ACC men’s basketball: Cal knocks off Stanford 72-66, gets rare sweep of its rival
BERKELEY — Cal bolstered its NCAA tournament resume and completed a regular-season sweep of rival Stanford for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign with a 72-66 victory in front of 9,020 fans at Haas Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.
The Bears (19-8, 7-7 ACC) never trailed on the way to moving within one victory of its first 20-win season since 2017.
“It feels good, it feels nice but that is actually not the goal,” third-year Cal coach Mark Madsen said. “It’s a great milestone. a good measuring stick. But we have greater goals ahead than 20.”
Cal, which began the day at No. 61 in the NET computer rankings, is chasing its first NCAA tournament bid since 2016.
“It would be absolutely huge if we were able to attain that goal,” said Madsen, stressing that the team is not looking beyond the next game. “The entire focus this week was prepare for Stanford.”
Senior Chris Bell, who scored 20 points, said the path ahead is clear.
“Just keeping winning games,” he said. “If we win out, we’ll be just fine. Don’t listen to the rat poison.”
Forward John Camden added 18 points and eight rebounds and guard Dai Dai Ames scored 17 to go with seven rebounds.
The Bears pulled off their first regular-season sweep of Stanford in 16 years, since winning the Pac-10 championship under coach Mike Montgomery.
Camden, who came to Cal as a transfer from Delaware, knew enough about the rivalry to get things right, almost.
“Even before I got to Cal, I knew it was always Cal-Stanford. Just because I wasn’t a part of it in the past, doesn’t mean I didn’t know how big of a deal it was.
“I definitely knew the magnitude of this and how big it is for our university. Aware of going 2-0 for the first time in 26 years . . .oh, 16? Twenty-six sounds better.”
The Cardinal (16-11, 5-9) will have a nearly impossible time securing an at-large bid to the NCAAs after losing for the seventh time in nine games.
Coach Kyle Smith acknowledged the difficulty in defending the Bears, who roll out four starters — including also point guard Justin Pippen — who can score 20 on any night and all are effective from the 3-point arc and the free throw line.
“They’re unique and they’re good and they’re hard to guard,” Smith said. “They put a lot of pressure on you, especially in transition. You can’t make one mistake. They’re pretty selfless, too. They pass the ball well. You miss a guy and those are good shots for them.”
Cal led 39-25 at halftime, taking advantage of nine Stanford turnovers. The Cardinal hung around early in the second half, but the comeback efforts were partly derailed by an 18-for-29 effort from the foul line.
The Bears led 71-59 after three free throws by Bell with 1:14 left, then struggled against Stanford’s pressure, allowing the Cardinal to pull within five points before running out of time.
Ebuka Okorie, who averaged 29.3 points over his past three games and already has broken Stanford’s freshman scoring record, had 17 points and a career-best 13 rebounds. Big man Aidan Cammann tied his career high to lead the Cardinal with 19 points, but missed eight free throws.