Dynamic Stanford freshman point guard Ebuka Okorie likely was the focal point of Pitt’s preparation for Wednesday’s matchup on the West Coast.
Okorie entered the evening ranking second in the ACC in scoring (22.3 points per game) and has demonstrated an ability to take over games in his young career.
He did just that against the Panthers, erupting for 34 points — 28 in the second half — powering Stanford to a 75-67 victory at Maples Pavilion.
“You can’t let that guy get going, and once he gets going, he’s hard to stop,” Panthers associate coach Tim O’Toole said on the 93.7 FM postgame show. “Unfortunately, that was the tale of the tape in the second half.”
Okorie went 11 of 19 from the floor, hit three 3-pointers and drew a surplus of fouls, going a perfect 9 of 9 from the free-throw line.
His output spoiled a 22-point night for Cam Corhen, who also contributed eight rebounds. Barry Dunning Jr. dropped 19, and Nojus Indrusaitis scored 10.
Benny Gealer added 12 points for Stanford, and Aidan Cammann had 11.
As a team, Pitt shot 49% (24 of 49), including 9 of 23 (39.1%) from long range. Stanford, by comparison, shot a clean 50% (29 of 58).
The Panthers committed 13 turnovers, which translated to 19 points for Stanford. Pitt lost the battle on the glass 29-27.
Things were looking good for Pitt (10-18, 3-12 ACC) with about seven minutes to play, as, riding an 11-0 run and a scoreless streak of nearly five minutes by the Cardinal, the Panthers took a 63-57 lead.
With four minutes to go, Pitt was trailing by one, as Okorie continued to score with impunity.
The backbreaker for Pitt came over a 40-second span around the 3-minute mark of the second half, as Okorie drilled consecutive 3-pointers to put Stanford (17-11, 6-9) up 71-64.
While Dunning countered with a 3-pointer, trimming Stanford’s lead to 71-67 with 1:44 to go, it was the final basket Pitt scored.
“We had to tighten up, and we didn’t,” O’Toole said. “The kid (Okorie), he went nuts in the second half.”
Whereas Okorie took some time to heat up, Corhen got the Panthers started early, scoring nine of the team’s first 15 points.
With 15:12 left in the first half, the Panthers were up 15-9.
Pitt took leads of as large as seven multiple times in the opening half, but Stanford closed the gap heading into halftime and, at the break, the Panthers led 34-32.
Things stayed tight to begin the second half until Stanford threatened to pull away starting at about the 14-minute mark.
With 11:35 left, the Cardinal led 55-49.
But then, over the span of 4 minutes, 27 seconds, Pitt scored 11 unanswered points as Stanford’s offense dried up, allowing the Panthers to take a 63-57 lead with a bit over seven minutes left.
Two minutes later, with 4:56 to go, back-to-back 3-point plays from Cammann and Okorie tied the score at 63.
Dunning hit a free throw at the 4:19 mark to make it 64-63 Pitt, but that would be the Panthers’ last lead of the evening.
From there, eight straight points from Okorie put the game all but out of reach, and Pitt mustered only four more points.
“We were kind of right there the whole way, and then a couple things don’t go your way and we didn’t have enough moxie or punch-back at that point in time,” O’Toole said. “(Stanford) extended it, and that was the game.”
