The vibes were high for Stanford men’s basketball (9-5, 1-2 ACC) as the holiday season approached, with the team sporting an impressive 8-2 record and coming off of a hard-fought 89-81 road win against bitter rivals Cal on Dec. 7.
After a ten-day break to allow for an uninterrupted finals week, Stanford returned to action and won its final home game of 2024 against Merrimack, 74-68. Though the Cardinal only prevailed by a narrow margin, the team held a comfortable lead throughout the game, utilizing the height of senior forward Maxime Raynaud and redshirt freshman forward Aidan Cammann to overpower a smaller Merrimack team.
Raynaud sealed the win with a three-pointer in the final minutes, while securing his ninth double-double in just 11 games this season.
In their following Dec. 21 contest, Stanford faced its first ranked opponent of the year in former conference foe No. 10 Oregon. The game was held in the SAP center in San Jose, providing a platform for both teams to have a statement win.
Stanford’s offense, however, was stifled by the Ducks, who ran away with a fairly uncompetitive 76-61 win. The Cardinal outscored Oregon in the second half, but had dug themselves in an insurmountable hole after two quarters with just 19 first-half points.
Despite the blowout loss, Raynaud achieved a personal milestone as he rose to 10th all-time in rebounding for Stanford with his 758th career board.
After Christmas, Stanford began conference play with two formidable road games, first against Clemson and then Pittsburgh. The Cardinal entered both contests as underdogs, and proceeded to suffer two more double-digit losses.
The Clemson defeat on New Year’s Day did not provide the start Stanford was hoping for in 2025, but some encouragement can be taken from the fact that the game was a tale of two halves. At halftime, Stanford faced a slim 43-41 deficit to Clemson — a strong team predicted in October to finish fourth in the ACC this season — but were outscored 42-30 in the second period to succumb to its second straight defeat, 85-71.
Stanford capped off its road trip in Pittsburgh, where its fortunes — much like the weather in the northeast — remained frosty. The Cardinal fell to 9-5 on the season with an 83-68 loss to Pittsburgh. Stanford shot 35% from the field, while Pittsburgh finished with a 56% field goal percentage. Stanford only had two scorers finish in double-digits, with Raynaud providing 21 points and junior forward Chisom Okpara tallying 14 points in the losing effort.
The Cardinal will look to improve its conference record and rebound at home Wednesday evening against Virginia Tech at Maples Pavilion, where Stanford holds a 7-1 record this season. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
The post Winter Woes: Stanford men’s basketball lose three straight in holiday season appeared first on The Stanford Daily.
