovers he had, the high ceiling he posesses, and room for growth KZ still has as only a sophomore.
For Seattle, the following four players scored more than 10 points: sophomore guard Terrell Brown had 16, junior guard Matej Kavas and junior forward Anand Handal each had 13, and junior guard Morgan Means finished with 11.
Stanford shot an immaculate 73% (11/15) from three while finishing the game with a 52% overall field goal percentage. Seattle finished shooting 44% from the field. Stanford outrebounded Seattle 39-28 but unfortunately turned the ball over more as well, by a 13-11 margin.
Stanford will be back in action on November 9th on the road against UNC Wilmington at 1:00 PM PT. They will have the 8th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels on the road on November 12th before they return to Maples to play Wofford at 7:00 PM on November 16.
As you may already know, the Stanford Cardinal lost its last two games on the road to No. 8 Washington State and No. 25 Washington, respectively. So the Cardinal are looking to snap out of a losing skid, but more importantly, get set for Senior Day. The soon-to-be Stanford alumni have a lot to celebrate in the coming weeks, including this football game. Congratulations to the Class of 2018!
Here’s what you need to know about Saturday’s game vs. Oregon State:
By the numbers
Stanford Cardinal (5-4, 3-3)
Oregon State Beavers (2-7, 1-5)
Nov. 10, 2018 at 6:00 pm PT
Stanford Stadium (50,424) in Stanford, Calif.
Television
Live national broadcast on Pac-12 Network with Guy Haberman (play-by-play), Chad Brown (analyst) and Camryn Irwin (sideline).
Radio
Live coverage on Stanford’s flagship station–KNBR 1050 AM–with Scott Reiss ’93 (play-by-play), Todd Husak ’00 (analyst) and John Platz ’84 (sideline). The broadcast begins one hour before kickoff with the Cardinal Tailgate Show and concludes with the postgame Cardinal Locker Room Report. The game can be heard on Stanford student radio–KZSU 90.1 FM–and online at kzsulive.stanford.edu.
1 • Stanford is 5-0 this season when forcing at least one turnover, and 0-3 when not forcing a turnover.
1 • Junior Kaden Smith ranks first in the nation among tight ends in receiving yards (601) and receiving yards per game (66.8). He is second in the country—first among Power 5 tight ends—with 44 receptions (only San Jose State’s Josh Oliver has more receptions with 49).
3 • Stanford football players have conducted interviews in three foreign languages this season—JJ Arcega-Whiteside (Spanish), Jesse Burkett (Japanese) and Osiris St. Brown (German). All other Stanford football interviews this year have been done in English.
4 • Stanford’s four losses this season have come against the AP’s current No. 3, No. 10, No. 20 and No. 26th-ranked teams in the nation (Notre Dame, Washington State, Washington, Utah). Those four teams have a combined record of 30-7 (.811) this season.
5 • One of the most disciplined teams in the nation, Stanford has the fifth-fewest penalty yards in the nation this year with just 37.00 per game–also the fewest in the Pac-12.
7 • Don’t expect many points immediately after halftime. Stanford has allowed just one touchdown and never more than seven points in the third quarter this season. The Cardinal has only allowed 25 third-quarter points in its first nine games (2.78). The only touchdown allowed was vs. Washington State.
8 • Stanford has won eight in a row against Oregon State.
8 • Smith has produced three games with 8+ receptions and 100+ yards this season (Utah, Washington State and Washington). The rest of the tight ends in the country have combined for five such games. He is the only tight end to do it more than once and has done it in back-to-back games. Smith is the first tight end to accomplish that feat three times in a season since Texas Tech’s Jace Amaro in 2013 (Baker Mayfield and Davis Webb were the Red Raiders’ quarterbacks).
11 • Senior wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside ranks second nationally–and first among Pac-12 players–with 11 receiving touchdowns. That’s the second-most in a season in Stanford history and the most receiving touchdowns for a Cardinal in 38 years–Ken Margerum had 11 in 1980, while James Lofton set the school record with 14 in 1978.
13 • In addition to his 49 receptions and 754 receiving yards this season, Arcega-Whiteside has drawn 14 penalties this year–12 pass interference and two holding calls for 190 penalty yards (1.6 penalties/game and 21.1 penalty yards/game).
15 • Sophomore cornerback Paulson Adebo ranks second nationally with 15 pass breakups and fourth in the NCAA with 16 passes defended. He ranks atop the Pac-12 in both categories.
20 • Junior quarterback K.J. Costello ranks among the Top 25 nationally in completion percentage (18th), completions per game (19th), passing efficiency (22nd), passing touchdowns (17th), passing yards (13th), passing yards per game (17th) and yards per attempt (21st). He leads the Pac-12 in efficiency (153.1) and is second in the conference in passing yards (2,512) and yards per attempt (8.46).
