Protecting its perfect record, Stanford men’s basketball (7-0, 0-0 Pac-12) overpowered Oklahoma (5-1, 0-0 Pac-12) 73-54 in the semi-final round of the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Missouri. The Cardinal also served the Sooners their first loss of the 2019-20 season.
Stanford’s 7-0 start to the season is the best the program has seen in 11 years — since the 2008-09 season in which the Cardinal tallied 10 straight wins before falling to Arizona State 60-90 in the conference-play opener. That team ultimately lost 12 more before the season concluded, and closed the year 22-13 overall.
The 2008-09 season marked the 20th time in program history that the Cardinal had reached 20 wins in one season, and it earned then-head coach Johnny Dawkins the title of Stanford’s winningest first-year head coach. Having lost twins Brook and Robin Lopez to the NBA draft after the previous season, senior Anthony Goods became a key to the Cardinal’s success. Goods finished the year with ten 20-point games, and had at least 10 points in a whopping 30 games.
Fast forward 11 years, and current freshman Tyrell Terry seems to be following Goods’ example. Against the Sooners, the guard netted seven buckets from the field and four from the foul line en route to a 20-point offensive performance. It is the third time in seven games Terry has tallied 20 points or more, and the seventh time he has reached double-digits in scoring. The 6’1″ guard also snagged 11 rebounds — 10 of which came on the defensive side of the action — in his second double-double of 2019.
Sixteen of the freshman’s points came in the first half, with 9 being added to the Cardinal side of the scoreboard before the Sooners’ score moved from 0. Stanford opened the game with a 17-0 run, and it wasn’t until almost six minutes into play that a jumper from Oklahoma’s Austin Reeves got the Sooners on the board. Despite the eight unanswered Sooner points that followed, Stanford managed to maintain a 13-point lead heading into halftime and ultimately stretched the difference to as much as 24 before the final buzzer solidified the Cardinal win.
The victory over Oklahoma earned Stanford a spot in the championship game against the Butler Bulldogs (6-0, 0-0 Big East). Tipoff is set for Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. PT at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
Contact Savanna Stewart at savnstew ‘at’ stanford.edu.