Early Runs Lead Bears to Sweep Stanford For The First Time Since 2010

7 min read

BERKELEY, Calif — In an action-packed game in front of an electric Haas Pavilion, Cal's early momentum proved decisive as they jumped to a 14-point lead with 5:00 in the first half and never let Stanford come within five points for the rest of the game. 

Ultimately, the game was a tale of two halves with Cal leading 39 to 25 at intermission. Though Stanford had better moments in the second half, like getting 12 second chance points compared to Cal’s three, it wasn’t enough to significantly cut the deficit.

A week after Cal allowed 107 points to 15-13 Syracuse (albeit over two overtimes), seeing Cal’s ability to hold off Stanford to just 66 points, and only 25 in the first half was an impressive turnaround. Cal’s perimeter defense limited Stanford to 8 for 28 on three-pointers, and a 33% field goal percentage. 

Although, Stanford’s star Freshman Ebuka Okorie had an impressive game, notching a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebs, Cal was able to hold him off for extended periods of time with Okorie only scoring two points in the final fifteen minutes of the first half, and none in the last ten minutes of the game. 

When asked about how Cal was able to contain Okorie, John Camden said, “I think we did a really good job on him — Justin specifically — but it was a team effort. 

Ebuka Okorie going up for a layup vs. Cal. Photo courtesy of Jack Hilderbrand

“He played 40 minutes, went 6-for-14, and he’s a really good player,” Camden continued. “But him playing 40 minutes going 6-for-14 — that’s all you can ask for us to do as a team defensively. So I think we did a good job.

The fans no doubt played a massive role in helping Cal secure the victory as the constant intensity, howling and jeering of the energized Cal crowd contributed to Stanford only being able to make four out of eleven free throw shots in the half, and 18 for 29 in the whole game.  

When asked about the crowd’s impact Mark Madsen exclaimed, “Today is just a shoutout to the entire Cal community. Number one, to the students. The students absolutely filled up that student section.”

“It was rocking,” he continued. “They were screaming at the Stanford players respectfully on free throws, which is what you want in a college basketball game. … The students were there.” 

Compared to Stanford, Cal had slightly better numbers, making 34.9 % of field goals and shooting 34.6% on threes. Though the main difference maker was free throws where Cal made 82.6% from the line. 

Mark Madsen highlighted the importance of the coaching staff in making the Golden Bears such a good team on the free throw line. 

“We have one of the top sports performance experts in the nation,” he said. “He also works with the Warriors — Graig Chow. And Graig’s someone who, empirically, over the course of his career, when he works with athletes, their percentage typically always goes up.”

For Stanford, redshirt Sophomore Aiden Cammann who hit 19 points and drew 10 fouls led the way, while Ebuka Okorie and Senior Benny Gealer had 17 and 15 points respectively. Standout performers for Cal include John Camden who had 18 points and 8 rebounds, Chris Bell who had 20 points and made 7 free throws, and Dai Dai Ames who had 17 points.

When asked about Aiden Cammann’s effect on the game, Stanford’s coach Kyle Smith spoke very highly about his growth. 

Aiden Cammann going up for a layup. Photo courtesy of Morgan Garcia

“He’s such a great human being, if you get to know him, or anyone that knows him,” Smith said. “He’s such a wonderful person, and he’s a big team guy. Sometimes, to a fault — he doesn’t really want to ruffle any feathers.” 

[Cammann] missed some free throws — it happens — but getting to the foul line that much is incredible,” he continued. “We needed it. I’m happy for him, and happy for us more importantly.”

First Ten Minutes: Fairly Even Match, Stanford Neutralizes Cal’s Early Run

The first few minutes of the game were defensive focused as both teams forced turnovers and scored seven points in the first five minutes.

Cal got the first major lead of the game and went on a 7-0 run early in the first half  (15:05-10:58). During that period Stanford had 4 turnovers, and Dai Dai Ames was effectively able to get into the paint to score a layup and draw a foul. After which, both teams kept trading points, with Stanford clawing back to cut the deficit to just two points with eight minutes left in the first half.

Cal’s Breakthrough

Though after Stanford seemed to gain momentum, Cal went on a 12-1 run to make it 30-17 aided by smart passing by Ames and Bell which led to two open three pointers that were buried by Chris Bell and John Camden. 

Cal was also able to capitalize on forced turnover points through Dai Dai Ames. This pattern continued in the first half as Cal was able to get eight points on forced turnovers compared to Stanford’s five.

First Half Recap 

Late in the first half, Stanford started to cut the lead with 3:57 to go from a layup from Aiden Cammann and a mispass by John Pippen, but they were neutralized by Cal’s scoring from Chris Bell and John Camden. Both teams did well in scoring late in the first half, and the score at the midway point was 39-25 Cal.   

Stanford was very physical in the first half by getting 4 blocks, though Cal were the better team on rebounds as they had twenty-one compared to Stanford’s 15. 

