When developing an article for Saturday’s men’s collegiate basketball matchup of former Pac-12 rivals Colorado and Stanford, it appears the two schools have some common ground in the lead-up to their confrontation.
With the Buffs winning the last seven games versus the Cardinal to take an 18-11 lead in the series, the two teams will meet at 6 p.m. at the Mortgage Matchup Center in the first of two games in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Series event in Phoenix. The second contest pits top-ranked Arizona against San Diego State.
Here are common opponents on the CU and Stanford schedules.
- Both schools have defeated Montana State and Portland State from the Big Sky Conference at home this season.
- The Buffs opened the season with an 84-78 win over Montana State and posted an 84-73 victory over Portland State on Wednesday, before no fans due to high winds in Boulder.
- The Cardinal opened their season with an 89-79 win over Portland State and then scored a 77-68 victory over Montana State eight days later at their Maples Pavilion.
- Both schools competed in the Acrisure Holiday Classic in Palm Desert, Calif., on November 27-28.
- The Buffs posted wins over San Francisco (79-68) and Washington (81-68) in the Southern California resort spot.
- The Cardinal defeated Minnesota (72-68) and Saint Louis (78-77) in Palm Desert.
- Both schools are led in scoring by freshmen – CU’s Isaiah Johnson and Stanford’s Ebuka Okorie.
- Okorie ranks as the third leading freshman scorer in the country for the 9-2 Cardinal with 189 points (21.0) average. He has not played in the last two Stanford games and is listed day to day.
- Johnson is the 17th-leading frosh scorer with a 15.2 average for the 10-1 Buffs, as he has not started a game this season and averages 25.4 minutes off the bench.
- In wins over Montana State and Portland State, Johnson scored 44 points with three rebounds and five assists.
- Okorie scored 47 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and handed out four assists in the Portland State and Montana State contests.
While a majority of the fans attending Saturday’s game in Phoenix will be there to watch the nation’s top-ranked team, this scribe will be there to watch two similar teams play in a series that was once tied at 11 before CU’s string of victories in Pac-12 play.
Here are the nation’s top freshman scorers in NCAA Division I.
