Pitt men’s basketball held onto their perfect conference record with their 83-63 win over Stanford on Saturday night. Pitt advances to 12-2, while Stanford drops to 10-5 and 1-2 in conference play. The game marked Pitt’s second consecutive matchup versus another west-coast ACC newcomer.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle, with Pitt guard Ishmael Leggett leading the Panthers to a 38-30 lead at halftime. Leggett had missed the Panthers’ previous game against Cal after rolling his ankle in practice last week but returned in tremendous fashion. He scored 13 points in the first half on 6 of 9 shooting.

On the other side of the court, Stanford senior Maxime Raynaud led the way for the Cardinals. Raynaud, a seven-foot center out of Paris, France, is averaging 20.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game this season. He currently leads the entire ACC in both scoring and rebounding.

Raynaud grew up playing basketball with fellow French sensation Victor Wembanyama, as evident by his playstyle. Like Wembanyama, Raynaud can dominate both on the inside and outside. He shot 3 of 5 from three and ended the game with 21 points.

Pitt came out of halftime with an 11-2 run and never looked back, staying ahead by at least 15 for the remainder of the game. Their offense thrived, and their defense performed even better. The Cardinals were held to only 29% field goal percentage in the second half and were severely outrebounded.

Jaland Lowe, Zach Austin, and Guillermo Diaz Graham all scored double digits, showing how balanced of a team Pitt really is.

One play summed the game perfectly: with about six minutes left in the second half, 6’3” Jaland Lowe hit a top-of-the-key three right in the mouth of 7’1 Maxime Raynaud. The fans went wild, and the shot put Pitt ahead by 19 – their largest lead of the game.

Pitt looks to continue their win streak on the road Tuesday night when they travel to Durham to face Duke. The Blue Devils are atop the ACC, and will easily be their most difficult opponent of the season so far.