SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Julius Price scored 26 points in his first appearance in a Stanford uniform, but Stanford men’s basketball fell late to Santa Clara, 83-78, in a preseason exhibition game.
Price scored 26 points on 5-for-11 shooting with a 15-for-19 mark at the free throw line, and he also contributed three assists and two steals. Anthony Batson Jr. scored 16 points, including an 8-for-10 tally at the free throw line, while Christian Bliss pitched in 15 points. Austin Maurer had a team-high nine rebounds in his Stanford debut.
Stanford got to the free throw line 46 times, which would be Stanford’s most in a game since shooting 47 against Washington on Feb. 22, 2018 if the battle with the Broncos was a regular season contest. Only four freshmen tallied more than 19 free throw attempts in a game in 2025-26 across the country, one of which was Ebuka Okorie.
Santa Clara led by as many as 11 in the first half with 4:48 to play, but Stanford rallied to cut the deficit to five at the break, 37-32. Price and Bliss had 10 points apiece over the first 20 minutes to lead the way.
Continuing to get to the charity stripe in the second half, Stanford went 23-for-25 as a team over the final period. Price scored 16 of his 26 in the second half, helping the Cardinal to lead by as many as seven points with 6:52 to play, 69-62. The Broncos made a clutch 3-pointer in its last possession to secure the win.
Stanford returns to action with an exhibition game at Oregon on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 1:30 p.m. The action will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus.