Buffaloes fall to Stanford Cardinal at Hall of Fame Series in Phoenix
- Liam Howard
- 13 hours ago
- 3 min read
The Stanford Cardinal (10-2) defeated the Colorado Buffaloes (10-2) 77-68 in the Hall of Fame Series on Saturday. Stanford freshman guard Ebuka Okorie’s record-setting night fueled his team to victory.
Buffs star forward Sebastian Rancik set the tone for the game early on as he nailed two early 3-pointers to give his team a 7-3 lead. Okorie matched that production with a pair of threes himself and tied the game at nine.
Okorie came into the contest averaging 21 points per game. That mark was the third-most among all freshmen at the Division I level. He only trailed Duke Blue Devils forward Cameron Boozer and BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa, both projected top-three picks in the 2026 NBA Draft (per ESPN).
Stanford broke the tie and traded the lead multiple times with the Buffaloes in the first 10 minutes. This was due to the turnover struggles of both teams, as they combined for 12 in the first half.
However, the Buffaloes found production from an unusual source to build their first solid lead. Freshman guard Jalin Holland got hot down the stretch of the first half, recording seven points on 3-for-4 shooting and a free throw. His explosive scoring gave the Buffaloes their largest lead of the night, 29-22.
But the Cardinal was once again stride-for-stride with CU. Three was their magic number as they knocked down a trio of triples in the final three minutes of the half to tie the game at 33 points before halftime.Â
Colorado guard Felix Kossaras hit a contested layup to give his team a 35-33 lead at halftime in a neck-and-neck battle.
The second half has been where Colorado has thrived to this point in the season, as it’s averaged 47 second-half points per game. However, that was far from the case tonight in Phoenix.
Stanford came out of the locker room scoring at will, as an early 9-0 run from the Cardinal gave them a 43-37 lead. While Colorado was briefly able to stop its scoring drought, Stanford’s scoring continued, as it held a five-point lead.Â
"They came out of halftime and out of 15 possessions, we had five stops," Colorado guard Barrington Hargress said postgame. “It was a snowball effect that we let avalanche."
During Stanford’s run, it got production from forward Chisom Okpara. He extended his point total to 11 before a knee injury forced him to exit the game.
However, his absence didn’t hinder the Cardinal, as Okorie re-ignited his team’s offense. He reached 20 points with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game.
Very little went wrong for Stanford’s offense, as it forced turnovers and sank nearly every shot it put up just under the nine-minute mark. This included guard Jeremy Dent-Smith tripping over his own feet on a step-back two-pointer, but still nailing the try.
Colorado’s turnovers were both forced by the Cardinal defense and a result of mental errors from the Buffaloes. Colorado finished the game with a whopping 18 turnovers, a season-high.
Additionally, Colorado lost the rebound battle handily, only recording 28 total rebounds to Stanford’s 35.
"We just got punked tonight," Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said. “You don't have to look anywhere more than the rebounding column to see why Stanford won and why Colorado lost."
A 12-1 run pushed Stanford’s lead to 65-49 with six minutes to play, but the Buffaloes weren’t ready to give up just yet. Colorado hit a series of three-pointers to cut the lead to seven, but they still had no answer for Okorie’s scoring.
Stanford continued to feed him the ball, forcing Colorado to send him to the free-throw line on intentional fouls. He finished the night 18-for-21 at the free-throw line and with a total of 32 points.
His scoring night marked the most points scored in a single game by a Stanford freshman in program history, and it was too much for the Buffs to overcome.
Colorado returns to the CU Events Center on Dec. 28 to face the Northern Colorado Bears (9-3). Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. MT (ESPN+).