Stanford Wins Thriller Against Minnesota in Acrisure Series

While many were sitting around on Thanksgiving night eating dinner and hanging out with family and friends, Stanford basketball was hard at work, participating in their first game of the Acrisure Series. For all of those that had other plans on Thursday, they certainly missed a thriller of a game down in Palm Desert.

Coming into the game, both Stanford and Minnesota hadn’t had the strongest years. Minnesota struggled against mid-majors and had been dominated by power conference opponents.

Without Dawson Garcia, the Gophers struggled to maintain star power and depth. After losing Maxime Raynaud, Stanford also wasn’t expected to have a great year, but a 4-0 start said otherwise. That was until a home loss to Seattle ended all momentum.

Stanford started strong in this one, going up 13-7, but Minnesota certainly responded, going on a 17-1 run to lead 24-14 with just under seven minutes to play in the first half. The score stayed stable until halftime, and although the Cardinal somewhat came back, they still trailed 34-31 at the break, and going on a quick 6-0 run before the half.

Stanford’s strong early second half helped the Cardinal take a solid lead, with Benny Gealer hitting the game-tying and the go-ahead three pointers early in the second half. The Cardinal would remain in front, but Minnesota wouldn't let them get too far ahead.

The Golden Gophers surely stuck around throughout the night. In the final minutes, both teams played the foul game, with free throws going both ways. There were a total of 36 free throws in the game, with eight (six for Stanford, two for Minnesota) coming in the last minute and a half.

Minnesota was within two with under five seconds left, and they ended up sending Ebuka Okorie to the line. He stepped up, hit two free throws, and sealed the deal in Palm Desert, 72-68. With the win, Stanford is back on track and will be advancing to the championship game.

Okorie was the star for the Cardinal once again. He put up 25 points and made plays on both sides of the ball to contribute to the win. Although the points may not show around the rest of the roster, everyone made hustle plays, making steals, drawing fouls, and getting big rebounds. The stat line doesn’t show how much of a team effort this win was.

Minnesota’s top two players of Cade Tyson and Jaylen Crocker-Johnson combined for 42 and took 56% of the teams’ shots. Outside of those two, Minnesota wasn’t able to do much, contributing to the loss.

This certainly was a huge bounce back win for Stanford, and now they have another chance to get even better. The Cardinal take on Saint Louis on Friday at 4PM PT, hoping to win their bracket in the Acrisure Series. Minnesota will take on Santa Clara in the third place game at 6:30 PT.

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