37 • Sure-handed senior wide receiver Trenton Irwin has at least one reception in 37 consecutive games, a streak that ranks seventh nationally.
100 • Smith is the first Stanford tight end with back-to-back 100-yard receiving games since Alex Smith did it in three straight games in 2004. Smith had 112 against Washington State and 107 against Washington. Smith is also the first Cardinal tight end since Zach Ertz with three 100-yard receiving games in a season. Smith’s career-high 120 yards receiving against Utah (Oct. 6) were the most by a Stanford tight end since Zach Ertz’s 134 vs. Cal in 2012.
249 • Stanford made a school record 249 consecutive extra-point attempts between Oct. 26, 2013 to Nov. 3, 2018. During the streak: Colin Riccitelli–2-2, Jet Toner–79-79, Conrad Ukropina–108-108, Jordan Williamson– 60-60.
1000 • Smith is the fourth Cardinal tight end with 1,000 career receiving yards (1,015). He joins Coby Fleener (1,543), Zach Ertz (1,434) and Alex Smith (1,291).
SAN JOSE, Calif. — It’s obvious the San Jose State football team has been hapless, so let’s switch gears to the San Jose State men’s basketball team, who will tipoff the 2018-19 season on Wednesday night versus Life Pacific in the Event Center. The Spartans begin year two under second-year head coach Jean Prioleau. Spartan fans can listen to the broadcast by tuning into KLIV 1590 AM to hear Justin Allegri’s play-by-play call.
Game No. 1
Life Pacific at San Jose State
Wednesday Nov. 7 at 7:00 pm PT
Event Center (5,000)
San Jose, Calif.
A Spartan win would…
A win over the Warriors would give SJSU their third consecutive season opening win. It would also be the Spartans’ third-straight win over Life Pacific.
New Spartans
A total of nine newcomers are looking to make their San Jose State debuts. Prioleau added JUCO transfers Michael Steadman, Brae Ivey, Craig LeCesne and Brian Rodriguez-Flores to go with his freshman class that consists of Zach Chappell, Christian Anigwe, Kaison Hammonds, Seneca Knight and Trey Smith.
Returning starters
The Spartans will have a total of five lettermen return this season in Oumar Barry, Noah Baumann, Ashtin Chastain, Isaiah Nichols and Caleb Simmons.
Full offseason for Prioleau
Prioleau is entering his second season at the helm of SJSU men’s basketball and is coming off his first full offseason with the program. Prioleau was hired on August 4, 2017, and was given just three months to prepare for his debut. Now with a full offseason to prepare his team, Prioleau and his staff are excited about the Spartans’ potential.
Staff changes
Prioleau made some changes to his staff in the offseason. He brought in former NC State All-American Julius Hodge as an assistant coach and promoted director of operations Ryan Cooper to assistant coach.
More about Life Pacific
The Life Pacific Warriors are a member of the Golden State Athletic Conference and the NAIA. They opened the season with a 90-49 victory over Westcliff University before dropping their last game to Benedictine University 73-67. The Warriors are led by Tim Cook in his third season.
Tropical breeze
After two home games to start off the season, the Spartans will hit the skies for a very long trip east to Bimini, The Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam from Nov. 15-18. SJSU will face Weber State in their opening game at 8:30 pm PT on November 15.
San Jose State looks to rebound at No. 14/16 Utah State this Saturday. That’s not going to be an easy task for the Spartans, but hey, anything could happen in the crazy world of college football. That’s what makes college football one of the greatest sports in the world.
In case you missed it, check out Spartans head coach Brent Brennan’s press conference in the video below.
Here’s what you need to know about Saturday’s game.
Saturday football San Jose State at No. 14/16 Utah State
Saturday, November 10, 2018,
Merlin Olson Field at Maverik Stadium,
Logan, Utah, 1:00 pm PT
Facebook Live
San Jose State’s record 1-8, 1-4 Mountain West. Most recently, the Spartans lost at Wyoming, 24-9, on November 3.
Utah State’s record 8-1, 5-0 Mountain West. The Aggies made it eight consecutive victories with a 56-17 rout of Hawaii on November 3.
Series history San Jose State leads the series, 20-17-1. The Aggies have wins in the last seven meetings between these teams including a 61-10 victory in San Jose, Calif. a year ago.
The Spartans’ last win in the series was a 30-7 blowout in the 2008 season. San Jose State’s last victory in Logan, Utah was a 23-20 win in 2007.
Radio Coverage KLIV (1590 AM, San Jose) originates San Jose State football broadcasts. Justin Allegri calls the play-by-play. Kevin Richardson provides commentary. The Utah State broadcast begins at 12:30 p.m. (PT) with a pregame show.
Television Facebook LIve will provide play-by-play coverage of the San Jose State at Utah State game. Ari Wolfe calls the play-by-play. Max Starks provides analysis. Dani Klupenger is the sideline reporter. The live telecast is scheduled for 1:00 pm PT.
