On Wednesday, Stanford men’s basketball fell to Notre Dame on the road by a final score of 56-54. Notre Dame guard Markus Burton led the way for the Irish with 24 points and seven rebounds as the lone Notre Dame player in double figures. Stanford center Maxime Raynaud was the top performer for the Cardinal with 20 points and 10 rebounds while guards Jaylen Blakes (13 points) and Benny Gealer (11 points) finished in double figures. Notre Dame improves to 13-17 overall and 7-12 in the ACC while Stanford falls to 19-11 overall and 11-8 in the ACC.
BOX SCORE: Stanford at Notre Dame-Wednesday, March 5th
Stanford led 7-5 with 14:21 to go in the first half. Maxime Raynaud had four points for Stanford while Ryan Agarwal had three points.
Notre Dame would then lead 10-7 with 11:01 to go in the half. Notre Dame was on an 8-0 run over the last 4:20. Stanford’s offense needed to get rolling.
With 6:54 to go in the half, Notre Dame led 14-10. A 3-ball by Benny Gealer ended the drought for Stanford. Luckily for the Cardinal, Notre Dame wasn’t exactly putting up points, either.
Stanford would pull slightly ahead 17-16 with 5:01 to go in the half. Gealer was up to six points on 2-3 shooting from 3-point range. His strong shooting had carried over to South Bend.
Stanford would then lead 20-16 with 3:14 to go in the half. Gealer was up to nine points after draining a 3-pointer despite having a hand in his face. He was balling out.
At halftime, Stanford led Stanford 24-21. Maxime Raynaud (10 points & 8 rebounds) & Benny Gealer (9 points) were carrying the Cardinal. Markus Burton was leading the Irish with 7 points.
Early on in the second half, Stanford led 32-31 with 16:14 to go. Raynaud was up to 14 points & nine rebounds for Stanford. Burton was up to 15 points for Notre Dame. The Irish were hanging tough.
After a pretty hoop plus the harm by Jaylen Blakes, Stanford led 35-31 with 15:31 to go after he made the free throw.
Shortly thereafter, Stanford led 40-35 with 11:25 to go. Gealer was up to 11 points & five rebounds for Stanford after a nice transition layup. As for Raynaud, he was up to 16 points & nine rebounds.
With 8:50 to go, Stanford led 46-37. Raynaud had 18 points & nine rebounds for the Cardinal after a pretty jump hook inside. He’s so smooth inside.
Over the next 4:37, Notre Dame went on a 13-0 run to lead 50-46 with 3:43 to go. Stanford’s shot selection hadn’t been good and now Maxime Raynaud had four fouls. It was danger time for the Cardinal.
Stanford would respond as Jaylen Blakes hit a huge 3-pointer to make it a 54-52 lead for Stanford with 1:09 to go. The Cardinal were on an 8-0 run over the last 2:00.
Stanford led 54-53 with 27.8 to go as Notre Dame had the ball. Oziyah Sellers couldn’t get the turnaround jumper to fall for Stanford. It just wasn’t his night.
After a huge corner three by Cole Certa, Notre Dame led 56-54 with 4.2 to go. Stanford had the rock and needed to find a way to win the game or force overtime with their final shot. In the end, Notre Dame escaped with a 56-54 win as Agarwal couldn’t get the floater to fall to force overtime.
Stanford had their chance in this game, but their inability to close and put the Irish away did them in. Notre Dame of course deserves credit for not going down easily and for feeding off the energy from their home crowd. But still, this is a game that Stanford absolutely wishes they could have back.
Up next for Stanford is a home game against No. 14 Louisville on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 11:00 AM PT on ESPNU.
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