Stanford men’s basketball (19-10, 11-7 ACC) finished its home season in style with a brilliant 73-68 win against NCAA tournament contender SMU (21-8, 12-6 ACC) on Saturday afternoon. Senior forward Maxime Raynaud scored 26 points — including a slam-dunk to ice the game with seconds remaining — as the Cardinal achieved its revenge on the Mustangs, which had beaten them 85-61 during their Feb. 1 matchup.
Prior to tip-off, the Maples fans honored the outgoing trio of Raynaud, graduate guard Jaylen Blakes and graduate forward Cole Kastner, the former an integral member of Stanford’s team in the last four seasons, and the latter two crucial additions this year for their playmaking on the court and leadership off it, respectively.
“I was scared to get too emotional going into the game,” Raynaud said. “Family is not only blood; it’s also these guys.”
In Stanford’s first matchup against SMU — exactly one month before Saturday’s rematch, the Cardinal failed to impose itself and fell to a 24-point loss. This time around, however, Stanford began the game with great intensity buoyed by raucous support from the home crowd. Raynaud scored nine of the Cardinal’s first 11 points to keep the team within touching distance of a Mustangs team that started similarly fast.
A steal from Blakes at half-court and ensuing dunk forced a timeout from SMU, as Stanford took a four-point lead after eight minutes. Stanford began to find success from deep as, in quick succession, junior guard Bennie Gealer, junior forward Chisom Okpara and redshirt sophomore Ryan Agarwal all made threes to grow its lead. Meanwhile SMU became wayward with its shots, disrupted by Stanford’s defense which was bolstered by the introduction of redshirt freshman Aidan Cammann.
Gealer hit his third triple of the half to give Stanford a surprising 13-point lead. That seemed to awaken the Mustangs spirit as it was their turn to convert from deep, resulting in three-point scores on three consecutive possessions. Despite the spree of conversions by SMU, Stanford retained a 45-39 advantage at half-time in a pulsating period in which momentum swung back and forth.
Despite Raynaud converting his first three-pointer of the game, the start of the second half saw SMU reassert itself in the contest, with help from some sloppy play by Stanford. The Mustangs revived two possessions through an offensive rebound and a steal before Agarwal then turned the ball over. A three-pointer by Okpara and a dunk by Raynaud, however, reestablished the double-digit Cardinal lead and allowed the fans in Maples to breathe a little easier.
Any premature celebrations were quickly stifled, though, as a second steal in as many minutes by Mustangs junior guard BJ Edwards clawed SMU back into the game. Stanford committed a shot clock violation as nerves began to set in. Then, a series of shooting fouls against Stanford — some blatant, others more dubious — saw SMU retake the lead for the first time in 18 minutes and 40 seconds of play. The lead change cued huge cheers from the SMU bench and looked to be a watershed moment in the contest, especially given the circumstances in which the fouls were awarded.
Stanford has had a remarkable season, considering it has reckoned with a new coaching staff, conference realignment and a dire pre-season predicted ACC finish. It would have been easy to fade out of this game, given the strength of the opponent and the effort exerted thus far. This squad under head coach Kyle Smith, however, embodies fight and a ‘next-man’ up mentality, both of which were on full-display in the final 10 minutes of the game.
“It was a team effort,” Raynaud said. “The resilience we showed was awesome. [Coach Smith] did not give in.”
“We were out of sorts, [but] we tightened up and were able to persevere,” Smith added.
Gealer had finished the first-half hot but had a rough start to the second half, committing four fouls and a turnover. Nonetheless, upon losing the lead, he reignited, providing an assist to Raynaud, before scoring eight consecutive points — six from deep, as well as a layup he created. At the end of Gealer’s explosion, Stanford held a one-point lead with just three minutes left in the game.
“I’m just looking at the score and trying to win the game,” Gealer said. “I trust my shot, Maples was loud, so this was a fun day.”
The tension in the final minutes was palpable, but Stanford held on with a combination of clutch shooting and boisterous crowd support. With just a two-point lead, the Cardinal freed Agarwal for an open three. His shot missed and ricocheted off the rim, but out of nowhere, Raynaud emerged quicker than any defender to slam the ball home, effectively ending the game. SMU elected not to take a final shot with the lead insurmountable and Stanford won 73-68.
“[The dunk] felt like a movie,” Raynaud said. “It was a moment that felt scripted.”
The role the fans played in Saturday’s victory cannot be understated. The student section was on its feet throughout and fans young and old, from the court to the rafters, cheered on offense and jeered on defense in complete unison. A testament to their energy and its effect on the game was the poor performance of SMU’s imposing 7-foot-2 center Samet Yigitoglu, who was the target of many fans’ outrage after getting tangled up with Raynaud. Yigitoglu played only 3:39 in the second half, likely due in part to the hostile reception he received. At the game’s conclusion, Raynaud displayed uncharacteristic emotion, jumping into the student section to celebrate a huge win with his fans and peers.
“Our student section got bigger and bigger every [game] throughout the year,” Raynaud said. “The people in the stands were awesome, it felt like one heart rate.”
Stanford’s win felt like an accomplished end to a season of tremendous entertainment and progress. The outgoing class — Raynaud and Blakes from the starting lineup, Kastner from the bench — seemed to will the team to victory. Although the win marks the final game at Maples this season, where the Cardinal finished 9-1 in ACC play, they still have two more games on the road to wrap up the season.
Next up, Stanford faces Notre Dame (12-17, 6-12 ACC) in Indiana on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.