On Thursday, Stanford men’s basketball fell to San Diego State on the road by a final score of 74-60. San Diego State guard Lamont Butler (18 points & 4 assists) and forward Jaedon LeDee (16 points & 4 rebounds) led the way for the Aztecs while Stanford center Maxime Raynaud (15 points & 7 rebounds) and guard Michael Jones (14 points) were the top performers for the Cardinal. San Diego State improves to 10-2 overall while Stanford falls to 5-5.
BOX SCORE: Stanford at San Diego State-Thursday, December 21st
Stanford got out to an early 10-8 lead with 12:29 to go in the first half. The Cardinal were hanging tough. Jaedon LeDee had two quick fouls for the Aztecs and was sitting on the bench, which helped the Cardinal jump out to the early lead that they did. Raynaud already had six points, doing a nice job of scoring inside.
With 4:04 to go in the half, Stanford led 26-22 after a dunk by Raynaud. He continued to being a reliable scoring presence, up to eight points. The Cardinal were doing all they could to build a lead, but the Aztecs were right there to keep it tight.
At halftime, San Diego State led 34-32. Brandon Angel committed a silly turnover on the out of bounds right before halftime. He threw the ball cross court where it ricocheted off the backboard. Micah Parrish got the rebound for the Aztecs before passing it to Darrion Trammell, who made a layup to beat the buzzer.
Parrish was leading the Aztecs with 10 points on 4-8 shooting from the field while Butler had eight points. Raynaud was leading the Cardinal with 10 points and five rebounds. The Cardinal were hanging tough but had to worry about LeDee returning to play in the second half.
San Diego State would lead 47-35 with 15:59 to go. The Cardinal were starting to fade. LeDee was finding a groove for the Aztecs as he was up to seven points. The Aztecs were on a 9-0 run.
San Diego State would lead 54-43 with 11:30 to go. Stanford was trying to hang around, but without Spencer Jones for the night, their offense was struggling. Michael Jones had just joined Maxime Raynaud with 10 points. Effort was not an issue, but San Diego State was just looking like the better team as Butler was up to 13 points.
San Diego State would lead 60-45 with 7:52 to go. The Aztecs continued to maintain firm control as Stanford was starting to force things too much.
With 3:48 to go, San Diego State led 64-53. The Cardinal were trying to claw their way back into this, but time was running out. Andrej Stojakovic was now going a bit for the Cardinal with six points, but it was too little too late. They needed more from him. Raynaud and Jones each had 12 points for the Cardinal.
San Diego State would go on to win 74-60. With Spencer Jones out, it wasn’t a terribly surprising result, but it was still disappointing for the Cardinal that they couldn’t make it at least a bit more competitive.
When looking at the stat sheet, the biggest thing that jumps out is Stanford’s 3-20 shooting from 3-point range. Given that 3-point shooting is such a big part of their identity, Stanford cannot expect to beat anyone, let alone a borderline ranked opponent like San Diego State if their 3-point shooting is that off. This is why it would have been nice to have Spencer Jones out there. At the same time, they have to learn how to create better offense if the 3-point shot isn’t falling. Sometimes you have to go to something different and the Cardinal were unable to do that.
Up next for Stanford is a home game against Arizona State on Friday, December 29th at 8:00 PM PT. That will air on ESPN2.
Note: Stanford freshman guard Kanaan Carlyle left the game late in the second half with what appeared to be a knee contusion. No official word on what his status is going forward.
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