Maxime Raynaud would not be denied leading the Stanford Cardinal in scoring with 33 points to help defeat the UC Davis Aggies at Maple Pavilion Sun Nov 17, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Michael Roberson

STANFORD, Calif. — Maxime Raynaud scored a career high 33 points and tied his career high five three pointers, while helping his Stanford Cardinal (4-0, 0-0 ACC) stay unbeaten, while taming the University of California – Davis Aggies (2-2, 0-0 Big West) 79-65, in a Northern California Battle.

“I think it started yesterday. I think our football team had an awesome win against a top ranked opponent. Everyone rushed the field, and I told the guys we’re going to keep that going, keep rolling.” Raynaud on his inspirational performance.

The Aggies actually scored first to start the game. There were three lead changes and one tie, in the early moments of the game, The Cardinal would have an answer for that mini run by their opponent.

Stanford would eventually go on a 9-0 run and lead by as many as 18 points by halftime. Despite the poor shooting (36%) by the home team, they were still able to pull away from Davis with contributions from Raynaud (17 points & 8 rebounds), Jaylen Blakes (12) and Benny Gealer (8), Raynaud also launched three successful three pointers.

UC Davis had no player score at least 10 points, and their shooting was worse (31%) than Stanford’s percentile. They were also outrebounded by more than double their amount.

After 20 minutes of action, Stanford led by 18 points, 41-28.

In the second half, Stanford scored the first points on a three by Oziyah Sellers, placing their lead at its highest plateau, 21 points. Davis was not going to go down without a fight. They actually had an 8-0 run in them during the second 20-minute stanza.

Stanford’s 12-0 run was a carryover from the end of the first half and the opening minutes of the second. The Cardinal’s shooting improved slightly in the second half, but did not prevent the racing Aggies from getting the game within single-digit(s). Davis, on the other hand, shot a blistering 59% from the floor. This assisted greatly on their comeback attempt, and their top scorer was much better in the second half.

Davis closed the gap to the smallest deficit of six points, midway through the second half; however, Stanford, still feeding off the football team’s momentum, turned up the heat inside Maples and widened the gap again.

When the final whistle sounded, after 40 minutes of regulation time, the mighty Tree (stanford) was still standing, and still Undefeated. The Cardinal won their fourth game in a row to start the season, by a 14 point victory, 79-65.

Maxime Raynaud led all players with a career high 33 points and 14 rebounds. His five 3s tied his career best too. Despite fouling ouy, Jaylen Blakes chipped in 17 points and handed out 4 assists, Ryan Agarwal did not reach double-figures in scoring (5), but he did in rebounds (11).

Davis was led by Ty Johnson’s 26 points, Pablo Tamba’s 13 points (also fouled out), and Leo DeBruhl (11).

Stanford will next be in action, Wednesday, November 20. They will host the Norfolk State Spartans at 7:00 PM PDT on the ACC Network, Davis heads to Arizona to take on the Grand Canyon Lopes, also on the 20th at 7:00 PM MST on ESPN+.