Recap: Stanford Men’s Basketball cruises past Montana
On Saturday, Stanford men’s basketball defeated Montana 91-68. Stanford freshman point guard Ebuka Okorie led the way for the Cardinal with a career-high 29 points and four rebounds on 11-16 shooting from the field, 2-5 shooting from 3-point range, and 5-6 shooting from the foul line while senior guard Benny Gealer (13 points), redshirt sophomore center Aidan Cammann (12 points), and graduate student forward AJ Rohosy (12 points & 8 rebounds) finished in double figures as well. Oakland native Money Williams was the leading scorer for the Grizzlies, finishing with 19 points and 7 rebounds, putting up a strong performance in his return to the Bay Area. Stanford improves to 2-0 overall, receiving a vote in the latest AP Top 25 poll. Montana falls to 2-1.
BOX SCORE: Montana at Stanford-Sunday, November 9th
“Really felt good about the way we played today,” Stanford head coach Kyle Smith said after the game. “That was a good team. Picked to win the Big Sky. Really well coached and I thought we did a nice, got off to a good start, knew they wouldn’t go away and we did a much better job defending the three, which has always been something we pride ourselves on. We took better care of the ball. They’re not necessarily going to turn you over that much. That’s not necessarily their identity. But they’re tough, they’re strong, they’re used to winning, and we only turned it over five times and got a lot of contributions, being a little shorthanded from some other guys that will really bode well for us in the future. Excited. That was a really good win for us.”
Stanford got off to a hot start, leading 9-0 with 16:16 to go in the first half. Aidan Cammann made a 3-pointer while Chisom Okpara, Ebuka Okorie, and AJ Rohosy each had two points. Montana would go on a 9-4 run to make it 13-9 with 12:05 to go in the half as Brookyln Hicks had five points off a second chance layup and three free throws after getting fouled while attempting a 3-pointer.
Montana would continue to claw back in the game, getting down by just two points with 6:47 to go in the half as the score was now 20-18. Te’Jon Sawyer was up to six points for the Grizzlies. He was doing a good job of getting buckets inside.
With 4:00 to go in the half, Stanford led 27-20. Okorie was up to eight points on 4-5 shooting from the field. Stanford was shooting 12-26 from the field while Montana was 8-16. At halftime, Stanford would lead 35-25 as Okorie’s eight point was leading the way. Gealer was up to seven points, doing a good job of giving Okorie some help. As for Montana, Hicks had eight points of his own.
With 15:59 to go, Stanford led 47-38. Okorie now had 13 points for the Cardinal on 6-10 shooting from the field. He was balling out once again. Rohosy was also starting to get going for the Cardinal with eights points and seven rebounds after a nice slam inside. He was strong in the paint.
Stanford would lead 69-57 with 7:32 to go. Okorie’s 22 points led the way for the Cardinal while Rohosy was up to 12 points and eight rebounds. Cammann was in double figures for the Cardinal as well with 10 points.
“He’s just got a, such a good motor,” Smith said of Rohosy. “He’s a straight identity guy. He’s another guy that’s gonna get better. I mean, that’s a big adjustment he’s making from Division 3 to Division I, but he’s, as you can tell, he’s a high major athlete. He’s our quickest front court guy, he’s our best jumper, most explosive guy, he finally broke through, got a dunk. He should have had another lob. We whiffed that one. That kind of bummed me out. That was one of our turnovers.
“But if that was right, he’ll have, I think he’ll have some plays that are just, he’s out in front of everybody and just throw it up there and he’ll get a couple of those, but just, like, when we signed him, I think, just read the quote, he’s been delivering on everything. He’s an identity guy. He just gives you some just, hey this is Stanford basketball and this is AJ Rohosy coming at you.”
“Yeah, you know, that’s always just been something that I’ve, you know, taken pride in is just working hard and playing as hard as I can and it usually pays off for me,” Rohosy said of his motor. “So I just try to play as hard as I can and usually works.”
Okorie would get to 29 points with 4:53 to go after making his second 3-pointer of the night. Stanford now led 81-61. Montana never really threatened in the second half as Stanford did a good job of putting them away.
“I mean, he was pretty awesome today,” Smith said of Okorie. “It’s hard to pick at things, you know? He just works at it, doesn’t turn the ball over, he guards, he can really shoot, and I just think he’s gonna get better. Now as we get into ACC, he’s gonna get a lot of different coverages on scouts. He’s gonna have to learn. But he’s a weapon and if we get a rebounder, he gets a rebound, and it’s not a better feeling as a coach with him, the ball in his hands. So good things are happening. And it’s usually him at the rim, so just enjoy and you know, keep working. I don’t know what to tell you. It’s almost a flawless game.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s easy,” Okorie said of his hot start to the season. “Like I said earlier, just like taking what the defense gives me, whether it’s like driving, getting a layup, kicking to my teammates, just whatever it is to win.”
In the end, Stanford would win 91-68 as freshman forward Kristers Skrinda was up to seven points, getting going a bit with a couple of nice baskets inside plus a 3-pointer. It was nice for Stanford to see him come alive.
“He’s been a guy that’s been really, he’s been steady in practice,” Smith said of Skrinda. “We just have a lot of front court guys and we didn’t have, Oskar was out, Evan was out, who else was out? Whatever it was, oh Ryan. Right. We didn’t have Ryan. I lose track of them. Donavin’s out. And he’s, gives us a different way to play. As far as like he’s a big 4-man. A little like Aidan in the sense, he’s, can move his feet, he can guard, he did a great job on the glass, he hit a three, but he’s just an awesome attitude. If you ever get a chance to meet him, he’s an absolute light bulb. Such a team guy, he’s an easy guy to root for. The locker room was just fired up for him getting his chance.
“I kind of wasn’t, I really wasn’t worried. Because he played one of the scrimmages, too. And he did a good job and it’s just, hadn’t had a lot of opportunities to get to him, but I think he really did, did nice work for himself and 10 minutes, that’s great and we was three for four from the field and plus five and his 10 minutes out there, so that’s kind of exciting.”
Overall, this was a good win for Stanford. Montana is the defending Big Sky champs, fresh off a trip to the 2025 NCAA tournament. To beat them so resoundingly has to feel good. Especially since they were a bit shorthanded as Ryan Agarwal, Oskar Giltay, Donavin Young, and Evan Stinson were all out. Past Stanford teams might have struggled under such circumstances, but this year’s squad firmly took care of business.
“They’re an established program,” Smith said of Montana. “I know Travis [DeCuire] has been there just over ten? I’m thinking, I don’t know, I can’t keep track. Those are hard. As I said, they got pride, they got legacy, they got tradition. It’s even before, Coach Montgomery disciple; those are good wins and to be able to separate, they’re hard to separate from those teams. They’re used to winning and I was most excited that we were able to kind of put some distance from them and that, made a couple threes and that helped a lot.”
To touch more on Okorie, it really is amazing what he is doing. To come in as a true freshman and already be averaging 27.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game is just crazy. It’ll be fun to see how he continues to progress as the season goes on.
“I would just say, staying consistent, starts with like my daily habits, whether it’s like shooting, getting extra shots up, just like bringing it every day in practice,” Okorie said. “Just stuff like that and it’s showing out on the court.”
As for Rohosy, he does not look like a guy who was playing Division III basketball a year ago. He seems settled in and really has done a great job of stepping up and proving that he belongs at this level.
“Yeah, you know, it’s a lot different I’d say with the athleticism and style of play,” Rohosy said of returning to the Division I level. “But I played for the same coaching staff back at Washington State, so kind of being around the same staff who support me and my teammates who support me has been super helpful for this jump. So, it’s been super exciting. I’m glad to here for my final year.”
Up next for Stanford is a home game against Montana State on Wednesday, November 12th at 7:00 PM PT on ACCNX.
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