Stanford will look to remain undefeated when the Cardinal leave home for the first time this season for a game at Santa Clara on Saturday night.
Maxime Raynaud posted his fifth straight double-double and Jaylen Blakes scored 18 points Wednesday night as the Cardinal (5-0) completed an unbeaten five-game, season-opening homestand with a 70-63 victory over Norfolk State.
Raynaud, who put up 20 points and 10 rebounds on Wednesday, will get a chance to exact some personal revenge against Santa Clara (2-3). Fellow Frenchman Adama-Alpha Bal contributed 23 points for the Broncos in their 89-77 road win over the Cardinal last November.
The loss stung worse than most for Raynaud, who finished with 26 points and seven rebounds in that contest.
“I was kind of upset about that. I wanted to win against him,” Raynaud said. “I’m so proud of him.”
After playing for France in international competitions, including winning the U20 European Championships in the summer of 2023, both are back in Northern California and leading their respective programs again.
Raynaud, who was named Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week on Monday, leads the ACC with 12.2 rebounds per game and is second in scoring at 21 points per contest.
Meanwhile, Bal has scored in double figures in four of Santa Clara’s five games, the most recent of which was a 96-54 blowout of visiting UC Riverside on Tuesday.
Bal, who had 17 points and went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc against the Highlanders, acknowledged he has a friendly rivalry with Raynaud.
“All the French prospects, we all played together (when we were) younger. We always knew we had something special coming,” Bal said. “People are starting to recognize that we have a lot of very good players in France right now.”
Santa Clara has split its two home games this season. Bal scored 18 points as the Broncos lost 88-80 in overtime to North Dakota State on Nov. 13.
–Field Level Media
