Stanford gets another shot at building momentum Monday night when Rice visits Maples Pavilion, with the Cardinal trying to keep their perfect start intact.
The teams haven’t met since Nov. 30, 2003, and Stanford enters at 2-0 after opening the season with wins over Eastern Washington and Oakland. The first game was tight early, with the Cardinal holding only a 34-30 halftime edge before pulling away. Julius Price paced Stanford with 17 points, and Yale transfer Nick Townsend added 12 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Townsend took center stage in Friday’s 81-63 win over Oakland, delivering 25 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals in a dominant performance at Maples Pavilion. Christian Bliss, another transfer, chipped in 17 points and eight rebounds, while returning forward Aidan Cammann finished with 13 points. Aziz Olajuwon added six points and six rebounds after going 2-for-5 from beyond the arc.
"Including our exhibition (games), I thought that was our best team effort," Stanford coach Kyle Smith said after the win against Oakland.
"We're trying to form an identity. We've gone through the discovery phase.
Every year we've added eight new guys, and every year is going to be different. But (tonight) it felt like we were locked into our roles and what we do, and kind of established things...
(The Golden Grizzlies) are really good. They know what they're doing.
They played really well against Michigan. They had 21 offensive rebounds, so we were a little concerned because of our lack of rebounding.
And our guys really responded."
Rice arrives at 1-1 and is still looking to find some consistency after a split start. The Owls opened with a 100-55 win over Dallas Christian College, with Jacob Dar putting up 20 points and eight rebounds.
Their second outing was much tighter. Rice fell 72-71 at home to East Texas A&M on Thursday, despite Dar’s 13 points and seven rebounds, Jaxson Thompson’s 14 points and Jimmy Oladokun Jr.’s team-high eight rebounds.
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Stanfords 2-0 Start Comes With One Clear Challenge
Stanfords early-season momentum kept building with an 81-63 win over Oakland University, a result that pushed the Cardinal to 2-0 and offered another look at how quickly this roster is taking shape. The transfer additions have already started to matter, with Nick Townsend and Christian Bliss giving Stanford a lift in scoring and on the glass as the team continues to sort out its identity under Kyle Smith.
Even with the comfortable margin, Smiths attention after the game stayed on the habits that will matter once the schedule stiffens. He praised the effort and the way the group is developing, but the next step is cleaner execution, especially when it comes to limiting turnovers and avoiding unnecessary fouls. [Read more 🡒]
Stanford Heads To Blacksburg With Its Season Suddenly On The Line
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The challenge now is turning that into wins away from home, something Stanford has not done in a long time. A victory in Blacksburg would give the Cardinal a real foothold in the race for bowl eligibility, and with two of the final three games still ahead, the margin for error is suddenly very small. [Read more 🡒]