Stanford Men's Basketball Continues Strong Play Against ACC

The Stanford Cardinal men's basketball team dominated the game on Saturday, defeating a visiting University of Virginia 88-65, which is one of their biggest wins of the season. They also defeated Denver by 23 to begin the season, along with Cal State Fullerton and Northern Arizona by 27 and 26, but this win is against another ACC school.
With the victory, the Cardinal are now 11-5 on the year (3-2 in the ACC) and have won two striaght in conference play, also defeating Virginia Tech earlier this week at Maples.
Head coach Kyle Smith's "nerd ball" is certainly working at Stanford.
NBA draft prospect Maxime Raynaud put together yet another double-double, scoring 24 points with 10 rebounds--four of them on the offensive end--along with three assists. Raynaud came into the game leading the ACC in points scored (311) and points per game (20.7), and this performance should keep him there.
Raynaud also leads the ACC in rebounds per game at 8.2, nearly a full board per game better than second place, which is held by Clemson's Ian Schieffelin (7.4). He just dominates the game on both ends of the floor, which is why he'll get some attention from NBA teams in the coming months.
The bench reaction said it all 💥@J4YThompson dunked over TWO guys! #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/T5WBXSBqj2
— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) January 12, 2025
Jaylen Blakes came into this one ranking fifth in the conference in assist to turnover ratio (2.4), and had three of each in against the Virginia Cavaliers, a blip for him. He ended the game with ten points in 30 minutes, along with three steals.
Oziyah Sellers went 3-fot-6 from three, collecting 15 points, second on the team in this one.
It was the bench that really came up big on Saturday, with Benny Gealer scoring six points, but putting up a +23 in his 26 minutes on the floor, and Aidan Cammann's nine points and +19 in 12 minutes that were unsung contributions to this win.
As a team, Stanford had 34 total rebounds and 16 assists, with six coming from Ryan Agarwal, eight steals, and just six turnovers. If you're wondering what "nerd ball" looks like, that will give you a pretty good idea. It's about taking care of the basketball and making positive plays when you're on the court. On Saturday, that was a common theme up and down the Cardinal bench.
The offense shot 51% from the field, including 42% from beyond the arc. Stanford out-rebounded Virginia 34-23, including 14-6 on the offensive glass, and scored 22 points off turnovers, compared to Virginia's four.
While there is still a lot of season remaining, and quite a number of tough conference matchups to go through, a team performance like this is one that really makes it look like the Cardinal men's team could be NCAA tournament bound for the first time since 2013-14. That team went 23-13, which is a .638 winning percentage. This year's team is currently at a .688 winning percentage, so it's certainly possible.
The next game for the men's team will come on the road against Wake Forest on Wednesday, January 15. The action will air on ESPNEWS at 3:30 p.m. PT.