01/14/26 10:29:00
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01/14 22:28 CST Stanford's freshman phenom Ebuka Okroie leads 95-90 win over
No. 14 North Carolina
Stanford's freshman phenom Ebuka Okroie leads 95-90 win over No. 14 North
Carolina
By JOSH DUBOW
AP Sports Writer
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) --- Freshman Ebuka Okorie had 36 points and nine assists
and Stanford rallied from 12 points down in the second half to beat No. 14
North Carolina 95-90 on Wednesday night.
Okorie outdueled Tar Heels freshman star Caleb Wilson and helped the Cardinal
(14-4, 3-2 ACC) knock off the Tar Heels (14-3, 2-2) for the second straight
season as conference opponents. North Carolina had won all 13 meetings between
the schools before coach Kyle Smith took over last season in Stanford's first
year in the ACC.
Jeremy Dent-Smith hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:04 to play for his sixth long
ball of the night to make it 88-87. After Wilson turned it over at the other
end, Ryan Agarwal hit another 3 to but the Cardinal up by four points with 32
seconds to play.
The Cardinal held on from there for their second win over a ranked opponent
this month after beating No. 16 Louisville at home on Jan. 2. That matches the
most wins against ranked wins in a season for Stanford since the Cardinal had
five in 2013-14 in the last season when they made the NCAA Tournament.
Dent-Smith and Agarwal each finished with 20 points as Stanford won despite
playing without second-leading scorer Chisom Okpara, who is out with a
lower-body injury.
Wilson and Henri Veesaar each scored 26 points for North Carolina.
North Carolina broke out to a 12-point lead early in the first half behind
Veesaar, but Okorie got Stanford back into it with 17 points and five assists
as the Cardinal cut it to 47-45 at the break.
The Tar Heels scored the first eight points of the second half and built the
lead back to 12 before Stanford rallied.
Up next
North Carolina: Visits California on Saturday.
Stanford: Hosts Duke on Saturday.
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