Stanford Sneaks by Montana State in a Surprisingly Close Contest

On Wednesday night, Stanford basketball took on Montana State in a non-conference battle. Going into the game, the Cardinal were heavy 14.5 favorites, and had a great chance to come out victorious. But this game didn't end up being so easy.

Stanford took the lead early, courtesy of Benny Gealer and Ebuka Okorie, but as the game went on, the Bobcats weren’t going away. The Cardinal led at the half 36-31, but the lead wasn't as secure as expected, and that was evident in the second half.

Montana State took the lead around the 13 minute mark, and all of a sudden it looked like the Bobcats could actually win, spoiling Stanford's perfect season. In fact, they even led by six points and had a 71% chance to win per ESPN at that point. It was at this point that the Cardinal began to come back.

Okorie, a freshman, took over the game late and dominated. The depth that had been somewhat non-existent for Stanford turned into players like Oskar Giltay making huge impacts late in the game. And when the horn sounded, Stanford came out with the victory, 77-68. The final score may have been what was expected, but the journey to that end point was more of a rollercoaster.

The three stars of the game were obvious. Okorie, truly took the game over. His 21 points were his season low, but that just shows what an amazing player he is and highlights the incredible start he's off to in college.

Gealer was also hot, going for 16 points on 4-of-6 from three. His ability to get hot from deep is a nice feature for the Cardinal offense. And finally, Chisom Okpara had 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. It looks like we will be seeing games like this often from the trio, who have dominated early this season.

But outside of the top guys, there was not much from the depth. Bench players went just 1-of-15 for 4 points. It raises some questions about the depth of the group, which has been seen as a positive for the program, but there will be many more opportunities this season.

The Bobcats were led by six guys who had 8 points or more. All five starters, Christian King, Chris Hodges, Cavin Holden, Jed Miller, and Patrick McMahon had solid games, while Davian Brown came off the bench to contribute as well.

It surely wasn’t the game Stanford was hoping for, but a win is a win, and showing true character is important early in the season. Now, the Cardinal have a week-long break before playing Louisiana next week, where they hope to continue their undefeated reign and prepare for feast week.