By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, January 2, 2020
Stanford took advantage of a poor shooting night for California Thursday, as the Cardinal won their Pac-12 men’s basketball conference opener 68-52 over the Golden Bears at Maples Pavilion.
Cal (6-7 overall, 0-1 Pac-12) shot 32 percent (18 of 57) – including 4 of 15 from 3-point range. The Golden Bears lost despite having a 35-28 rebounding edge.
Forward Daejon Davis continued his strong season for Stanford (11-2 overall, 1-0 Pac-12), hitting 7 of 15 from the field, along with 3 of 6 3-pointers, for a game-high and season-high 20 points. He also had three steals, five assists and six rebounds.
Tyrell Terry was next in the Cardinal scoring column with 14 points, including 3 of 4 behind the arc. Jaden Delaire and Oscar da Silva each added eight points for Stanford.
The Cardinal made only two of its first 12 shots before making 11 of their next 19 attempts, a run that was capped by a Delaire 3-pointer with four seconds to play in the first half. Stanford led 32-21 at the break.
Defensively, the Cardinal held the Bears’ top two scorers – Matt Bradley and Kareem South – to a combined 2 of 17 floor shooting for eight points by the early stages of the second half. Bradley led Cal with 13 points.
One area of concern for Stanford is turnovers. The Cardinal have averaged 13.7 turnovers through their first nine games before committing 19 miscues in their previous four games.
The win snapped a streak of three losses in conference openers, and put Stanford back on the winning track after suffering a 72-56 home loss after winning its first eight games at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford has a week off before hosting Washington next Thursday.
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