STANFORD, Calif. – Sending out its senior class with a win on Senior Day, Stanford men’s basketball earned a 73-68 victory over SMU on Saturday at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal improves to 19-10 on the season and 11-7 in the ACC.
Maxime Raynaud led the Cardinal with 26 points, to go with four rebounds and four blocks. The senior from Paris went 11-for-20 from the floor for his 17th 20-point outing of the season. Raynaud moved into fourth place on Stanford’s single-season rebound list with 316 this year, and he moved within 10 rebounds of fourth place on Stanford’s career rebound list.
Benny Gealer added 17 points and three assists, going 5-for-6 from beyond the 3-point arc, while Oziyah Sellers was also in double figures with 10 points. The Cardinal finished the afternoon at 54.5 percent from the floor and 45.8 percent from beyond the arc.
Stanford has a 16-2 record (9-1 ACC) at Maples Pavilion, marking its most wins at home since 2014-15 and its best home winning percentage since 2007-08, when the Cardinal was 16-1 at home (8-1 Pac-10).
The Cardinal got off to a strong start against SMU (21-8, 12-6 ACC), taking a five-point lead through nine minutes off the back of 11 early points from Raynaud. Gealer hit a trio of triples in the first half, helping Stanford to a 43-30 lead with 2:03 to play in the period, and Stanford led at the intermission, 45-39.
Raynaud scored nine of Stanford’s first 12 points in the second half, helping the Cardinal to a 57-47 lead with 14 minutes to play. SMU responded with a 13-0 run to take the lead 60-57, with 9:54 to play, and the Mustangs led by as many as five points with 7:42 to go. The Cardinal regained control after back-to-back 3-pointers from Gealer, and the point guard later gave Stanford back the lead, 69-68, with a layup with 3:18 to go. Sellers pushed the lead to three with a jumper while Raynaud provided the dagger with eight seconds left, scoring a tip jam to send Maples Pavilion into jubilation.
Stanford returns to action on Wednesday, March 5 at Notre Dame. The tip is set for 6 p.m. PT on ESPNU.