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MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - Printable Version

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MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - skip75 - 01-17-2026

I attended both games of the Maples Miracle in 1975 - when Stanford beat #2 UCLA 64-60 on Friday, January 17, then took down #6 USC 67-66 on the very next night. Is there another miracle in store 51 years later?

Duke comes in rated #6 with a 16-1 record (5-0 in the ACC, 5-0 on the road. Their only loss was 82-81 vs. Texas Tech at Madison Square Garden. They are 7-1 in Quad 1 games. and 6-1 vs. opponents in the Top-25. The Blue Devils are favored by 10.5 & the over/under is 147.5 - making the implied score 79-68.5.

Here is an insightful (and respectful) preview from the Duke perspective:  https://www.dukebasketballreport.com/main/84965/next-up-stanford

Duke's starting line-up vs. Cal was:
#17 Cameron Boozer (6'9/250 Fr F) Son of former Duke & NBA star Carlos Boozer. Gatorade national PoY, co-MVP of McDonald's All-American game. Pre-season ACC 1st team All-ACC & RoY (& 2nd in voting for PoY). Projected to be a top-5 pick in the 2026 NBA draft. Leads team in: scoring (22.8ppg on 57.8% shooting - 2nd in ACC to Ebuka Okorie with 22.9), rebounding (9.7rpg, 4th in ACC), assists (4.1apg, 10th in ACC), and steals (1.7/game, 8th in ACC). 
#3 Isaiah Evans (6'6/180 So G/F) McDonald's All-American & North Carolina Gatorade PoY. ACC pre-season 2nd team All-ACC. Projected to be a top-15 pick in the 2026 NBA draft. 14.6ppg, 2.7 3s/game (5th in ACC), 87.1% FT shooter (3rd in ACC), 1.1 blocks/game
#21 Patrick Ngongba II (6'11/250 So C) ESPN & 247 Sports PoY in Virginia. Leads team with 1.4 blocks/game (7th in ACC). Scores 10.2ppg on 63.7% shooting. Grabs 6.4rpg.
#1 Caleb Foster (6'5/205 Jr G) 9.5ppg. Played at Notre Dame HS (Sherman Oaks), California MaxPreps PoY, had an offer from Stanford.
#7 Dame Sarr (6'8/190 Fr G/F) From Italy, debuted with FC Barcelona of the Spanish ACB league 3 years ago at age 16.Made their first -team roster last season. Might be matched up defensively on Okorie.

Other key Blue Devils include:
#2 Cayden Boozer (6'4/205 Fr G) twin brother of Cameron, 3.2apg & 8th in the ACC with a 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio
#6 Maliq Brown (6'9/225 Sr F)  Only transfer (2 yrs at Syracuse) at Duke to get significant playing time (There are 2 transfers from Rice & 1 from Princeton on the roster.) A "defensive menace" per Coach Jon Scheyer. Only scores 5.1ppg, but shoots 69.7%.
#14 Nikolas Khamenia (6'8/215 Fr G/F) McDonalds All-American from Harvard Westlake

I'm not certain about Chisom Okpara's injury status. I saw one report listing him as Questionable. It also continued to list Tallis Toure & Kristers Skrinda as Questionable - as they both have been for awhile now. It did not include any mention of Evan Stinson - not sure if that was an oversight or if he might now be available. 

With or without Okpara, this game will be another challenge for Stanford's big men. Duke is 4th in the ACC in rebounds with 40.3/game (trailing UVa, Louisville, & UNC - all of whom gave Stanford fits on the boards). And the Devils lead the ACC in rebounding margin with +9.2/game. I loved the effort from Cammann & Rohosy banging with UNC. But I expect Duke to be not only big, but more athletic than the Tar Heels. I'm hoping that Agarwal can continue to provide some help under the basket (and continue the rhythm he had going on 3s!). And I think that Giltay, Young, and Grant will need to chip in if this is going to be a competitive game.

Stanford was obviously lights out from beyond the arc vs. UNC - 16-28, including 10-15 in the 2nd half. But with Duke's length and athleticism. I expect them to provide significantly more defensive pressure on the perimeter. Duke leads the ACC in scoring margin (+19.9ppg) and is 3rd in FG% at 49.5% - with strong transition and in-the-paint offense.

Stanford is 2-2 vs. Duke all-time. Last season in Durham, the Devils breezed to a 106-70 win. This is obviously the toughest game on the schedule. As Al Michaels once said, "Do you believe in miracles?".

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - fullmetal - 01-17-2026

I believe in Smith, Okorie, and the rest of the team who have worked hard and stepped their game up.  It's true that the 3pt shooting vs. UNC was perhaps above expected value, but...I believe.

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - BostonCard - 01-17-2026

Dukies are off to a 12-4 start.

BC
Four points.  Seven turnovers.

Bleh.

BC

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - TonyLima - 01-17-2026

Need to hit 3s. We want Gealer!

Also need more quick.

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - old spanish trail - 01-17-2026

(01-17-2026, 04:21 PM)BostonCard Wrote:  Dukies are off to a 12-4 start.

BC
Four points.  Seven turnovers.

Bleh.

BC


can't lazily dribble into paint on these guys.

