Stanford Cardinal forward Jaylen Thompson (24) drives on the Virginia Cavaliers forward JT Power (23) at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto on Sat Jan 11, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Michael Roberson

STANFORD, Calif. — The Stanford Cardinal (11-5, 3-2 ACC) beat the Virginia Cavaliers (8-8, 1-4 ACC) 88-65, and swept the two conference schools from the state known as the “Mother of Presidents” over a three-day period inside Maples Pavilion.

Stanford got off to a TREEmendous start to the game. They hit two three pointers before their Atlantic Coast visitors knew what happened. Freshman forward Donavin Young and junior guard Oziyah Sellers both confidently stroked consecutive Threes immediately after tip off.

Virginia was not cavalier in their attempt to compete with the Cardinal. They performed a 6-0 run and led by as much as three points. There were eight lead changes and two ties during the first 20 minutes of gameplay.

However, the Cardinal responded with another 6-0 run and led as many as 10 points by intermission, and kept the lead for good. That was the halftime margin, due to a runnin 3-pointer at the buzzer by senior guard Jaylen Blakes.

At the half, Stanford maintained a double-digit advantage, 40-30. Maxime Raynaud led both teams with 10 points and 5 rebounds, while junior guard Isaac McKneely paced the Cavs with 9 points.

The Cardinal partially duplicated the beginning of the game, as they did the second Stanza. Sellers opened the final half two with a three to put them up by 13 points. They did not hit two in a row, as they did in the first, but held on to a significant lead throughout the second 20-minute block.

Stanford increased that 13-point lead to as high as 23, but the Cavaliers continued to battle back. They actually got the deficit as low as nine points momentarily, by way of a 7-0 run. Stanford trumped that with a 10-0 run of their own.

After the Cardinal withstood their guest’s best punches, they cruised through the last minutes of the contest to a 23-point victory, 88-65. Stanford is undefeated at home in ACC play, and 3-0 in the Bay Area, including the conference opener at Berkeley against Cal.

Raynaud led all players with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Sellers contributed 15 points, while Blakes added 10 points to the Cardinal’s cause.

McKneely topped Virgina with 22 points and Jacob Cofie tallied 11 points and 5 rebounds.

The Cardinal will next be in action Wednesday, January 11, as they travel to North Carolina to take on Wake Forest at 6:30 ET on ESPNEWS. Virginia heads back to Charlottesville to host SMU on the same date at 9:00 PM ET on the ACC Network.