On Thursday, No. 7 Stanford men’s basketball fell to No. 2 Louisville in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina by a final score of 75-73. Louisville guard Chucky Hepburn hit the game-winning jumper for the Cardinals, finishing with 20 points & eight points while Louisville guard Terrence Edwards, Jr. led all scorers with 25 points. Stanford wing Oziyah Sellers was the top performer for the Cardinal with 22 points, four rebounds, and three assists while center Maxime Raynaud fouled out with 17 points and five rebounds.
VIDEO: Stanford Postgame Press Conference: Louisville-ACC Tourney
BOX SCORE: Stanford vs. Louisville-Thursday, March 13th
“That was obviously a heartbreaking loss for us. But when you give your best, you can never be that disappointed,” Stanford head coach Kyle Smith said after the game. “I felt like our guys really did give their best. Not everyone played their best, but to be on a back-to-back night against a ranked team that beat us five days earlier and for us to go up 15, and we had a lot of momentum and we're playing well and knew good teams with those guards are going to make a run, and we withheld it.
“They took the lead, we came back, tied it up and actually got the stop to give ourselves a chance. We're probably going to overtime, but obviously, they made a heck of a play there at the end. I was trying to get a time-out, but it was probably too late. Good win for them.”
Stanford led 7-6 with 14:46 to go in the half. Stanford was on a 7-0 run over the last 2:15. Maxime Raynaud (4 points) and Oziyah Sellers (3 points) were on the board for the Cardinal.
Stanford would then lead 9-6 with 11:39 to go in the half. Aidan Cammann was now on the board for the Cardinal after a nice bucket inside. That made it a 9-0 run for the Cardinal.
With 7:41 to go in the half, it was tied 13-13. Stanford was shooting just 1-6 from deep, yet they found themselves tied. Stanford would finish the half strong to lead 33-30 at halftime. Maxime Raynaud (11 points & 4 rebounds) and Oziyah Sellers (10 points) were leading the way for Stanford. Terrence Edwards Jr. was in double figures for Louisville with 12 points.
Stanford came out of the gates hot in the second half, leading 46-37 with 15:39 to go. Ryan Agarwal rattled home a 3-pointer getting a fortuitous bounce. Raynaud (14 points) and Sellers (13 points) were leading the way for Stanford. Raynaud was in foul trouble with three fouls, but his teammates had picked up the slack.
Stanford would expand their lead to up to 15 points as they led 52-37 with 14:32 to go. Stanford was outscoring Louisville 19-7 in the second half so far. Sellers was up to 17 points and four rebounds for Stanford on 6-10 shooting from the field, 3-5 shooting from 3-point range, and 2-2 shooting from the foul line. He was cooking.
Louisville would soon start to climb back into the game as it was now a 57-46 lead for Stanford with 11:44 to go. Raynaud now had four fouls, forcing him to sit on the bench. Sellers was up to 20 points after making a huge 3-pointer on a catch and shoot. Chisom Okpara had seven points for Stanford after a huge jump hook off the glass.
In a matter of minutes, the game would be tied 60-60 with 7:23 to go. Raynaud was back on the floor for Stanford with four fouls and up to 17 points and five rebounds after making a huge 3-pointer. Louisville definitely had the momentum at this point.
With 3:50 to go, it was still tied 65-65. Benny Gealer picked the right time to drain his first three of the night for Stanford. Terrence Edwards Jr. (25 points) and Chucky Hepburn (17 points) had led the comeback for Louisville.
Louisville then led 70-65 with 3:05 to go. Stanford called for time as Raynaud picked up his fifth foul, ending his night. This looked like the end for Stanford and their stay in the Queen City.
To Stanford’s credit, they didn’t give up, finding a way to tie up the game 73-73 with 27.7 to go thanks to a 3-pointer by Agarwal, two free throws from Sellers, and a 3-point play by Okpara. It looked like this game might be heading to overtime.
Unfortunately for Stanford, things didn’t go that way as Louisville missed a shot only for it to be rebounded by Chisom Okpara who then tried to throw an outlet pass only for it to accidentally go right to Chucky Hepburn who had a clear look at the basket from around the foul line. Hepburn would sink the jumper to beat the buzzer, making it a 75-73 victory for Louisville. Stanford’s ACC tournament ended in heartbreak.
“I just saw what was -- I thought Chisom a big time play will. Or they got both hands on a rebound. I could see there was traffic, and I was just thinking, stop the play,” Smith recalled of that final sequence. “There was time, and I think Chisom was trying to -- I haven't seen it yet. I have no idea. But a guy made a shot. Pretty impressive.”
First, hats off to Louisville for pulling this game out. They showed why they are a top-15 team in the nation and the No. 2 seed in the ACC tournament. They came back from 15 points down and showed a lot of fight to pull in front and then credit to Chucky Hepburn for making that game-winning shot. He had a clean look, but still. It can be easy to miss a shot like that when the game is on the line.
“First thing I want to say is, I want to acknowledge Kyle and his team at Stanford. They played a whale of a game. That was a heck of a college basketball game,” Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey said. “We just played them a week ago, maybe less than that, and give them a lot of credit for how they responded to that loss, the adjustments they made, how hard their kids played. They played their hearts out. They competed. They deserve a lot of credit. I wanted to say that first and foremost.
"Obviously, being down 15 points with 11 to play is the epitome of your back's against the wall, and I've been saying all year long how lucky I am to have such a veteran-laden team, so much leadership within our team. I didn't have to say much in the huddle. How these guys responded to that adversity was amazing, and I'm very, very, very proud of them.”
Switching gears to Stanford, this loss stings because of how close they came to reaching the semifinals of the ACC tournament. The painful lesson from this game is you can’t get into foul trouble and expect to win. Once Maxime Raynaud fouled out, Stanford was pretty much doomed. Had they gone to overtime, they likely would have faded with Raynaud on the bench. Of course, they’d still like to see how things would have played out had they gone to overtime.
At this point, all that Stanford can do is shake this game off and get ready for the NIT. Given the way they played against Louisville, they should feel like they have a chance to make some noise provided they don’t let this loss sit in their minds. They just have to push this out and hit the reset button in their next tournament.
“Once again, I think Oziyah is going to be a little bit different, but for me, it's just continue this legacy I've had for four years at Stanford,” Raynaud said looking ahead to the NIT. “It's our first 20 season win since I've been here, trying and extend it a little bit, and set the foundation for what is to come for all the juniors, sophomores and freshmen. Obviously, for Coach Smith, for the entire staff, for the university as a whole.
“And once again, we're competitors. We love what we do. If we can play as much basketball as you can with your boys and go on the road or do it at home, it's always a blessing. I hope we all can embrace it the right way.”
“Yeah, for myself, I feel the same way. No matter how many games or what tournament we're playing in next, if we've got another game, we're going to come back and give it our all,” Sellers echoed. “No matter where we're playing, we're going to do the same thing we do every night, come out and compete.”
On that note, the NIT bracket should be revealed on Sunday shortly after the NCAA tournament field is announced. It’ll be interesting to see what draw Stanford gets. Games will begin Tuesday March 18th/Wednesday March 19th.
Connect with CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), & Blue Sky: @StanfordRivals
Connect with Ben Parker on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), & Blue Sky: @slamdunk406
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
