On Saturday, Stanford men’s basketball fell to Washington State on the road by a final score of 60-59. Washington State forward Andrej Jakimovski led the way for the Cougars with 17 points on 6-8 shooting from the field while forward D.J. Rodman finished with 15 points and 4 rebounds. Stanford center Maxime Raynaud was the top scorer for the Cardinal with 16 points & 8 rebounds while Harrison Ingram (14 points, 9 rebounds, & 6 assists) and Spencer Jones (14 points & 8 rebounds) also finished in double figures. Washington State improves to 9-10 overall and 4-4 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 5-12 overall and 0-7 in the Pac-12.
With 14:55 to go in the first half, Stanford was up 12-8 after Ingram nailed a 3-pointer. He was in a nice groove early for the Cardinal, giving them the kind of offensive boost that they’ve been needing from him.
Washington State would take an 18-17 lead with 10:50 to go in the half after Justin Powell made a step-back jumper. Stanford would then once again take the lead 24-18 with 8:54 to go in the half after Michael Jones nailed a 3-pointer that came after a fastbreak layup from Raynaud.
Stanford stayed in front, up 32-29 with 2:27 to go in the half. Ingram was going to work for the Cardinal with 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Stanford is a different looking team when he’s on fire and it showed in this game.
At halftime, Stanford led 34-31. Harrison Ingram was leading the Cardinal with 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists while Maxime Raynaud (8 points & 4 rebounds) and Spencer Jones (7 points & 6 rebounds) were chipping in. D.J. Rodman was leading Wazzu with 9 points.
With 15:59 to go, Washington State led 37-35. Washington State was outscoring Stanford 6-1 in the second half. Stanford was off to a frigid start coming out of halftime.
Washington State would lead 41-39 with 11:56 to go. Jakimovski was up to 11 points for the Cougars. Stanford was really struggling to score with just five points in the half.
Washington State expanded their lead 49-43 with 8:52 to go. The Cougars were starting to pull away, outscoring the Cardinal 18-9 in the half. Ingram (14 points) was yet to score in the half after having a strong first half.
To Stanford’s credit, they got back into the game a bit as it was 52-48 with 6:31 to go. Brandon Angel was up to 6 points for the Cardinal after a pretty move inside while Raynaud was up to 12 points after making a 3-pointer. As for Washington State, Jakimovski was up to 17 points after a 3-pointer of his own. The game continued to be a battle.
With 3:33 to go, it was a 54-53 lead for Washington State. Spencer Jones was now up to 12 points for the Cardinal. Both teams were playing hard. This time it was Washington State struggling to score as they had 0 points in the last 2:58.
With 40 seconds left, it was a 60-57 lead for Washington State. Stanford had the ball and called for time, hoping to tie the game or make it a one point game. Raynaud would get a bucket inside to beat the shot clock to make it a 60-59 game. Jakimovski would then go to the foul line to attempt a one--and one and miss the free throw, resulting in Raynaud rebounding the ball. Ingram would attempt a game winning jumper, but it wouldn’t fall.
Fortunately for Stanford, they would get one more trip to the plate as Ingram made the heady play to throw the ball off a Washington State player to keep possession with over 3 seconds to go. The play Stanford drew up resulted in Raynaud air balling a 3-pointer which was nearly tipped in for the win by Angel a-la NC State national championship. Angel’s tip in would instead fail to crawl over the rim, resulting in a 60-59 victory for Washington State.
For Washington State, this was a win that they’ll just be happy to take. It wasn’t pretty, but in the end they got the win and completed the home sweep of the Bay Area schools. That’s all that matters.
As for Stanford, to say this stings is an understatement. They’re 0-7 in league play and just haven’t been able to figure out how to get a win. This season has been a major bust for them. Rather than finding ways to win, they keep finding ways to lose.
At this point, all Stanford can do is not let this poor start rattle them to the point that it prevents them winning games that are quite winnable. It would be easy for them to fall apart and give up on the season, so it’s really crucial they do their best to keep sticking together and stay vigilant in making sure this season has at least some bright moments ahead.
Up next for Stanford is a home game against Oregon State on Thursday. That will tip off at 8:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks.
Note: Stanford was without Max Murrell and Ryan Agarwal due to illness (non-COVID). Their status for Oregon State is not yet known.
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