Weekly press conference The weekly San Jose State football press conference is in the Simpkins Stadium Center Gold Room on Mondays at 1:00 pm PT.
Last victory against a nationally-ranked opponent? San Jose State’s last win against a nationally-ranked opponent was a 62-52 triumph over No. 16 Fresno State on November 29, 2013. Since then, the Spartans are 0-4 against nationally-ranked opponents.
Positive turnover margin For the second time this season, San Jose State has a positive turnover margin of +2 after recovering two fumbles and not committing a turnover in the Wyoming game on November 3.
In the last three games, the Spartans have taken the ball away six times (three fumble recoveries and three interceptions) and lost the ball once on an interception vs. UNLV and a fumble at San Diego State.
After nine games this season, San Jose State lost the ball 14 times. A year ago after nine games, the Spartans had committed 31 turnovers (13 interceptions, 18 fumbles).
Love is in the air
San Jose State quarterback Josh Love, a Mission Viejo, Calif. native, is not related to Utah State signal-caller Jordan Love from Bakersfield, Calif. The two opposing starting quarterbacks are ranked 29th (Josh Love) and 36th nationally (Jordan Love) in passing yards per game. Combined, they account for 3,938 yards and 32 touchdowns.
100-100-100 When looking at a San Jose State football player’s helmet, the decal 100-100 stands for 100 percent effort, 100 percent of the time. Three Spartan seniors are nearing 100 career receptions.
Wide receiver Justin Holmes is the closest with 99. Wide receiver Tre Hartley is next with 95. Tight end Josh Oliver has 91. Since 1974 when Ike McBee became the first Spartan to catch 100 passes in a career, 27 additional San Jose State players have 100 or more career receptions.
Crawford stands out from the crowd For the third time this season, senior Bryce Crawford is the only FBS kicker nationally ranked in the top 25 in field goals per game (22nd tied) and punting average (24th).
Oliver continues to lead Since the beginning of the season, Josh Oliver is the leading pass receiver among FBS tight ends.
Oliver is tied 48th nationally in receptions per game. He is the only tight end listed among the FBS’ top 50 pass receivers in games played through November 3.
33 of Oliver’s 49 receptions this season resulted in a Spartan first down.
Monroe remains tied for third For the second consecutive week, Spartan defensive back Dakari Monroe remains tied for third among FBS players in passes defended with his 1.9 average. Monroe was the FBS national leader in games played through October 6.
For the season, Monroe has four pass interceptions and 13 pass break-ups.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The title pretty much explained the question. But there’s three games left in San Jose State’s season and Spartans head coach Brent Brennan held his weekly press conference inside Simpkins Stadium Center on Monday afternoon to talk about what’s next for his team.
Here’s my Q&A with Brennan:
1. There was a little snow in Laramie, Wyo. Do you think the local weather played a role in the Spartans’ loss to the Cowboys? I do think we handled it well. I think there was more of a little bit of not a balance for us offensively and defensively throughout the game. It seemed like during the game, we played really good defense and we had trouble getting our offense going, and then in the second half, it kind of flipped.
But I give our kids credit. We don’t often get a first down on a fourth down play, and three plays later, (Jonathan) Lenard Jr. goes there and knocks the ball out of the hands to recover it and then go down to score, and all of a sudden, we score to make it a close game again and had the chance to win it. We needed a stop there and we didn’t get it done, so I don’t think it was much of the weather as opposed to us not playing good offense and good defense at the same time.
2. The Spartans recovered two fumbles, but were unable to do anything with one of them. Was this loss a matter of Cowboys quarterback Sean Chambers being that great or were the Spartans just that bad? I thought (Sean) Chambers was really good, but we scored a touchdown on the second fumble so I thought at that moment we did a nice job handling the sudden change and got some points in the fourth quarter.
3. Most, if not all, fans and media said that Josh Love deserves credit for his most recent performance. Do you agree with that opinion and do you think Love needs more playmakers around him? I think Josh (Love) has really come a long way and I’m really proud of him. It’s awesome to see him delivering the football and making the accurate throws. He had a couple of big-time throws on Saturday. It just kind of shows his progress and his development.
I think the guys have been making plays around him. I think we have a good group of playmakers there, and I think there’s gotta be some opportunities where it all comes together sometime to break down the offensive line. Sometimes, it’s a bad route or Josh (Love) gets moved off his spot because of pressure or he misses a block or a point of attack and Tyler (Nevens) can’t get anything out of it, so it’s a product of us continuing to grow and develop as a football team–especially as an offensive football team.
The Spartans experienced a tough battle against the Cowboys, but all they can do is move on. I know I sound like a broken record, but it’s time for the team to learn so they can prepare for the next game at No. 14 Utah State.
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