Recap: Stanford Men’s Basketball powers past Oregon in exhibition
On Thursday, Stanford men’s basketball defeated Oregon in an exhibition at Maples Pavilion by a final score of 78-70. Stanford senior power forward Chisom Okpara led the way for the Cardinal with 20 points and six rebounds while freshman point guard Ebuka Okorie had 17 points on 4-9 shooting from the field and 9-10 shooting from the foul line. Oregon forward Sean Stewart (15 points & 4 rebounds) and center Nate Bittle (14 points, 8 rebounds, & 3 blocks) were the top performers for the Ducks.
BOX SCORE: Oregon at Stanford-Thursday, October 30th
Oregon jumped out to an early 12-2 lead within the first three minutes as Kwame Evans had five points. After a made jumper by Dezdrick Lindsay, Oregon was up 24-14 with 10:20 to go in the first half. All things were going Oregon’s way.
Shortly thereafter, Stanford would go on a 9-0 run to make it 24-23 with 6:48 to go in the half. Cardinal guard Benny Gealer was up to six points after making a couple of threes, all scored during that run. It was now a game.
Stanford would proceed to lead 34-32 at halftime as Okorie was up to six points following a layup to beat the buzzer. Okpara’s eight points was leading the way while guard Ryan Agarwal had six points to join Gealer. As for Oregon, Bittle’s 10 points and six rebounds was leading the way for the Ducks.
Midway through the second half, Stanford led 48-45. Okorie was starting to get rolling with 12 points. He was catching fire at a good time, showing why he won the starting point guard spot.
That would end up being the closest Oregon would get in the second half as the Cardinal found a way to fend off the Ducks down the stretch. A 3-pointer by Aidan Cammann to make it 51-45 in hindsight was huge as it gave the Cardinal a much-needed buffer after the Ducks had cut it to three points. A 3-pointer by Takai Simpkins made it a 75-70 game with 34 seconds to go, but Stanford responded with Okorie and AJ Rohosy making free throws to ice the game away for good. 78-70 was the final score.
Even though this was an exhibition, this was a nice win for Stanford. Oregon is a quality team that was in the NCAA tournament last season. To get a win over a team like that has to give Stanford a lot of confidence as they begin their regular season next week.
The two most impressive players for Stanford were definitely Chisom Okpara and Ebuka Okorie. Okpara played like a guy who is ready to be a senior leader on the team and take on a larger role than he had last year. As for Okorie, he did not look like a freshman out there. He’s looking like the real deal and a guy who might enter the ACC Freshman of the Year conversation.
Up next for Stanford is their regular season opener vs. Portland State on Tuesday, November 4th. Tipoff is set for 7:00 PM PT on ACCNX.
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