Freshman guard Ebuka Okorie had a finish to remember, draining a long right-wing 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds left to give Stanford a 69-68 win over Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on Wednesday. Okorie had 26 of his 31 points after halftime, leading the Cardinal back from a 13-point deficit with 3:36 to play to win their Atlantic Coast Conference road opener.
Okorie scored or assisted on 40 of the final 42 Stanford points.
Stanford (13-3, 2-1) trailed for most of the game and was down 65-52 on a Neoklis Avdalas layup with 3:36 to play. But Okorie took control, assisting on a 3-pointer, scoring an old-fashioned three-point play before hitting a layup, and then sinking a 3-pointer to pull within 67-63 with 1:08 to play.
A Donavin Young 3-pointer (assisted by Okorie) pulled the Cardinal within 67-66 with 28 seconds left. After Avdalas made one free throw, Okorie cashed in the winning 3-pointer. A final inbound pass was stolen in the backcourt by Stanford’s Oskar Giltay to run out the clock.
Okorie finished made 11 of 18 from the floor, including going 4-for-8 from 3, and also dished out six assists. Young added 11 points, including 3-for-5 3-point scoring. Giltay had eight points and 13 rebounds, including six on the offensive end.
Stanford shot 59% (16-for-27) in the second half, including 8-for-15 on 3-point shooting (53%). The Cardinal shot only nine free throws while Virginia Tech took 25 foul shots.
Virginia Tech (12-4, 1-2) led for more than 36 minutes but came up short in the end. The Hokies benefitted from 21 points from freshman guard Avdalas on 7-for-15 shooting. Reserve Ben Hammond tallied 14 points and forward Amani Hansberry posted 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Forward Tobi Lawal, out since Nov. 26, made his return with five points in 18 minutes of play.
Tech shot 39.6% (21-for-53) from the field and did not hit a field in the final 3:36 of the game.
