PHOENIX – Led by a dominant performance from freshman Ebuka Okorie, Stanford men’s basketball rolled to a 77-68 victory over Colorado in the Hall of Fame Series Phoenix at Mortgage Matchup Center. Stanford improves to 10-2 on the season with the result, marking its best start since going 15-2 in 2019-20.
Okorie broke the freshman scoring record with a career-best 32 points, going 6-for-13 from the floor with a pair of threes and an 18-for-21 mark at the free throw line. He broke the freshman record previously held by Kanaan Carlyle, vs. Washington State on Jan. 18, 2024, and his 18 free throws are the second most in a single game by any player in program history, trailing only the 19 by Reid Travis on Dec. 3, 2016 vs. Kansas. He ties Todd Lichti for second on the free throws made list, with Lichti making 18 against UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 28, 1987.
Benny Gealer scored 13 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, while Chisom Okpara added 11 with five rebounds. Oskar Giltay has eight points and five rebounds, finishing a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor. Stanford forced 18 Colorado turnovers and collected 14 steals, led by three apiece from Gealer, Ryan Agarwal and Aidan Cammann. Stanford had 14 steals for the second time this season, also securing 14 vs. Montana on Nov. 8.
The first neutral site meeting with Colorado since 1951-52, and a throwback to a conference battle in the Pac-12, Stanford improves to 3-0 in neutral site events, and 4-0 away from home this season, marking the first time Stanford has three neutral site wins in a season since 2022-23 and the first time with three regular season neutral site wins since 2020-21.
Stanford and Colorado (10-2) played a back-and-forth first half with seven ties and six lead changes. Okorie scored 13 of Stanford’s first 20, while Gealer and Agarwal ended the half with 3-pointers to tie the game at 33-33 with two minutes to play in the period. Colorado led at the intermission, 35-33.
The Cardinal took the lead with a 10-2 run to open the second half, with four different players contributing field goals, and it would never relinquish that advantage. A 14-1 run spanning nearly five minutes gave Stanford a 15-point lead, 59-44, with 7:58 to go, and Stanford led by as many as 16 with six minutes to play. Okorie and Gealer each made four free throws down the stretch to close out the victory.
Stanford concludes nonconference action on Saturday, Dec. 27 at 5 p.m. against CSUN. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.