Stanford Follows Okorie's Lead to Massive Road Win Over Virginia Tech

Sometimes you watch a player, and are just shocked. Their ability to score, defend, and do everything well is something you have never seen before, almost like watching something foreign to you. Welcome to the Ebuka Okorie experience.

On Tuesday night, the Stanford Cardinal travelled East to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies in an ACC battle early in the new year. Coming in, the Hokies looked like favorites, due to the simple fact that Stanford had heavily struggled on the East Coast in their first season in the ACC.

However, they built some big time momentum with a win over No. 16 Louisville before leaving home, proving that they have it in them to get a big victory. On Wednesday night against the Hokies, the Cardinal showed that they've learned a couple of things over the course of the season when it comes to closing games out.

Stanford began the game as slow as a snail. They couldn’t score, defend, or do anything well on the court. The Hokies got out to a quick 12-5 lead, courtesy of Nikolas Avdalas. While Stanford fought back, no player was able to take over, and their scoring by committee attempt didn’t provide enough in the first half.

At halftime, the score was 31-24, Virginia Tech. Defensively, the Cardinal played well overall, but offensively, it looked like a mimic of their embarrassing performance against Notre Dame in which they put up just 40 at home.

In the second half, things didn’t change too much, at least at first. Stanford continued to allow Avdalas to cook offensively, and couldn’t get points back. However, that's when Okorie started to get going. Later, they would realize that this would change the game.

With just 3:36 left in the game, Stanford trailed 65-52, and had just a 1.5% chance to win. Benny Gealer began a quick run by hitting a three. Okorie followed with a layup, then a free throw, bringing the Cardinal within single digits.

At the 1:40 mark, Okorie scored a layup off a turnover, and then with 1:09 left, Okorie knocked down another three to bring Stanford within four, 67-63. Their next possesion, Okorie fed Donavin Young for a three of his own, pulling the Cardinal within a single point with 28 seconds remaining.

The Cardinal fouled, putting Avdalas at the line, and he would split the pair. Stanford trailed by two points with 16 seconds left and the ball. Of course they got it to Okorie to bring down the court, and there was nobody else that was going to take that final shot.

He sized up deep in three point range, and pulled up for one of the biggest shots of his young career.

Splash.

Okorie had given the Cardinal the lead with three seconds to play, but Tech wouldn't even get a shot off before the horn sounded. With the victory, Stanford has won their second East Coast road game in two seasons of bring in the ACC. They have also won back-to-back contests in conference play, taking this one by a final of 69-68.

Okorie led all scorers, putting up a ridiculous 31 points with 6 assists. Just incredible numbers for a freshman, and he's making these performances look routine at this point. He has put up 30+ in three of his last five games, and two of those have come in conference games.

Young, coming off the bench, put up a big 11 points as the second-leading scorer for the Cardinal, proving that his injury didn’t stunt his growth at all. Gealer’s 9 points helped Stanford down the stretch as well.

Virginia Tech was led by Avdalas, who put up 21 points in the loss, dominating for the Hokies. Despite an off-night, Amani Hansberry still contributed for Tech, putting up 11 of his own.

Stanford now has another big road test against No. 23 Virginia on Saturday monring. But this time, the Cardinal are going in with confidence, momentum, and can potentially upset all the Cavalier fans in Charlottesville on Saturday.

Recommended Articles: