Stanford vs Saint Louis   Results, Match Player Stats & Records

Okorie did so again for Stanford (5-1) on Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the two-day event, scoring 25 points to lead the Cardinal to a 72-68 win against Minnesota.

"He's an 18-year-old freshman that's handled a lot of attention and done a good job with it," Stanford coach Kyle Smith said. "He's going to get in those fights. They're coming, so he'll learn."

It was a welcome bounce-back game after Okorie was a bit overmatched in a 77-69 loss to visiting Seattle last Thursday.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Okorie went up against Seattle senior point guard Maleek Arington and scored 17 points. However, he was held to 5-for-15 shooting -- and 0-for-5 from 3-point range.

"Some of it was fatigue-related," Smith said. "I think the fatigue was more just going against a grown man."

Okorie was a bit sharper against Minnesota, shooting 9-for-21 overall and 2-for-7 from 3-point distance.

Smith is looking for more support for his freshman star. One player he hopes to get into the rotation is 6-foot-10 freshman forward Oskar Giltay.

He played a season-high 10 minutes against Seattle but was limited to two versus Minnesota.

"He'll have his time," Smith said. "He's going to get better and help us."

In a matchup of unbeaten mid-major teams, Saint Louis (6-0) beat Santa Clara 71-70 on Thursday afternoon.

Kellen Thames made a layup with eight seconds left and Brenton Knapper missed one on the other end with two seconds remaining.

Trey Green, a transfer from Xavier, scored 21 points against Santa Clara, shooting 6-for-13 from 3-point distance. Green could see a lot of time matched up against Okorie.

--Field Level Media