SETTING THE SCENE
After a thrilling victory over No. 14/15 North Carolina on Wednesday, Stanford men's basketball welcomes No. 6/6 Duke on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 3 p.m. on ACC Network.
THE STARTING FIVE
• Stanford is out to a 14-4 start, including four quadrant one NET victories, marking its best start since 2019-20. Stanford has ACC wins vs. No. 14/15 North Carolina, No. 16/13 Louisville and Virginia Tech.
• Ebuka Okorie ranks fifth in the country in scoring at 22.9 points per game and second among freshmen. He joins only Duke's Cameron Boozer and BYU's AJ Dybantsa as freshmen nationally north of 20 points per night. Chisom Okpara is averaging 13.9 points per night, which ranks 23rd in the ACC.
• The Cardinal has earned a pair of ranked ACC victories to open 2026, against No. 16/13 Louisville and No. 14/15 North Carolina. Stanford has won four consecutive ranked battles at Maples Pavilion, and it is set to face a third-straight ranked opponent at Maples with the visit from the Blue Devils.
• Stanford won the Acrisure Invitational in Palm Desert with wins over the Gophers and Billikens, with Benny Gealer's buzzer beater on Nov. 28 sending the Cardinal home victorious.
• Maxime Raynaud graduated from Stanford in 2025 after posting one of the top seasons in program history, and the All-American was drafted by the Sacramento Kings in June. Raynaud, Brook Lopez, Spencer Jones and Ziaire Williams have each scored 20 or more in the NBA since Dec. 1. Raynaud is averaging 10.5 points per game, improving to 12.6 points per night in his 19 starts, while Jones has started 25 of his 36 appearances for the Denver Nuggets this season.
BROKE HIS OWN RECORD
Ebuka Okorie's freshman scoring record lasted just 26 days before he surpassed it again. The dynamic freshman poured in 36 points against No. 14/15 North Carolina on Jan. 14, finishing 12-for-20 from the floor with three triples and nine free throws. Okorie has four 30-point contests this season, each in the last seven games. His 36 points against the Tar Heels are tied for 15th-most in program history, and they were the most for a Stanford player since Chris Hernandez had 37 against UCLA in 2005.
ON THEIR TAR HEELS
Stanford downed North Carolina, 95-90, behind 36 points from Ebuka Okorie, but it also got 20 points apiece from Ryan Agarwal, a career-high, and Jeremy Dent-Smith, a season-high. Agarwal made five 3-pointers and Dent-Smith had six, helping Stanford to a 16-for-28 mark in the game, tied for the second most made 3-pointers in program history. Stanford had three players with at least 20 points for the first time since Jan. 24, 2015 vs. Arizona State, when Anthony Brown, Chasson Randle and Stefan Nastic all eclipsed the 20-point threshold.
RANKINGS REPORT
Stanford is facing the third of three consecutive ranked opponents when it faces No. 6/6 Duke on Saturday. Stanford is 2-1 this season against ranked opponents, downing No. 16/13 Louisville on Jan. 2 for the first ranked win of the Kyle Smith era and No. 14/15 North Carolina on Jan. 14. Stanford is 4-8 in its last 12 ranked games, including a 4-0 mark at home and two top-five wins, both over Arizona. Stanford's last stretch of five straight home wins against ranked opponents was from March 8, 2003-Jan. 29, 2006. Stanford is in the midst of a stretch of four ranked teams in five games, marking the first for the program since March of 2008.
BLOCK PARTY
Meet us at Maples for a pregame block party before the Card battles Duke, featuring food trucks, music, and beer and wine at the outer west plaza. Plus, enjoy an in-venue shirt giveaway while supplies last!