Stanford more than prepared for Cal in 75-46 win at Maples Pavilion

By Morris Phillips

STANFORD, CA–The hot-shooting Bears that throttled Stanford on January 6 didn’t necessarily impress their coach, Mark Fox. That same group arrived at Stanford on Saturday night without the shooting acumen, and they didn’t impress Fox either.

“I thought our defensive frustrations carried over to the offensive end and give them credit,” Fox said. “They made a bunch of baskets, we couldn’t string together any stops, and you can’t win that way on the road.”

Host Stanford raced to an 11-point halftime lead and led by as many as 37 in an easy 75-46 win over visiting Cal. Offensively, the Bears miserly 30 percent shooting didn’t put them in position to compete.

The Cardinal dominated the glass with a 47-30 edge in rebounds and used their physicality to deny the Bears. The win was Stanford’s fourth straight in what otherwise has been a frustrating season for them.

Maxime Raynaud led the Cardinal with 15 points, and Harrison Ingram added 14. Four other Stanford players scored at least eight points in a balanced effort offensively.

The Bears fell into last place in the Pac-12 with the loss and have lost all five contests since beating Stanford at the beginning of this month.

Cal travels to Colorado on Thursday tomeet the Buffs in hopes of ending their most recent losing streak.

Stanford Forcibly Puts California into Hibernation, Splitting the Battle of the Bay, 75-46; Fourth win in a row for Cardinal

Stanford head coach Jerod Haase seen here on Feb 19, 2022 coaching against he Colorado Buffaloes. Haase led the Cardinal to their fourth straight win in front of the bench on Sat Jan 28, 2023 at Maples Pavilion against the Cal Bears (AP News file photo)

By Michael Roberson

STANFORD, Calif. — The Stanford Cardinal (7-12, 3-7 Pac-12) avenged their blowout loss in Berkeley by violently de-clawing the California Golden Bears (3-18, 2-8 Pac-12) on the Farm, 75-46.

Both Bay Area teams battled the first 20 minutes; however, the homestanding Tree (Stanford) took charge in the latter part of the half with a 12-0 run and led by as much as 13 points.

California tried to scratch into the deficit, but still trailed by 11 at recess, 31-20.

Neither team presented a player with double-digit scoring, but Stanford’s sophomore forward Maxime Raynaud offered 9 points and 8 rebounds and Cal’s senior guard DeJuan Clayton gave his squad six points.

Midway through the second half, the Cardinal opened up a can of Whoop ***, widening their advantage to 26 points.  The onslaught got even worse after that for the Golden Bears, as their host continued the beatdown.

Stanford Branched the lead to a TREEmendous 37 points within the last three minutes of the game, but settled for a 29-point victory, 75-46.

The Cardinal put forth two players with double figure scoring.  The aforementioned Maxime Raynaud ended up with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals, while sophomore forward Harrison Ingram tallied 14 points, but gifted the Maples’ faithful and others with a thunderous facial jam over Cal’s ND Okafor.

The Golden Bears only had one player exceed the ten-point plateau.  Sophomore forward Sam Alajiki actually possessed double-figure points (13) and rebounds (11).

Stanford travels to Salt Lake City Thursday, February 2 (Groundhog’s Day) to take on the Utah Utes, while California treks to the Centennial State to invade the Colorado Buffaloes on the same date.

Couture’s 5 Points Boost Sharks to 6-4 Win Over Pens

The San Jose Sharks defenceman Erik Karlsson (65) puts the puck in the net on Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith (1) at PPG Paints Arena on Sat Jan 28, 2024 (@SanJoseSharks photo)

By Matthew Harrington

The San Jose Sharks snapped a four game losing streak, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-4 Saturday night from PNC Arena. Logan Couture had five points, including two goals and Alex Barabanov and Erik Karlsson had multipoint nights. Evgeni Malkin scored twice for the Pens and Sidney Crosby scored as well.

Malkin scored with 9:54 left in regulation to tie the game, but Couture scored with 4:25 left to play for the lead. He also scored an empty netter for his career high 5th point and 19th goal of the year.

Michael Eyssimont scored 1:25 into the game, but Malkin and Crosby scored power play goals for a 2-1 lead. Erik Karlsson scored his 16th of the year to tie the game 2-2 with seven seconds left in the opening frame.

Noah Gregor lit the lamp 4:54 into the second period for a 3-2 lead, Ryan Poehling responded with a short-handed strike with 5:06 left in the period. Alexander Barabanov handed the Sharks the brief lead, scoring his seventh of the year with 2:53 left in the second.

Kaapo Kähkönen made 37 saves for the Sharks in net for the win while Casey Desmith made 26 in defeat.

