CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Wrapping up its first road trip to the East Coast this season, Stanford men’s basketball fell to No. 23/23 Virginia, 70-55, at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cardinal moves to 13-4 this season and 2-2 in the ACC.
Benny Gealer led the Cardinal with 15 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, and added four rebounds and a game-high three steals. Ebuka Okorie finished with 14 points and six rebounds, while eight players scored on the afternoon for the Cardinal.
With four free throws in the game, Okorie passed Tyrell Terry in Stanford’s freshman history for fourth all-time. He joins Todd Lichti, John Revelli and Brevin Knight as Cardinal players to make at least 100 free throws in their freshman season,
The Stanford defense held Virginia (14-2, 3-1 ACC) to a season-low 70 points, which is also 10 points lower than its previous low total at home this season (vs. Maryland, Dec. 20).
The Cardinal led early, 7-4, led by five early points from Gealer. The Cavaliers led by as many as nine in the first half, 21-12, with 9:52 to play, but Stanford responded with an 18-10 run to cut the deficit to just one point with 3:30 to play. Virginia scored the final five points of the opening half, and lead at the intermission, 41-34.
Oskar Giltay got the second half off to a fast start with a quick basket, plus the foul, but Stanford’s shooting went cold as Virginia pushed the margin to double digits. Stanford ended the game on a 9-2 run, but Virginia earned the result on its home court.
Stanford returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 6 p.m. at Maples Pavilion against No. 17/17 North Carolina. The action will be broadcast on ACC Network.