Virginia (8-8, 1-4 ACC) fell to Stanford (11-5, 3-2) as the Hoos lose both games on their ACC road trip to California. The Cavaliers were outpaced by the Cardinals led by Maxime Raynaud who scored 24 points as Virginia lost to the newly minted Stanford Cardinals 88-65 on Saturday night in Palo Alto, California. The 88 points scored by Stanford are the most the Hoos have allowed in an ACC game that ended in regulation since 2013. Here are our five takeaways from the game.

For a game thread of Virginia vs Stanford: Virginia vs. Stanford Live Updates | NCAA Men’s Basketball

The Cavaliers got off to a fast start, shooting ⅚ from the three-point arc to start the game and scoring 19 points in the first eight minutes, a nice change of pace from a month ago against Bethune Cookman. Isaac McKneely and Ishan Sharma led the way with two both scoring two threes. The one positive from the game was McKneely who finished with 22 points in the loss. Despite the strong start, similar to a few days ago against Cal, the Cavaliers could not keep up and keep pace. 

After the strong start, the Cardinals responded with a 9-1 run which led to Stanford having a 10 point lead at the half, a lead they comfortably maintained for the remainder of the game. Stanford finished the game with an astounding 23 point lead over the Cavaliers. This is Virginia’s 7th double digit loss this season.

Virginia is now 8-8, and the Cavaliers are suffering their first losing season since Tony Bennett’s inaugural season in Charlottesville, where the Hoos went 15-16 during the 2009/10 season.

In need of a spark, Coach Ron Sanchez chose to once again dip into the fountain of youth this time rewarding freshman Ishan Sharma with his first career start in the orange and blue. Sharma started strong with two three pointers in the first ten minuntes of the game. Despite the strong start those would be his only points of the game. Sharma alongside Cofie have both earned considerable minutes in their freshman seasons with Cofie also earning a start tonight as he scored 11 points. The hope is that these minutes will build experience they can utilize down the line.

Virginia was obliterated in the paint on Saturday night, with Stanford scoring 40 points in the paint compared to the Cavaliers mere 12. Maxime Raynaud scored 24 points for Stanford as he dominated Virginia’s bigs in Jacob Cofie, Anthony Robinson, and Blake Buchanan. Virginia was also outrebounded 34-23, as the Hoos had no answer in the paint all night.