Cal also did a great job containing Ekuba Okorie for most of the first half with him only adding two points after the first five minutes. During this time Cal dominated shooting 42.4% on field goals, 40% on threes, and 87.5% on free throws compared to Stanford’s numbers of 38.5%, 22.2% and 37.5% respectively. Cal’s top performers were Ames with 13 points, Bell with 10 points, and Camden with 9. 

Second half

The second half started with good action from the perimeter as John Camden and Justin Pippen made 3-point field-goals for Cal, while Ebuka Okorie and graduate student Jeremy Dent Smith found their shots beyond the perimeter in the first five minutes.

Cal also continued their red-hot streak on the free throw line going 4-4 on Free Throws in the opening minutes of the second half. However, they did have a slow start on field goals, going 3-14 in the first seven minutes. Fortunately for Cal, Stanford was having an equally bad start going 4-15 on field goals, along with a line of 25% behind the arch.

Near Midway point of second half: Stanford Crawls Back

With around 12 minutes left, Stanford started to get going, with Benny Gealer hitting two three-pointers in 39 seconds to build a 6-0 run with 10:39 to go to cut Cal’s lead to 7 points.

During this time, Cal also started to go on a field goal drought hitting only 1 of 8 field goals.

Ebuka Okorie also heated up, getting 8 points within the first ten minutes of the second half.

However, the Golden Bears didn’t break as they kept on scoring, Milos Illic spotted an open Ames for a three-pointer, while Camden had a great jumper as well. Although, Stanford cut the deficit, Cal was able to keep the lead to 8, with 7:56 remaining

Eight Minutes to go: Cal regains control

The last eight minutes were nerveracking for Cal and Stanford as Cal’s Justin Pippen and Stanford’s Ryan Agarwal airballed (missing the rim entirely) and both teams exchanged turnovers for two and a half minutes before Stanford’s Jeremy Dent Smith got fouled by John Camden and made two free throws.
With 5:30 left to go, Cal looked shaky with the Stanford contingent roaring loudly after Dent-Smith’s free throws that cut the deficit to just six points. However, after a three-point jumper and two points by Chris Bell, made free throws by Justin Pippen, and a block by Chris Bell, Haas Pavillion went on fire and put Cal in cruise control with 3:43 remaining. Cal went on a 7-0 run in 1:26, and put themselves back ahead by 13. Cal was further helped by the Cardinal going on a field goal drought for nearly five minutes.

Last few minutes Stanford Tries to Fight Back But It’s Too Little Too Late

Late in the game, Cal did get into foul trouble with two fouls from Milos Illic and one from Ames and Camden as well, but Stanford only collected three points from this, easily made up by Chris Bell’s three free throw makes after a shooting foul from Ryan Agarwal. Stanford improved their free throw shooting, hitting 71.4% of shots in the second half, but they couldn't match Cal’s 80% rate. 

Nevertheless, it was a slightly scary ending for Cal fans in the last 60 seconds as Stanford were able to reach within five points through nice triples by Benny Gealer, though John Camden’s free throws and stout defense in the last few moments sealed the deal for Cal. 

Cal held on to win 72-66 and improve their record to 19-8 (7-7 ACC), while Stanford fell to 16-12 (5-9 ACC).

Pulse Takeaway

Cal was mostly in cruise control and never felt significantly threatened in the second half, though they must do a better job of holding and building on their leads in the second half, as Stanford outscored them 41-33. 

This win shows that Cal belongs in March Madness, just barely. If Cal wants to go far in the tournament, they will have to be much more efficient with their shooting. 

At this moment though it must be a great feeling for Cal to sweep their Bay Area rivals for the first time in 16 years! Chris Bell and John Camden both spoke about how monumental the season sweep was. 

“I think for us — our team, we’re all new transfers,” Bell said. “I think for us specifically, being here in our first year, it was really important to us. They’re our rival. And we don’t do any talking. We just play basketball.”

“Yeah, it's a big game,” Camden emphasized. First time in years, I think I heard. So it’s a big accomplishment for us.”

Rowdy Cal fans in the student section after the win. Photo courtesy of Morgan Garcia

What’s Next

Cal plays SMU at Haas Pavilion on Wednesday Feb. 25 at 7 pm, and this game will most likely determine their March Madness hopes.

Afterwards, they play Pitt, Wake Forest, and Georgia Tech. Cal is expected to win these games but Wake Forest and Georgia Tech are tricky teams, so Cal will have to be fully prepared if they want to win out for the rest of the season.

Coach Madsen remains optimistic about Cal’s March Madness chances but also emphasizes the need to take the rest of the season one game at a time. 

“We’re trying to break the goal up into small pieces, into small bites,” Madsen said. “Now we have a one-game series against a very talented SMU team. SMU is scrappy. They’re tough. They’re physical. They play zone. They play man. And so that’s the next cloud on the horizon that we have to be prepared for.”