Maxime RaynaudMaxime Raynaud
Bob Drebin/ISI Photos
Men's Basketball

Men’s Basketball Rides Early Run to Down Syracuse

Raynaud led the Cardinal with 21 points and 15 rebounds

STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford men’s basketball continued its unbeaten start to ACC play at Maples Pavilion, downing Syracuse, 70-61, on Wednesday night. The Cardinal improves to 15-6 this season and 7-3 in the ACC.

Maxime Raynaud led the Cardinal with 21 points and 15 rebounds, along with three assists and three steals. The double-double was his nation-leading 17th of the season, and the big man moved into the top-five in program history in career rebounds. Raynaud passed Dwight Powell '14, Mark Madsen '00 and Howard Wright '89 to move into the top five. The 20-point outing was his 13th of the campaign.

Jaylen Blakes finished with 14 points and six rebounds, while Oziyah Sellers and Benny Gealer scored 10 points apiece and Ryan Agarwal had nine. Stanford won the battle on the glass and scored 19 points from 14 Syracuse (9-12, 3-7 ACC) turnovers.

The win gave Stanford its first 12-1 start at home at Maples Pavilion since 2011-12, a season in which the Cardinal went on to win the NIT. It was also Stanford’s sixth win in the last seven games, marking the first time Stanford has accomplished the feat in conference play since 2008. The Cardinal matched only Duke in the ACC with 12 home wins this season.

Stanford opened the game on a 25-2 run over the first 9:05 in the first half, including a 17-0 run to start the contest. Raynaud had a first half double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, but Syracuse managed to close the gap to single digits at the half, 33-24, after a 22-8 run of its own.

The Cardinal shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half, leading by as many as 14 points with 11:25 to play. Despite Syracuse cutting the deficit to just six points, Stanford made 10 second half free throws to close out the win.

Turning the calendar to February looking to build on its four-game winning streak, Stanford travels to SMU on Saturday, Feb. 1 for a 3 p.m. PT tip on ACC Network.

Highlights vs. Syracuse

Press Conference vs. Syracuse