Jones' Career High Leads Card in Season-Opening Win

STANFORD, Calif. (AP)  -- Michael Jones, Stanford's first graduate transfer in program history, scored a career-high 31 points and the Cardinal endured Pacific's second-half rally for an 88-78 victory in a season opener Monday.

Jones, who had a career game-high of 29 points during his three seasons at Davidson, was 9-of-15 from the floor and 10-of-12 from the line. His 31 points are the most for a Stanford player in his debut since at least 1996, while he is the first Cardinal to score 30 or more in a game since Oscar da Silva had 31 at Oregon State on Jan. 4, 2021.

Maxime Raynaud added a career-high of his own with 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting with nine rebounds and Brandon Angel had 10 points. The Cardinal shot 60% as a team, the highest mark for the program since shooting 60% against CSUN on Dec. 15, 2020. Harrison Ingram stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, six rebounds and a game-high six assists, while Michael O'Connell had nine points and four assists.

Stanford increased a 12-point first half lead to 19 to open the second half. Moe Odum scored the first five points in an 16-2 run to get the Tigers within three with seven minutes remaining. The Cardinal clung to the lead and pulled away with a 6-0 spurt for a 12-point edge with a minute left.

Stanford returns eight of its top nine rotation players including top scorer Spencer Jones (12.0), though he missed the opener with a lower-body injury and is considered day-to-day.

Stanford has won 19 straight in the series with the last defeat coming in 1933-34. 

The Cardinal returns to action on Friday, Nov. 11 in Milwaukee against Wisconsin in the Brew City Battle. Held at American Family Field, home of the Milwaukee Brewers, the opening tip is set for 4:30 p.m. PT on FS1.