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By Eric Epstein

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Coming off of Saturday’s 78-62 win over Eastern Washington University, the Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball faced off against the San Jose State Spartans in a Bay Area matchup at Maples Pavilion on Tuesday night. The Cardinal ended up besting the Spartans with a score of 78-73.

The Cardinal came out of the gates slow and the Spartans jumped out to a nine-point lead halfway through the first period. However, sophomores Daejon Davis and KZ Okpala helped the Cardinal make up the deficit by halftime. KZ Okpala’s buzzer-beating three point basket sent the Cardinal to the locker room with a one-point lead for their first lead of the game.

Although it was relatively back-and-forth for much of the start of the second half, the Cardinal eventually pulled ahead thanks to their superior three-point shooting and playmaking. Stanford finished the game with 18 team assists and went 13-34 from three, compared to the Spartans’ 10 assists and 4-13 clip from three.

Sophomore Oscar da Silva exploded to hit four straight three-pointers in the second half, adding to his two first-half treys. Although he came into the game shooting on 17% from deep on the year, he set a Stanford freshman record by shooting 55.8% on threes last year. On Tuesday night, he flashed the efficiency that made him so effective during his freshman year. Da Silva finished the night with 23 points on 8-13 shooting (6-11 on threes) as well as 10 rebounds.

KZ Okpala led both teams in scoring with 25 points on 8-15 shooting. Okpala had a lackluster game against Eastern Washington, where he scored only 7 points, but he bounced back by scoring from all over the court, including shooting 3-6 on threes.

In Daejon Davis’ first time coming off the bench in his collegiate career, he proved to be a spark plug for the Cardinal offense with 14 points and 8 assists. He also did not commit a turnover, which he has been prone to over the course of his relatively short Stanford career.

Stanford’s starting backcourt of freshman Bryce Wills and sophomore Isaac White had an extremely disappointing offensive night, as they scored a combined 1 point.

San Jose State’s five starters all scored in the double-digits, but they only got a combined three points from their bench. Spartan Coach Jean Prioleau played shooting guard Noah Baumann the entire game and only rested forward Michael Steadman and point guard Brae Ivey 1 and 4 minutes, respectively.

The Cardinal will travel across the Bay Area to take on the University of San Francisco Dons on Saturday, December 22 at 2:00 pm PST.