Stanford Whiffs at Florida State, Loses Fourth Straight

Stanford's hopes of making the NCAA tournament are fading fast

Jan 31, 2026; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles guard Lajae Jones (10) drives the ball past Stanford Cardinal guard Ryan Agarwal (11) during the first half at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images | Melina Myers-Imagn Images

Coming into Saturday’s matchup, Stanford had just one goal in their mind: Win. Now, of course that’s the goal in every game, but this weekend’s game felt much different given the freefall that the Cardinal season is in, making the stakes of this game that much higher.

Stanford began their season 14-4, playing solid basketball most nights, getting impressive wins, and showcasing themselves multiple times on national television. It almost seemed as if Stanford would break their 12-year streak and make NCAA tournament.

The morning of January 17th, Stanford fans were hyped, as they were about to host No. 6 Duke for one of the biggest games in school history. Two weeks later, their season is on the verge of being over amidst a trail of losses.

Stanford lost to Duke that day by 30, followed by losing to Cal by 12 on their home floor, then blowing a lead at Miami earlier this week. At that point, a game vs 9-12 Florida State turned into one of the biggest ones of the season.

Both the Seminoles and Cardinal came into the game hot offensively, combining for 44 points in the first 10 minutes of the game. But it was the standout performance from Lajae Jones that helped Florida State build an early lead in Tallahassee.

With about a minute left in the first half, Thomas Bassong took it to the rack to increase the Noles lead to eight. Those became the final points of the half, as Florida State led 41-33.

It seemed like a motivating halftime speech would be needed to get the Cardinal back into the game. Unfortunately for them, the second half didn’t go their way either, as it was another dominating period by the Seminoles on their home floor.

Florida State built a double-digit lead, and continued to feast on the Cardinal defense as if it was Thanksgiving. An Alex Steen dunk with 11:38 to go built the Noles lead to a game-high 19 points.

Ebuka Okorie fought all the way until the end, helping Stanford stay in the game, but the attempted comeback came up too short, with the Seminoles winning by eight, 88-80.

Okorie led the game in scoring with 26 points, with the majority of his production coming in the second half. AJ Rohosy’s back-to-back consistent games helped the Cardinal on the inside, while Benny Gealer lit it up from beyond the arc for a second straight game.

Donavin Young also reached double digit points for the second time this season, scoring 10 (had 11 against Virginia Tech), and also tied his season high with 29 minutes on the floor. He also recorded 29 minutes against Cal last week.

For Florida State, it was Chauncey Wiggins who dominated, scoring 23 for the Noles. Their top scorer for the season, Robert McCray V, had 19 of his own, while Jones put up 18 himself after excelling in that first half.

Stanford now heads home for a two game home stint against No. 22 Clemson and Georgia Tech. While two wins will certainly be tough, to say Stanford needs both games to go their way would be an understatement. They have to rebuild their March Madness resume, and it has to start immediately.

Florida State travels up north to South Bend, taking on Notre Dame on Saturday, before playing both Virginia ACC schools the following week.