Stanford Basketball Hangs on to Beat Syracuse

Another big night from the Stanford Cardinal has them sitting pretty in ACC play. In what was a dominant display on Wednesday night, Stanford (15-6, 7-3 ACC) continued its strong showing at Maples Pavilion, taking home the 70-61 win over Syracuse (9-12, 3-7 ACC) to remain undefeated at home this year in conference play.
Recording his nation-leading 17th double-double of the season, Maxime Raynaud once again shined for the Cardinal as he led the way with 21 points and 15 rebounds, also adding on three assists and three steals. With his rebound total, Raynaud moved into the top five in program history for career rebounds, surpassing guys like Dwight Powell and Mark Madsen.
Starting the game fast, the Cardinal began on a 25-2 run over the first 9:05 of the game, including a 17-0 push at the very beginning. Raynaud got his double-double in the first half when he scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
By the time the first half was over however, Syracuse had started to find a rhythm and began to chip away, going on a 22-8 run to end the first half and cutting the Stanford lead to 33-24.
But once the second half started, Stanford turned it up one more level, shooting 50% from the field, which eventually led to the Cardinal extending their lead to 14 with just over 11:00 minutes left in regulation. While the Orange kept fighting, cutting Stanford's lead down to only six, Stanford's 10 second half free throws helped them close things out.
In earning the win, the Cardinal have started 12-1 at home for the first time since the 2011-12 season. Also, the Cardinal have now won six of their last seven, a feat that they haven't accomplished in conference play since 2008. Duke is the only other ACC team that has at least 12 home wins so far this season.
Other notables for Stanford in the game include Jaylen Blakes (14 points, six rebounds), Oziyah Sellers (10 points), Benny Gealer (10 points) and Ryan Agarwal (nine points). Outrebounding Syracuse, Stanford also won the turnover battle, scoring 19 points off off Orange turnovers compared to them only scoring 14 points off of Stanford turnovers.
Next up for the Cardinal is an away game against SMU on Saturday, Feb. 1, where the Cardinal will hope to keep adding to their winning streak. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. (PT) and will air on the ACC Network.