Townsend takes his scoring up a notch finishing with 31 to lead Stanford past Rice 91-73

In a dominating performance on Monday night, Nick Townsend led Stanford to a thrilling 91-73 victory over Rice at Stanford, California. Townsend's scoring prowess was evident from the start, as he scored 19 points before halftime, contributing significantly to the Cardinal's overall tally. Leading Stanford's scoring prior to the season, Townsend amassed 18.5 points in the team's first two games.

The versatile guard converted all 11 of his foul shots, showcasing his reliability in clutch situations. The team's reserves, Christian Bliss and Austin Maurer, also played pivotal roles, each scoring 12 points, while Julius Price contributed with 10 points. Despite struggling from beyond the three-point line, with just 7 successful attempts out of 19, Stanford maintained a high shooting percentage of 32 made out of 62 shot attempts.

The Cardinal's commitment to free throws was also commendable, as they achieved a 20 made out of 21 free throw attempts. Stanford took an early lead, sitting comfortably at 45-29 at halftime, with a 17 made out of 33 shooting accuracy. The momentum continued as Evan Stinson's layup with 8:46 minutes left in the game extended Stanford's advantage to 76-46.

In contrast, Rice struggled throughout the game, recording 14 points from Jaxson Thompson and 12 points from reserve Dallas Hobbs. Rice's shooting performance was equally disappointing, as they made only 25 successful shots out of 61 attempts and fewer than half of their three-point attempts, converting just 6 out of 23. The upcoming matchups for Rice and Stanford include Rice heading to Stephen F. Austin on Friday, while Stanford will travel to Nevada to face UNLV on Thursday.