On Saturday, Stanford men’s basketball fell to SMU on the road by a final score of 85-61. SMU center Samet Yigitoglu (17 points & 7 rebounds), guard Kario Oquendo (16 points), forward Matt Cross (16 points & 8 rebounds), and guard Boopie Miller (10 points & 10 assists) led the way for the Mustangs while Stanford guard Oziyah Sellers (19 points & 6 rebounds) and center Maxime Raynaud (18 points & 10 rebounds) were the top performers for the Cardinal. SMU improves to 17-5 overall and 8-3 in the ACC while Stanford falls to 15-7 overall and 7-4 in the ACC.

BOX SCORE: Stanford at SMU-Saturday, February 1st

Stanford was without starting guard Jaylen Blakes due to a head injury and starting forward Donavin Young due to a lower leg injury, making them shorthanded for this contest. Given the importance that those two have, especially Blakes, Stanford was in for an uphill battle to say the least.

With 15:25 to go in the half, it was tied 5-5. Maxime Raynaud had all five points for Stanford after nailing a triple to go along with a couple of rebounds. It was clear that Stanford was gonna go to him frequently in this one.

SMU then went on a 9-2 run to lead 14-7 with 12:00 to go in the half. Raynaud still had five points. Others needed to get rolling for the Cardinal. As for SMU, Matt Cross was up to eight points as he was in a nice flow.

From there, things started to really get out of control as SMU led 27-9 with 9:14 to go in the half. Stanford called for time as SMU was on a 16-2 run. Stanford was shooting 24% from the field while SMU was shooting 50%.

SMU would lead 36-13 with 3:52 to go in the half. Stanford continued to build a house of bricks, shooting 5-26 from the field while SMU was shooting 12-23. Raynaud was up to nine points and six rebounds for Stanford, doing his part. He was the only guy who was showing up for the Cardinal.

SMU would lead 45-25 at halftime. Cross and Oquendo each had 12 points for the Mustangs while Raynaud had 15 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinal. Stanford didn’t have much life at this point as Raynaud was not getting nearly enough help.

SMU would lead 53-34 with 16:34 to go as Raynaud was up to 18 points and eight rebounds while Oziyah Sellers had 10 points. Stanford was trying desperately to dig out of the hole, but SMU was still in firm control.

SMU continued to roll as they led 64-37 with 12:24 to go. The Mustangs were on a 9-0 run after a dunk by Oquendo. It was just not Stanford’s night.

With 8:02 to go, SMU led 78-43 as they were on a 7-0 run. Oquendo and Yigitoglu each had 16 points for the Mustangs, doing their part to keep their team in front.

From there, SMU would cruise to victory as 85-61 was the final score. Without Blakes and Young, Stanford just never was able to settle in. Blakes in particular was a big loss as his calming presence in the backcourt was sorely missed.

At this point, all that Stanford can do is just flush this one out and move on. They’ll get a chance to get even with SMU at Maples Pavilion later this season and use this game as motivation. They need to regroup and hope that they can get healthy as quickly as possible.

Up next for Stanford is a home game against Wake Forest on Wednesday, February 5th. Tipoff is set for 8:00 PM PT on ESPNU.

CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), & Blue Sky: @StanfordRivals

Ben Parker on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), & Blue Sky: @slamdunk406

Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com

Join the conversation on CardinalSportsReport.com