TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Wrapping up its road trip to the state of Florida, Stanford men’s basketball fell on the road to Florida State, 88-80, at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center. Stanford drops to 14-8 this season and 3-6 in the ACC.
Ebuka Okorie led the Cardinal with 26 points, including 23 in the second half, to go with four assists. Benny Gealer scored 12 points, including four 3-pointers, while AJ Rohosy and Donavin Young were in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Oskar Giltay stuffed the stat sheet with four points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
Okorie continued his ascent through the Stanford freshman record book in a variety of categories, moving into eighth in field goals with 134, passing Brian Welch, Johnny Rogers and Kim Belton, and into ninth on the 3-pointers made list with 36, tying him with Harrison Ingram. Additionally, he passed John Revelli for second with 131 free throws made, moving just nine away from matching Todd Lichti for the Cardinal freshman record, and tied Bryce Wills for 10th with 29 steals.
The Cardinal made 12 3-pointers on the night and held a 24-10 advantage in bench scoring, but Florida State (10-12, 3-6 ACC) held a 18-9 advantage in points off of turnovers and enjoyed a large advantage at the free throw line.
Stanford led early by as many as five points, 16-11, after 3-pointers from Gealer and Jeremy Dent-Smith, who finished with seven points. The Seminoles took the lead with 7:28 to play in the first half as part of a 13-2 run, and it led at the half by eight, 41-33.
Florida State pushed the edge as high as 19 points with 9:46 to play, but Stanford showed its resilience to get back in the game. Okorie scored 12 straight points to help cut the margin to 13, 79-66, while a fastbreak scoop and score from Jaylen Thompson brought the game back to single digits, 83-74, with 1:59 to play. Ultimately, there were too few possessions remaining, and Florida State survived the run to win the game.
The win was the first in the series history for Florida State in three attempts.
Stanford returns home to Maples Pavilion to face No. 22/19 Clemson on Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. The action will air on ACC Network.