By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Road victories have been tough to come by this season for Stanford men’s basketball, but the Cardinal came up with a huge one Wednesday night at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley.

Thanks, in large part, to Dwight Powell’s third double-double in his last five games, the Cardinal rolled past California 80-59 and pulled into a tie for third place in the Pac-12 standings with the Bears.

It was the Cardinal’s third win over Cal in their last four meetings, and the win avenged an earlier 69-62 loss to the Bears on Jan. 2.

Stanford improved to 3-2 away from Maples Pavilion. Since 2008-09, the Cardinal are 15-34 as road warriors in the conference.

Chasson Randle had his usual strong game, finishing with 19 points. But it was the all-around effort from Powell that sparked the Cardinal. Powell finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Anthony Brown added 16 points and six boards, including an 11-point burst down the stretch that helped seal the win.

Brown sparked an 8-0 run in the second half after Cal pulled to within five at 52-47. But it was a 15-4 run in the first half – with Powell doing much of the damage – that set the tone for the game. Powell scored nine of those 15 points and hit one of Stanford’s six 3-pointers made in the first half.

The Cardinal defense did the rest, forcing numerous Bears turnovers in the second half. That, combined with a four-minute scoreless stretch by Cal, did the Bears in.

Stanford had a decent shooting night, going 43 percent (23 of 53) from the floor and 80 percent at the free throw line (28 of 35).

The Cardinal improved to 15-7 overall and play again in one week, when they travel to the University of Washington for a Feb. 12 contest with the Huskies.