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - PalmTree - 01-17-2026

(01-17-2026, 04:25 PM)TonyLima Wrote:  Need to hit 3s. We want Gealer!

Also need more quick.

He's been in a fair amount so far - TO's & smothering D are making us struggle

Edit - our interior D is not great either

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - TonyLima - 01-17-2026

(01-17-2026, 04:29 PM)PalmTree Wrote:  
(01-17-2026, 04:25 PM)TonyLima Wrote:  Need to hit 3s. We want Gealer!

Also need more quick.

He's been in a fair amount so far - TO's & smothering D are making us struggle

Edit - our interior D is not great either
in that case, just need more quick.

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - old spanish trail - 01-17-2026

(01-17-2026, 04:31 PM)TonyLima Wrote:  
(01-17-2026, 04:29 PM)PalmTree Wrote:  
(01-17-2026, 04:25 PM)TonyLima Wrote:  Need to hit 3s. We want Gealer!

Also need more quick.

He's been in a fair amount so far - TO's & smothering D are making us struggle

Edit - our interior D is not great either
in that case, just need more quick.

Good luck with that (quick)

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - Madera86 - 01-17-2026

I'd say we got 'em right where we want 'em.

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - PVTree - 01-17-2026

Well, that first half suxed. Missed too many open shots, too many turnovers, and we are getting outrebounded badly.

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - burger - 01-17-2026

Lots of blame to go around here.  Notably, our bigs have been really awful with turnovers.  And defensive rebounding is really bad.

I really don't understand what happened with rebounding.  We were among the leaders in D-I in defensive rebounding rate in the pre-conference games.  But against the ACC, we've been horrendous.  It's like they forgot how to block out or something.  Feels like a coaching thing--a shift in priorities maybe?

Anyway, after the ND loss, it looked like an 0-6 conference start was a real possibility.  I can live with 3-3.

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - old spanish trail - 01-17-2026

(01-17-2026, 04:57 PM)burger Wrote:  Lots of blame to go around here.  Notably, our bigs have been really awful with turnovers.  And defensive rebounding is really bad.

I really don't understand what happened with rebounding.  We were among the leaders in D-I in defensive rebounding rate in the pre-conference games.  But against the ACC, we've been horrendous.  It's like they forgot how to block out or something.  Feels like a coaching thing--a shift in priorities maybe?

Anyway, after the ND loss, it looked like an 0-6 conference start was a real possibility.  I can live with 3-3.

In early games we were the big team. No loonger. Plus, our big play with mittens on. Rohosy and Giltay are the worst, but Kamman is right there with them today. We could really use the "good" Okpara today.Two athletic guys are guarding Okorie almost all the time. He still has some points but it's tough. JDS made several good plays so they guarded him more aggressively. Agarwal is a terrific shooter, but he lacks quickness and speed to keep up here. At least it will be interesting to see what changes Smith might come up with.

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - TonyLima - 01-17-2026

(01-17-2026, 04:37 PM)old spanish trail Wrote:  
(01-17-2026, 04:31 PM)TonyLima Wrote:  
(01-17-2026, 04:29 PM)PalmTree Wrote:  
(01-17-2026, 04:25 PM)TonyLima Wrote:  Need to hit 3s. We want Gealer!

Also need more quick.

He's been in a fair amount so far - TO's & smothering D are making us struggle

Edit - our interior D is not great either
in that case, just need more quick.

Good luck with that (quick)

Agree, very hard to coach. Kind of like coaching more height.

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - fullmetal - 01-17-2026

Duke has longer and quicker dudes.  Their length allows them to destabilize our ball security and also score/defend the paint well.  I'd like to see Stanford really take it to them and draw fouls.  We've made some plays...get confident and keep hammering.

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - Card10Fan - 01-17-2026

Why is Cameron Grant playing so much? His percentages don't lie. He takes a lot of shots and doesn't make very many of them.

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - norcard10 - 01-17-2026

i guess we dont have to worry about being ranked anytime soon

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - PVTree - 01-17-2026

I was hoping for a better showing, but Dook dominated us all game. We were awful all around, but Dook's superior talent was evident. Coaching can elevate you to a certain level, but it wasn't enough to rise to Dook's level today.

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - TonyLima - 01-17-2026

(01-17-2026, 06:03 PM)norcard10 Wrote:  i guess we dont have to worry about being ranked anytime soon
Not sure about that. Losing to the number six team in the country shouldn’t be that much of a hit.

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - norcard10 - 01-17-2026

(01-17-2026, 06:33 PM)TonyLima Wrote:  
(01-17-2026, 06:03 PM)norcard10 Wrote:  i guess we dont have to worry about being ranked anytime soon
Not sure about that. Losing to the number six team in the country shouldn’t be that much of a hit.

there’s losing and then there’s losing by 30

RE: MBB: Stanford vs. Duke, 3PM, ACCN - Card10Fan - 01-17-2026

Tough game. Duke is really good and played really well. This is a game having Okpara would have helped. Role players around Okori need to be able to hit open shots. 

Oh well onto the next. Cal next weekend is big. We still have more chances for NCAA resume building wins. On a plus it was nice to see Maples packed.