BERKELEY, Calif. – Taking the court in the first Big Game of the season, and in its inaugural Atlantic Coast Conference opener, Stanford men’s basketball rolled to an 89-81 victory over rival California. Stanford improves to 8-2 this season and 1-0 in the ACC.
Five players finished in double figures for Stanford, led by 20 points apiece from Jaylen Blakes and Maxime Raynaud. The 20-point game was the seventh of the season for Raynaud. Blakes also fished six assists and blocked two shots, while Raynaud recorded a career-best five blocks. Oziyah Sellers chipped in 16 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, while Ryan Agarwal and Chisom Okpara had 11 points apiece.
Efficient offensively, Stanford shot 52.6 percent from the floor for the game, including an 11-for-23 (47.8%) mark from beyond the arc and 18-for-20 (90.0%) showing at the free throw line.
Stanford’s defense at the rim was elite, with the players combining for 13 blocks. The 13 blocks were the most for the Cardinal since blocking a program-record 19 shots on Jan. 25, 2007 against USC. Tallis Toure added a career-high three blocks while Aidan Cammann had two and Agarwal one.
The Cardinal led from start to finish, and it jumped out to an early 9-2 lead after two minutes. After pushing the advantage to 11, 24-13, California (6-3, 0-1 ACC) responded with a run to tie the game at 29-29. Undeterred, Stanford closed the half on an 18-2 run, including two triples apiece from Blakes and Sellers, to lead at the half, 47-31.
Stanford led by as many as 20 in the second half, but Cal closed a late gap as low as six points with 32 seconds to go. Stanford made 14 of 16 free throws in the second half to secure the victory.
After a break for finals, Stanford returns to non-conference action on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. against Merrimack at Maples Pavilion. The action will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.