Stanford Basketball Stumbles Against Pittsburgh

It was a tough trip for the Cardinal, but they will now get to come home and redeem themselves.

Dec 21, 2024; San Jose, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal forward Maxime Raynaud (42) during the second half against the Oregon Ducks at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The change of conference has caused some serious growing pains for the Stanford Cardinal (9-5, 1-2 ACC). In what was the second and final game of their first ever East Coast ACC road trip, the Cardinal once again fell short, falling 83-68 against Pittsburgh at Peterson Events Center in what was only the fourth all-time meeting between the two schools.

Star center Maxime Raynaud put together another jaw-dropping performance, adding onto his historic campaign, scoring 21 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field. But a strong showing in the second half by the Panthers offense proved too much for the new-look Cardinal to handle.

Entering the contest top-10 in the nation in both scoring and rebounding, Raynaud dropped his ninth 20-point game of the season and has shown why he is one of the best players in the country.

Starting off fast against Pittsburgh (12-2, 3-0 ACC), the Cardinal were able to go on a 14-2 run up to the first media timeout to take an 18-9 lead. During this time, Raynaud was the star of the show, scoring 11 out of Stanford's first 20 points while having 14 points in the first half, but unfortunately, Pittsburgh's offense got hot as the first half ended, ending it on a 20-5 run and taking a 38-30 lead into the break.

Using the momentum they gained to end the first half, the Panthers started the second half just as fast, scoring eight quick points before taking over the game and never looking back. Shooting 56% in the second half, Pittsburgh outscored the Cardinal 45-38 which ultimately led to the 15 point victory.

While Raynaud was the Cardinal's top player in the game, other notables for Stanford include Chisom Okpara, who dropped a season high of 14 points off the bench, Jaylen Blakes (8 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) and Oziyah Sellers (8 points).

The Cardinal will use this road trip as a learning experience and will look to grow from it when they return home to Maples Pavilion for their next contest on Wednesday, Jan. 8 against Virginia Tech. The game is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. (PT) and will air on the ACC Network.