STANFORD, Calif. – Wrapping up nonconference action in style at Maples Pavilion, Stanford men’s basketball earned an 88-80 victory over CSUN. Stanford improves to 11-2 on the season with the result.
Ebuka Okorie led the Cardinal with 30 points, finishing 9-for-18 from the floor with four 3-pointers and eight free throws. Okorie, who broke Stanford’s freshman scoring record with 32 points on Dec. 20 vs. Colorado, is the first Cardinal student-athlete with back-to-back 30-point outings since Landry Fields on Jan. 23 and 28 in 2010. Okorie will move into the top-three in the nation in scoring with the performance.
Chisom Okpara tallied his fourth 20-point outing of the campaign, while Benny Gealer finished with 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Ryan Agarwal ended with 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds, tied with Aidan Cammann, who ended with five points and three assists. Oskar Giltay pitched in eight points and five rebounds off the bench.
Stanford scored 21 points from 15 CSUN (8-6) turnovers and held an 18-6 advantage on the fast break. With the victory, the Cardinal improves to 9-0 all-time against the Matadors while scoring its sixth-straight win over a California-based school.
Okpara scored Stanford’s first six points, but CSUN jumped out to an early lead, 29-20, with seven minutes to play in the period. The Cardinal responded with a 13-7 run, and it trailed by five at the half, 38-33.
Stanford made five of its first six 3-pointers of the second half, including two each from Okorie and Gealer, opening the period on a 13-0 run to take an eight-point lead, 46-38. CSUN responded with a run of their own, eventually tying the game at 69-69 with 7:34 to play, before Stanford took the lead for good with a 10-3 run.
The Cardinal opens ACC action at home against Notre Dame on Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 6 p.m. The contest will air on ESPN2.