Stanford (14-6, 6-3 ACC) used an early 9-0 run to seize the lead and never looked back, en route to a 78-71 home victory over Florida State (13-7, 4-5 ACC).
Kyle Smith had talked earlier in the year about how eventually, even Maxime Raynaud would have an off game. Smith wanted to see how the team would rally when that day came.
For many players, 8 points and 14 rebounds is a tremendous performance. But for Maxime, he had yet to score fewer than 14 in a game this season. He was visibly frustrated during stretches, but he continued to make the right plays.
“They were really dedicated to him not getting a catch anywhere,” said Kyle Smith. “Usually you can get your center a catch 45 feet from the rim. So we had to take what the defense gave us.”
Oziyah Sellers more than picked up the scoring slack, with a career high of 27. The sharpshooting junior had a personal 7-0 run after Florida State briefly took the lead at 10-9. The run was highlighted by a long defensive rebound that Oziyah took on the run, going coast to coast and rising up over a Seminole defender for a sensational slam.
“[Oziyah’s] a pretty gifted scorer,” said Kyle Smith. “He just finds ways to score. A really quiet guy, goes about his business. I don’t notice him being different whether he scores 11 or 27.”
They went into halftime leading 33-25 after Chisom Okpara knocked down a three on the final offensive possession. Florida State shot only 8-25 in the period, and managed just 2 assists. The Cardinal currently sit at 5th in the country in opponent assist rating for a reason.
Both offenses began to click more in the second period. Stanford adjusted to the Florida State pressure in part due to extended minutes from Benny Gealer. He was masterful in breaking the press, and hit some timely shots late in the shot clock.
They were able to get Maxime Raynaud more touches, and when double teams inevitably came, he kick-started the offense with his passing which often led to high quality looks.
Florida State finally found some efficiency offensively, but they were unable to do more than exchange baskets. During the entirety of the second half, neither team had a run longer than 5-0. The closest the Seminoles got during the game’s final 20 minutes was 7 points; although the Cardinal never truly put them away, it was always at least a three possession game.
“Maxime has been so great for us all year long,” said Benny Gealer. “He’s such a great leader. We always trust him, and he’s making plays even when he’s not scoring as much. It was a whole team effort, everyone came in, made shots, and played for each other.”
Oziyah Sellers led three Cardinal players in double figures with his career-high 27. Jaylen Blakes and Benny Gealer had 13 apiece. For Benny, his 13 points were more than his last 6 games combined, and the most in a single game since November. Maxime Raynaud’s 14 rebounds matched his most in an ACC game.
Stanford finished with shooting splits of 47/46/71. They led for 38:19 seconds.
The Cardinal were picked 17th of 18 teams in the preseason ACC poll. They have won 5 of 6 games and currently sit in a share of 5th place.
“I feel like we’re bringing that swag back to Stanford,” said Oziyah Sellers.