After a disappointing loss last Saturday against USC (8-8, 2-3 Pac-12), Stanford men’s basketball (8-7, 3-2 Pac-12) bounced back with a 88-84 win on the road against Oregon State (9-7, 1-4 Pac-12) on Thursday. With the win, the Cardinal climb to fifth place in the conference and Oregon State falls to the near bottom of the Pac-12 standings, with only UCLA behind them.
The Cardinal were without injured graduate student guard Jared Bynum, whose 6.5 assists per game rank in the top 10 nationally in Division I. Bynum’s injury opened the door for freshman guard Kanaan Carlyle’s first career start. Carlyle earned national player of the week honors after his 28-point performance against Arizona last month.
The Cardinal got off to a scorching start from the 3-point line, making their first four attempts on the way to a 20-14 lead with 12:57 remaining in the first half. Graduate student guard Michael Jones, coming off a career-high 23 points against USC, nailed his first three attempts beyond the arc.
But the Cardinal were not able to create much separation, as Oregon State sophomores Michael Rataj and KC Ibekwe kept the game close with their 10 combined points. Oregon State dominated inside the paint in the first half, which was capped off by a buzzer beater from star sophomore guard Jordan Pope that propelled Oregon State to a 39-34 halftime lead.
The Cardinal looked to retake the lead after halftime, but a quick 7-0 run from Oregon State left Stanford facing a double-digit deficit. However, timely defensive and offensive plays kept the Cardinal within striking distance, and a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Benny Gealer trimmed the deficit to 5 with 6:40 remaining. Free throws from freshman guard Andrej Stojakovic a minute later made it a single possession game with the score sitting at 60-62.
Stanford and Oregon State traded baskets, and the Cardinal found themselves down 69-70 with just under two minutes left. The Cardinal finally jumped ahead 71-70 after a layup from fifth-year forward Spencer Jones at the 1:23 mark. Both teams continued taking turns scoring, but Stanford had the final possession with the chance to break the 73-73 tie. Carlyle attempted a floater in the remaining seconds, but it failed to fall, and the contest headed to overtime.
In overtime, with the game knotted at 76-76 and under three minutes left, senior forward Brandon Angel buried a clutch three-pointer. That was followed by a tough fadeaway jumper from Carlyle to give the Cardinal an 81-76 lead with 1:54 remaining. Oregon State proceeded to foul their way back into the game, but the Cardinal were able to ice the game at the free throw line, earning them the impressive 88-84 comeback win.
Carlyle led the way for the Cardinal with 22 points, while Angel and sophomore center Maxime Raynaud followed with 19 and 18 points respectively. Raynaud also grabbed 13 rebounds, seven more than any other Stanford player.
Stanford now turns their attention to Sunday’s home matchup against the Utah Utes (12-4, 3-2 Pac-12). Stanford will be heavily tested against a very good Utah team that just handed UCLA their second-largest margin of defeat in program history, 99-44. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. PT on Jan. 14.