On Saturday afternoon, Stanford hosted Virginia in a massive matchup for the Cardinal season. Going into the game, Stanford was tied for 7th place in the ACC, sitting at 2-2, while Virginia sat at 12th.
Just before tip off, it was announced that true freshman Donavin Young would be starting for the Cardinal, despite barely being a part of the rotation up to that point in the season. The great performance on Wednesday convinced Head Coach Kyle Smith to make the adjustment.
On the first play of the game, Young was found in the corner for a massive three pointer, proving his spot in just seconds. Just a few minutes later, Young cut backdoor and received the ball for an emphatic dunk.
Throughout the first half, the game was narrow, with neither team able to pull away. With 3 minutes to go in the half, the Cardinal led 29-28, but then things started to go great for the Cardinal.
Benny Gealer and Ryan Agarwal hit back to back threes to increase the lead, then followed by more baskets, Stanford led by 7 with just 3 seconds left. Virginia had the ball, but it was quickly stolen by Jaylen Blakes, who took it down the other way and hit an unbalanced three to increase the lead to 10!
In the second half, they rode the momentum to increase their lead much more, bringing it up to 17 at one point.
Virginia started to inch back late, but huge baskets from Maxime Raynaud helped keep the lead for Stanford.
The final score was 88-65, Stanford.
Raynaud led the charge for Stanford, finishing with another stellar statline: 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists. Oziyah Sellers added 15, while Blakes and Agarwal had 10 and 9 points respectively.
Stanford picked up another massive win. Things look great for the Cardinal, as they go on another road trip, where they take on Wake Forest and North Carolina. If Stanford continues to keep things up, there is still a chance at a high seed in the ACC tournament, or even still a chance at making March Madness.
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