The Sharks get a brief rest but hit the road again on the other side of the break. They’ll face Tampa Bay, Florida and Washington to kick off the second half.

Timberwolves Defense Tops Kings Offense 117-100

Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (10) sets up against the Minnesota Timberwolves center Luke Garza (55) at the Target Center in Minnesota on Sat Jan 28, 2023 (@SacramentoKings photo)

Timberwolves Defense Tops Kings Offense 117-100

By Barbara Mason

Saturday night the Sacramento Kings (27-21) took on the Minnesota Timberwolves (27-25) at Target Center. Minnesota is coming off a win over the Memphis Grizzlies 111-100 while the Kings lost to the Raptors 113-95 Wednesday night.

Prior to that game, the Kings beat the Grizzlies in a blow out 133-100 last Monday. The Kings after winning six straight games have no dropped their second straight game this one in the first of two back to back games against the Timberwolves 117-100 on Saturday night.

The Kings are currently in third place in the Western Conference and the Raptors are in 12th place in the Eastern Conference.

The Timberwolves won the opening quarter 29-21 but the Kings came roaring back in the second quarter winning it 38-28. At the half the Kings had a slim lead 59-57.

The Raptors dominated the third quarter winning it 33-22 and led going into the fourth quarter 90-81. The Kings had made a move in the second quarter but Minnesota was the better team tonight.

De’Aaron Fox had a slow start that persisted through the first half but had picked it up in the second half finishing with 29 points. Minnesota had 19 turnovers but the Kings were unable to cash in on them. The Raptors shot at 52% while the Kings were at 45% and Sacramento really struggled from beyond the arc.

Anthony Edwards had a great game for the Raptors shooting for 34 points and D’Angelo Russell finished with 25 points. The Minnesota defense was outstanding and more than the Kings could handle in this game.

The Kings will have another go at the Timberwolves Monday night at Target. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:00 PM.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Bruins coach Montgomery leads by being positive; Heads or tails on Canucks new coach Tocchet for now; plus more NHL News

Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery talks with his players during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, in Boston. The Bruins hired Montgomery at the start of the 2022 season as their new coach. (AP News file)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 Matt, talk about Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery this is his second team in the NHL he first coached the Dallas Stars before being fired by them in 2019 and has done a bang up job as head coach leading the club to a 26-6-4. Talk about the job Montgomery has done building up the Bruins?

#2 Under Vancouver Canucks (19-26-3) new head coach Rick Tocchet he’s 2-1 so far and in the first win he handled the Chicago Blackhawks rather handily 5-2 and in the second game in Seattle the Canucks got crushed 6-1, and on Friday the Canucks picked up a three goal win over the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2. It’s early to tell but the Canucks critics say should have held onto Bruce Boudreau and let him finish out the season.

#3 Matt, are the Toronto Maple Leafs going to miss Austin Matthews something awful, Matthews is out with a knee sprain for three weeks, Matthews is second in goals, and is third in points. Matthews injured himself on Wednesday against the New York Rangers during a 3-2 overtime win.

#4 The Florida Panthers Aleksander Barkov will replace Matthews at center at the NHL All Star game in Florida on Sat Feb 4th. Barkov is second on the Panthers with 43 points with 13 goals and 30 assists. He should get a good ovation when he is introduced in Sunrise next Saturday.

#5 Despite winning seven of their last ten games the Chicago Blackhawks (15-28-4) and defeating one of the tougher teams in the NHL the Calgary Flames (23-17-9) 5-1 on Thursday night in Calgary the Blackhawks are looking to deal stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews each player is in the final year of their eight year contract.

Matt Harrington does the NHL podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Strong effort throughout leads to victory for Barracuda over Silver Knights 4-1

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda. The Barracuda celebrate a goal against the Silver Knights on January 27th 2023.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

After a slow start San Jose came back against the Silver Knights to grab a victory on the road by a 4-1 score.

The PK unit for the Barracuda had to get going early as just 4:59 into the first William Eklund took a holding penalty.

Thankfully for San Jose they were able to kill the penalty though not long after the kill they had to go on the penalty kill again.

This time Henderson’s PP unit came through as Lukas Cormier scored his sixth goal of the season to make it 1-0.

At the 14:07 mark Luke Johnson and Jermaine Loewen dropped the gloves getting the fans riled up.

Cormier’s goal ended up being the only goal of the first with the shots finishing in favor of San Jose 9-6.

The second period got off to a slow start with both teams exchanging shots on goal.

11:40 into the second though Sheldon Rempal took a holding penalty giving San Jose their second power play of the game.

On the power play Derrick Pouliot ripped a shot from the point that Kyle Criscuolo expertly deflected past Jiri Patera to tie the game up at 1-1.

