CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Stanford men’s basketball earned its third victory of the season over rival California, 78-73, in the second round of the ACC Tournament. The Cardinal improves to 20-12 this season, marking the program’s first 20-win campaign since 2019-20.
The three-game sweep of Cal is the first for the program since 1962, as Stanford improves to 4-3 all-time against the Golden Bears in a conference tournament. The Cardinal has won five straight games with the Golden Bears, marking the first 5-0 stretch since winning six in a row from March 8, 2003-Jan. 13, 2006.
Maxime Raynaud led the Cardinal with 23 points and eight rebounds, helping the Paris native tie Anthony Brown ’15 for 12th place on Stanford’s all-time scoring list. Raynaud also passed Tim Young ’00 on the list in the game, and he moved into sole possession of third place on Stanford’s all-time rebounds list, passing Kim Belton ’80.
Jaylen Blakes finished with 21 points, six assists and three steals, while Oziyah Sellers and Chisom Okpara were also in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Stanford finished the night shooting 50.9 percent from the floor and 52.4 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (11-for-21).
The Cardinal made eight of its 12 3-point attempts in the first half, helping lead the Cardinal to a six-point edge at the break, 38-32. California (14-19) led by as many as eight in the first half with 10:34 to play, but Stanford ended the half on a 24-10 run.
The second half included four lead changes and four ties. Stanford trailed by four points with 7:05 to play, but a 5-0 run from Blakes gave the Cardinal back the lead. Twice in the last 2:05, Stanford took the lead with a clutch 3-pointer. First, Sellers gave Stanford a 68-66 advantage, and second, Gealer hit an NBA-range three to give Stanford a 71-68 lead. After a chase down block by Raynaud on a Cal 3-point attempt, Okpara closed the game with five points in transition to secure the win.
The meeting was the fourth against Cal in a conference tournament game in the past six seasons, while Stanford has ended the Cal season in each of the last two years. The battle in Charlotte was the easternmost matchup in series history, besting the 1990 Pac-12 Tournament matchup in Tempe, Arizona, while the contest was the first ‘Big Game’ in any sport in the eastern time zone since field hockey played Cal in the 2012 NorPac Tournament in Farmville, Virginia.
The tournament’s seventh seed, Stanford will face second-seeded No. 13/13 Louisville on Thursday, March 12 at 7 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2.