Stanford’s first road test of the season sends the Cardinal to Las Vegas for a Friday night meeting with UNLV at 6 p.m. on Nov. 13. The game will air on CBS Sports Network, with the radio feed available on YouTube, Sirius XM and GoStanford.com.
The Cardinal arrive with a 3-0 record and plenty of early momentum. Three Stanford players are already averaging double figures, and five are scoring at least eight points per game.
At the center of it all is Nick Townsend, who has been the engine for this start with 22.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.7 steals per game. He is the only player nationally hitting those marks this season.
Townsend’s opening stretch has been impossible to miss. After Stanford finished an unbeaten eight days to begin the college basketball season with wins over Eastern Washington, Oakland and Rice at Maples Pavilion, he kept piling up production.
Against Oakland, he posted 25 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Against Rice, he went even bigger with 31 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
That performance helped Stanford beat Rice 91-73 and move to 3-0.
In that win, Townsend finished one point shy of his career high and became the third Stanford player in the past 25 years to record 30 points with five rebounds and five assists in a game, joining Ebuka Okorie (2026 vs. Pitt) and Landry Fields (2010 vs.
Oregon). Austin Maurer added his second-career double-double, and first in a Stanford uniform, with 14 points, a career-best 11 rebounds and a career-high-tying three steals.
Christian Bliss scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Julius Price chipped in 10 points and four assists. Stanford shot 51.2 percent in the victory.
Townsend’s numbers have also put him near the top of the ACC early. He co-leads the conference in scoring and leads it in field goal percentage at 71.0%. He also ranks 15th in rebounding, 10th in assists and seventh in steals.
There’s been a lot more going on around this Stanford team than just one hot start from its star. Kyle Smith is in his third season as Stanford’s Anne and Tony Joseph Director of Men’s Basketball, and his track record at the school keeps growing. The 2024 Pac-12 Coach of the Year guided Stanford to 21 wins in its first ACC season, the program’s most since 2014-15, then followed that with 20 wins a year ago.
The roster has also been refreshed with a highly regarded recruiting class. Stanford brought in its highest-rated group since 2023 and its fourth top-25 recruiting class since 2020. Four newcomers are ranked as top-100 prospects by at least one recruiting service, and three freshmen are already making noise on the floor: Julius Price at 11.7 points per game, Aziz Olajuwon at 8.3 and Isaiah Rogers at 6.0.
The program’s recent run has extended beyond the current roster, too. Stanford was postseason bound for the second straight season in 2026, reaching the College Basketball Crown. That marked the fifth consecutive postseason appearance for a Smith-coached team and the first time Stanford had gone to back-to-back postseason tournaments since 2012-15.
The Cardinal also sent another player to the NBA for the third straight season when Ebuka Okorie was taken by the Detroit Pistons with the 17th overall pick in the first round. He joined Maxime Raynaud and Spencer Jones in reaching the league over the last three seasons.
As for UNLV, Stanford will try to turn the page from last season’s loss to the Runnin’ Rebels at Maples Pavilion on Dec. 7, 2025.
The Cardinal are 3-2 all-time against UNLV and have beaten the Rebels in 2002, 2003 and 2014. One of those wins came on the road at the Thomas and Mack Center on Dec. 21, 2002, and Josh Childress and Justin Davis led Stanford with 21 points apiece in the 77-66 win in 2022.
In Other News...
Christian McCaffrey Headlines A Big Week For Stanford In The NFL
Christian McCaffrey kept adding to a remarkable NFL rsum in the 49ers win over the Raiders, and this time the milestone came through the air. The former Stanford star moved into the record book for receiving touchdowns by a running back, another reminder of how central he remains to San Franciscos offense and how often he turns routine touches into something historic.
It was a strong week for Stanford alums across the league, too, with several former Cardinal making their mark in different ways. Walker Little drew notice for his work up front, while a handful of ex-Stanford players were back from injury and able to contribute again, a welcome development for teams that have leaned on depth all season. For Stanford fans tracking the NFL every Sunday, it was the kind of week that reinforced just how many familiar names are still shaping games at the next level. [Read more 🡒]