Stanford MBB Must Fix Rebounding Problem Before ACC Play

Stanford men's basketball opened its season with a 74-65 win over Eastern Washington on Monday night, giving Kyle Smith the 300th victory of his career and the program its 17th straight opening-night win.

Julius Price scored 17 points, five Cardinal players reached double figures, and Stanford closed the game on a 10-0 run after Eastern Washington took a 65-64 lead with 2:45 left. It was a good night in most ways. The rebounding was not.

The Eagles outrebounded Stanford 32-26, and they did it without starting guard Andrew Cook, senior guard Tavi Jackson and redshirt freshman forward Alan Gballou. Alton Hamilton IV had 20 points and nine rebounds by himself, three more than Nick Townsend's six boards, and Eastern Washington shot 43% while still hanging around late.

This is not a new problem. Stanford also lost the board battle 38-33 in its exhibition at Santa Clara, a trend that matters because rebounding was one of the weaker areas of last year's team.

The Cardinal had ways to cover for it. Stanford shot 28-of-51 from the field (55%) and made 13-of-17 free throws, outscored Eastern Washington 44-22 in the paint and turned 13 Eagle turnovers into 25 points.

The comeback was real, too. Stanford trailed 28-15 with just over six minutes left in the first half, then finished the half on a 19-2 run to lead 34-30. All of that was enough against a short-handed opponent. It is a thin margin against an ACC team that can score in the paint and keep possessions alive.

The roster was built to fix this. Smith brought in Austin Maurer, a 7-footer, to go with Townsend and Aidan Cammann, who had 13 points and four rebounds, and freshman Drew Anderson adds size to the rotation.

One game does not say whether that group can hold up over a full season, and the box score does not isolate what each big man did on the glass. What it shows is that the team as a whole was beaten there by a program from a much smaller conference.

The fix will not come from the bigs alone. Guards have to box out and chase long rebounds, and Stanford has to be disciplined about defending the first shot so the second does not become a problem. Smith's offense has plenty of ways to score. The question is whether the defense can finish possessions.

ACC play is still about two months away, which leaves time to settle it. Stanford has now shown it can win a game while losing the rebounding battle. Doing it against better teams is a different bet.