The teams fought to a tie at the end of the second with the shots still favoring San Jose 20-11.

In the third it wouldn’t take long for Barracuda’s offense to strike as they had a rush going the other way.

On the rush Martin Kaut slung a pass to a waiting Andrew Agozzino who sniped a shot past Patera to make it 2-1 in favor of San Jose.

Later on in the third Kaut found himself on a breakaway but mishandled the puck forcing him to stickhandle wide.

Instead of giving up on the play Kaut turned back towards the net and scored on Patera getting his first goal with the Barracuda.

The Silver Knights pulled their goalie to try to get back into the game but C.J. Suess scored on the empty cage to make it 4-1.

The shots at the end of the game favored San Jose 30-28.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Andrew Agozzino 2nd: Martin Kaut 3rd: Kyle Criscuolo

San Jose plays tomorrow on the road against the Bakersfield Condors at 7 p.m.

No. 3 Cardinal women hold off OSU 63-60

Stanford forward Cameron Brink (22) reacts after Haley Jones, left, made a 3-point shot against Oregon State during the second half at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto on Fri Jan 27, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Friday, January 27, 2023

Cameron Brink and Haley Jones led Stanford at both ends of the floor Friday, as the No. 3 ranked Cardinal held off Oregon State 63-60 in women’s basketball at Maples Pavilion.

Brink scored 21 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked six shots for the Cardinal (20-2 overall, 8-1 Pac-12), while Jones was next with 17 points, eight boards and a block.

Timea Gardiner was the top scorer for Oregon State (11`-9 overall, 3-6 Pac-12) with 16 points, hitting 7 of 11 field goal attempts, including 2 of 3 behind the arc. Bendu Yeaney added 15 points to go with five rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Brink’s layup broke a 58-58 tie with 3:28 left in the fourth quarter, giving Stanford the lead. But Bendu Yeaney’s jumper in the lane tied the game again for OSU at 60-60.

Jones sank a pair of free throws at 1:02 of the fourth, and hit 1 of 2 foul shots at :23 to give the Cardinal a 63-60 lead. The Beavers’ Noelle Mannen missed a 3-pointer with seven seconds left, and after a Stanford foul on the rebound, Talana Lepolo stole the ball from Mannen with two seconds remaining.

Stanford held a 39-31 rebounding edge. The Cardinal was 22 of 54 from the field (41 percent), including 4 of 16 from 3-point range. OSU also shot 41 percent (25 of 61), while hitting 8 of 19 3’s. The Beavers were 2 of 2 on free throws, while Stanford was 15 of 18.

The Cardinal host Oregon at 1 p.m., Sunday, at Maples Pavilion.

Warriors Fourth Quarter Surge Puts Raptors Away 129-117

Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry (30) wakes up the crowd and led with 35 points against the Toronto Raptors at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Fri Jan 27, 2023 (@warriors photo)

Warriors Fourth Quarter Surge Puts Raptors Away 129-117

By Barbara Mason

Friday night the Golden State Warriors (25-24) took on the Toronto Raptors (22-28) at Chase Center. The Warriors were pressed as they took on one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the NBA they got a offensive shot in the arm in the fourth quarter and came away with a 129-117 win at Chase Center in San Francisco.

Golden State had a shaky start in the first quarter with two turnovers in a row to open this game. They trailed 16-8 at 7:31 before they got going. They continued to trail through the quarter but by the slimmest of margins. At 1:10 Stephen Curry hit a two point shot to tie the game at 31.

The Warriors took the lead briefly with under a minute 34-33. After the first 12 minutes the Raptors had a 36-34 lead. Not known for their three point shooting, near the bottom in the NBA, the Raptors came away with five of six in the first quarter.

The Warriors had come back from the early minutes of the first quarter to lead at the half 63-62. They won the second quarter 29-26. The Warriors only had four turnovers in the half, a vast improvement. The Warriors had 38 points in the paint and were shooting at 53%.

The Warriors had two turnovers to start this game and they had two turnovers to start the second half. The opening minutes of the third quarter were a hot mess for Golden State. With 2:45 left in the third not a thing had been decided; this game was knotted at 86 and it was anybody’s game.

The Warriors led after three quarters 98-94. Jonathan Kuminga was on fire in the quarter hitting four shots from downtown. Golden State won the third quarter 35-32 and would try to finish this game in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors continued to extend their lead in the fourth quarter with Curry on the bench 105-100 with 7:40 left on the clock. Curry re-entered the game and the rest is history. The duo of Curry and Klay Thompson was too much for the Raptors. Golden State finished off the fourth quarter putting Toronto away.

