SETTING THE SCENE
Returning home to open its penultimate homestand, Stanford men’s basketball welcomes No. 20\/19 Clemson on Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. The contest will air on ACC Network.<\/p>\n
THE STARTING FIVE RESILIENT CARDINAL RECORD BOOK WATCH Okorie has moved into eighth in field goals made (134) and is just seven away from moving into the top five, and ninth in 3-pointers made (36), 13 away from the top five. The Stanford freshman record for free throws is nearing a change, as Okorie stands just nine away from tying Lichti’s mark of 140. He passed John Revelli (130, 1980-81) on Jan. 31 vs. Florida State.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Stanford is out to a 14-8 start, including four quadrant one NET victories and ACC wins vs. No. 14\/15 North Carolina, No. 16\/13 Louisville and Virginia Tech.
\u2022 Ebuka Okorie<\/a> ranks 10th in the country in scoring at 21.8 points per game and third among freshmen. He joins only Duke’s Cameron Boozer and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa as qualified freshmen nationally north of 21 points per night, and he was named in the top-10 rankings for national freshman of the year by ESPN, Bleacher Report, Field of 68 and Hoops HQ.
\u2022 Stanford won the Acrisure Invitational in Palm Desert with wins over Minnesota and Saint Louis, with Benny Gealer<\/a>‘s buzzer beater on Nov. 28 sending the Cardinal home victorious.
\u2022 The Cardinal will host its fourth ranked opponent in its last five home games, with Stanford 2-1 vs. the previous three. The last time Stanford hosted four ranked opponents in the same season was 2008-09.
\u2022\u00a0 Maxime Raynaud<\/a> graduated from Stanford in 2025 after posting one of the top seasons in program history, and the All-American was drafted by the Sacramento Kings in June. Stanford’s NBA alumni are shining above expectations, with Raynaud scoring 9.6 points per game, Ziaire Williams<\/a> 9.5 per game and Spencer Jones<\/a> 6.1 per game, including 33 starts. Raynaud is posting 11.3 points per game as a starter, while Jones is at 7.7 – both could be prime for larger roles after this week’s NBA trade deadline.<\/p>\n
Stanford is in the midst of a tough stretch, entering the home battle with the Tigers on a four-game skid. The Cardinal has been strong at home against ranked opponents this season, including top-20 wins over Louisville and North Carolina, while Ebuka Okorie<\/a> bounced back on Stanford’s Florida road trip with averages of 22.5 points and four assists per game. Benny Gealer<\/a> made nine combined 3-pointers against Miami and Florida State, while AJ Rohosy<\/a> scored 10.5 with two double-digit scoring performances.<\/p>\n
In a position to rewrite the Cardinal’s freshman record book, Ebuka Okorie<\/a> already ranks fifth in points, standing 15 points away from matching Casey Jacobsen (1999-00) for fourth and 19 away from Tyrell Terry<\/a> (2019-20) for third. His scoring average is on pace to top Todd Lichti (17.2, 1985-86) for the top spot.<\/p>\n