On Wednesday, Stanford men’s basketball defeated Wyoming 66-63 in their first game of the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii. Stanford senior forward Jaiden Delaire (17 points & 7 rebounds) and junior forward Spencer Jones (15 points & 6 rebounds) led the way for the Cardinal while Wyoming sophomore forward Graham Ike (25 points & 11 rebounds) and senior guard Hunter Maldonado (18 points, 5 rebounds, & 8 assists) were the top performers for the Cowboys. Stanford improves to 7-4 overall (1-1 Pac-12) while Wyoming falls to 9-2 overall.

Wyoming got out to a 6-4 lead with 15:32 to go in the half. Jaiden Delaire was leading the Cardinal with 4 points. It was a rough shooting start for both teams. Wyoming was shooting 3-8 from the field while Stanford was shooting 2-9.

Stanford freshmen Harrison Ingram and Maxime Raynaud would get into foul trouble early, each picking up two personal fouls within the first few minutes of the game. Despite this, Stanford led 16-6 with 11:46 to go in the half as they were on a 12-0 run over the last 3:45. Brandon Angel (5 points) and Noah Taitz (4 points) were in a nice groove.

Stanford would continue to lead 26-17 with 7:09 to go in the half. Delaire’s 6 points and 4 rebounds was leading the Cardinal. Stanford was out-rebounding Wyoming 16-9. That was making a real difference.

With 2:58 to go in the half, Stanford was up 31-26 as Wyoming was starting to come back. The Cowboys were on a 7-0 run over the last 2:00. Stanford hadn’t scored in the last 2:22, needing to get some buckets to close the half.

At halftime, Stanford led 35-30. Delaire was leading the way for the Cardinal with 11 points and 4 rebounds while Ike was leading the Cowboys with 11 points and 3 rebounds. Stanford was hoping to get more out of Harrison Ingram in the second half and have him avoid further foul trouble.

Stanford continued to lead at the start of the second half, leading 38-32 with 16:00 to go. It was icy shooting from both teams as Stanford was shooting 1-6 from the field while Wyoming was shooting 1-4. Stanford had a chance to pull away a bit.

Instead, the game remained tight as Stanford led 45-41 with 11:50 to go. Five quick points from Spencer Jones was much needed to keep the Cardinal in front. He was up to 7 points. As for Graham Ike, he was up to 17 points for Wyoming. Really balling out.

Wyoming would take the lead 54-52 with 6:09 to go after a 3-pointer from Xavier DuSell. Ike was in foul trouble (21 points, 10 rebounds, & 4 fouls). Stanford had to capitalize on his absence. Spencer Jones would soon get a bucket inside to make it a 54-54 game with 5:39 to go. He was up to 11 points and continuing to have a big game.

It continued to be a back and forth game as Stanford led 58-54 following another bucket from Jones only for Maldonado to strike back for Wyoming with a 3-point play. It was now 58-57 with 4:29 to go.

Thanks to a couple of clutch baskets from Michael O’Connell and Spencer Jones, Stanford led 62-57 with 2:01 to go. Now it was just a matter of finishing the job and closing the door on the Cowboys.

With 1:06 to go, Stanford led 62-61. Graham Ike just got a huge bucket inside for Wyoming to make it a one point game. The game was going down to the wire.

Thanks to a clutch rebound from Jaiden Delaire that led to two made free throws, plus Michael O’Connell and Harrison Ingram each going 1-2 from the foul line, Stanford would lead 66-63 with 10.3 to go. Ingram had an amazing rebound off a Michael O’Connell free throw miss that led to his two free throws, but he wasn’t able to knock both of his foul shots down. This left a window open for Wyoming.

Wyoming would almost give the game away with a bad inbounds pass, but they kept possession and were able to inbound the ball in again. With this second chance at life, Wyoming would get two cracks at it from deep, but weren’t able to get one to drop. As a result, Stanford escaped with a 66-63 win.

For Stanford, this was a gritty, tough win and one that was well earned. Spencer Jones’ play really made the difference. He was making threes and more impressively making tough baskets inside. He did it all in terms of showcasing his scoring prowess and did so under pressure. Jaiden Delaire also stepped up in crunch time and just in general, it was a good all-around team win. It was also Stanford’s first win away from home, so that’s something that should feel good for them as well.

Up next for Stanford will be a game against Liberty in the semifinals of the Diamond Head Classic on Thursday, December 23rd. That game will tipoff at 1:00 PM PT on ESPN2 and Cardinal Sports Network radio.

On Liberty: The Flames are now 8-4 following their 76-74 victory over Northern Iowa in the quarterfinals. They are 1-1 against high major opponents, losing 74-58 at LSU and winning 66-45 at home against Missouri.

Senior guard Darius McGhee is dangerous. He’s averaging 19.8 points per game on 44.9% shooting from the field, 36.6% shooting from 3-point range, and 78.8% shooting from the foul line. Redshirt senior guard/forward Keegan McDowell is having a solid year of his own, averaging 11.3 points per game on 49.4% shooting from the field, 46.2% shooting from 3-point range, and 85.7% shooting from the foul line.

As a team, the Flames are averaging 70.3 points per game on 47.0% shooting from the field, 36.6% shooting from 3-point range, and 68.1% shooting from the foul line. They also average a +3.3 rebound margin, 14.0 assists, 6.7 steals, 2.1 blocks, and 11.7 turnovers per game. Their opponents average 56.8 points per game on 37.4% shooting from the field, 31.2% shooting from 3-point range, and 71.9% shooting from the foul line.

Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do to beat Liberty is contain McGhee. They have to make sure he doesn’t get going. If he starts to heat up, the Flames will have a chance to win this game.

Secondly, Stanford needs to feed the hot hand. It seems like it’s a different guy every night for Stanford that’s stepping up and getting rolling. Against Wyoming it was Spencer Jones, but against Liberty it could be Noah Taitz or somebody else. Stanford has to make sure that whoever is in the groove and heating up is getting the touches they need.

Finally, Stanford needs to keep the 3-ball dropping. When Stanford is making their threes, they’re a pretty good team. When the 3-ball isn’t dropping, they tend to struggle a lot more. As has been said many times, they got the shooters. They just need to make sure they’re getting good looks and those looks are falling.

Prediction: I got Stanford winning this game 69-62. I think they’ll have a little easier time against the Flames than they did with Wyoming. I also expect Harrison Ingram to have a bounce back game and make more of an impact. Stanford is the better team on paper and I expect the end result to reflect that.

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