Curry came into the fourth quarter and along with Thompson banked a couple of three’s. Curry finished with 35 points and Thompson had 29 points. Off the bench, Kuminga had those four three’s in the third quarter and finished with 15 points. Golden State finished with 18 shots from downtown.

Toronto had a nice game but came up just short. They had a great night shooting from downtown hitting a dozen. Fred VanVleet had the high for the Raptors with 28 points.

On Monday the Warriors will travel to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder at Paycom Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:00 PM.

Sharks Stunned By Late Canes Rally, Lose 5-4 OT Decision

San Jose Sharks Nick Bonino (13) brings up the ice shavings in front of Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Annri Raanta (32) at PNC Arena in Raleigh NC on Fri Jan 27, 2023 (@SanJoseSharks photo)

By Matthew Harrington

In a season where the San Jose Sharks have found creative and painful ways to lose games Friday night proved to be a season-low. The Sharks had a 4-2 lead after scoring an empty net goal with 1:52 left in regulation, but surrendered two goals to the Carolina Hurricanes in the waning moments of regulation before Martin Necas netted the overtime winner 5-4.

Michael Eyssimont had a three-point night in the loss, Mario Ferraro had a goal and an assist and Nick Bonino and Oskar Lindblom lit the lamp in defeat. James Reimer made 31 saves for the Sharks (14-25-11), but Necas and Sebastian Aho scored a pair each and Calvin De Haan pitched in with a goal for the host Hurricanes (31-9-8).

The third period proved wild Friday night, as both teams were tied 1-1 entering the frame thanks to a goal by Lindblom and De Haan’s response both occurring in the final five minutes of the first period. Aho gave the Hurricanes the lead 17 seconds into the final frame with a power play goal.

Eyssimont picked off a Aho dump in, feeding Nick Bonino on a drive towards the Canes net for a breakway. Bonino beat Antti Raanta for his ninth goal of the season to tie the game at the 6:50 mark.

Eyssimont’s strong game continued after Nico Sturm kept a Mario Ferraro pass from jumping out of the offensive zone. He passed the puck to Eyssimont on the wall and drove the net, creating a screen for Eyssimont’s shot to sneak through to give San Jose a 3-2 lead with 8:45 left in regulation.

Ferraro picked up the empty netter at the 18:08 mark, but Sebastian Aho was able to slip behind the Sharks defense and take a pass from Teuvo Teravainen that Aho was able to easily shoot past Reimer just 15 seconds later to make it 4-3.

Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour pulled the goalie yet again, and this time it paid off after Aho’s near goalline fling on net rebounded in the slot to Necas with 12 seconds left. Necas was able to slide the rebound home for his 20th goal of the year and force overtime.

Necas played the hero in overtime after the Canes found themselves on a 3-on-1 breakaway after Eyssimont’s attempt to break up the rush failed. Andrei Svechnikov went down the left side and hit the cross-crease pass to Necas who buried the one-timer 55 seconds into the extra frame.

The Sharks have now lost four consecutive games, all on the road and have lost the last two in overtime. They won’t have long to scratch their heads over the loss as they head north to face the Pittsburgh Penguins at PNC Arena Saturday night. After that, they head to All-Star break before continuing the tough roadie with games against the Lightning, Panthers and Capitals before returning home to face the Penguins again on Valentine’s Day.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: Kings open up two game series Saturday in Minnesota against Timberwolves

The Sacramento Kings Kevin Huerter gets some hang time on a throw down against the Toronto Raptors at Golden 1 Arena in Sacramento on Wed Jan 25, 2023 (photo by @SacramentoKings)

On the Kings podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 The visiting Toronto Raptors used a big night from Pascal Siakam to upend the NBA Pacific-leading Sacramento Kings 113-95 Wednesday at Golden 1 Center.

#2 Siakam scored 26 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the Raptors. Precious Achiuwa was next with 19 points off the bench, Fred VanVleet scored 17 and reserve Chris Boucher had 16 points. O.G. Anunoby added 11 points for Toronto (22-27), which had lost four of their last six games prior to Wednesday.

#3 Kevin Huerter led Sacramento (27-20) with 21 points. Keegan Murray made four 3-poiners and wound up with 16 points, as did De’Aaron Fox, who also had eight assists. Harrison Barnes added 10 points, and Trey Lyles contributed five assists.

#4 After taking a one-point lead in the first quarter, the Raptors outscored Sacramento 60-44 over the second and third quarters. The Kings pulled to within 12 in the fourth quarter before the Raptors pulled away.

#5 The Kings open up a back-to-back series with the Timberwolves in Minnesota, starting with Saturday’s game. The two teams meet again in Minneapolis on Monday.

Join Jeremiah for the Kings podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com