PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – Sophomore KZ Okpala scored Stanford's first seven points, en route to a game-high 22 as the Cardinal cruised past Middle Tennessee, 67-54, Friday at Imperial Arena to place seventh in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
Okpala navigated through early foul trouble that forced him to the bench midway through the first half and opened the second half with nine of Stanford's first 13 points of the period as the Cardinal (3-3) began to extend its advantage. The sophomore, who posted his third 20-point game of the season, was 7-of-14 from the field overall with a pair of threes.
The Cardinal, which had cold shooting nights in its previous two Battle 4 Atlantis tournament games, was hot from beyond the arc early on. Seven of Stanford's nine first-half field goals were threes.
After taking a 32-23 lead into the break, Stanford stretched is lead early in the second. Okpala made an acrobatic spin move in the paint for a layup to give the Cardinal a 43-29 lead with 14:46 remaining.
Stanford went up by as many as 18 in the second half, when Cormac Ryan connected on a baseline jumper with six minutes to go. Middle Tennessee responded with a 9-2 run to cut it to 58-58 with 3:05 to go. That was as close as the Blue Raiders would get, as Stanford remained in control for the double-digit victory.
Lost in Okpala's 22-point performance was another solid all-around game from fellow sophomore Daejon Davis. He was one point shy of a double-double, with nine points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Ryan added nine points and a career-high eight rebounds for the Cardinal.
The Stanford defense forced 22 Middle Tennessee turnovers, recording 12 steals in the win.
Antonio Green led Middle Tennessee (3-4) with 21 points.
Stanford heads back to the United States on Saturday, where the Cardinal will host Portland State at Maples Pavilion Wednesday (Nov. 28) at 7 p.m. at Maples Pavilion.