Tag: Maples Pavilion

Cal Bears Podcast with Michael Duca and Morris Phillips: Cal win last Saturday at Stanford could help Cal turn the page

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By Michael Duca and Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–Cal did kind of a shocking thing being down 17 points behind Stanford last Saturday, down 11 points with 3:29 to play and they pulled it out in regulation and beat the Cardinal on Stanford’s home floor 74-71. 18 points in that last three minutes in 29 seconds. Cal scored 11 out of their last 13 possessions and to say a win like that is rare is an understatement.

When you think about the history of Cal at Maples Pavilion visiting Stanford and all of the struggles this might be one for the ages but definitely one that will last in the memory for quite awhile and for a team this young another building block for them to take and grow with. With 3:29 to play, FS1 broadcaster Steve Levin said Cal was trying to get it into single digits.

The Bears have a tough task coming as they face USC this Thursday and UCLA on Saturday.

Morris and Michael do the Cal podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Stanford Cardinal defeat Denver Pioneers 75-62 at home

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By Alexandra Evans

PALO ALTO–The Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball team returned home from Southern California (after getting defeated by Long Beach State 76-68 on Sunday, December 3) to face, and defeat, the University of Denver Pioneers.

Stanford, who recently endured four consecutive defeats before winning two of the three most recent matches, kept a lead over Denver the entire match, even though the Pioneers trailed close at various moments.

In addition to the Cardinal’s 75-62 win, this match also marked freshman Daejon Davis’ career-peaking game to date as his first college quarter comes to a close. The stars of the game were and Davis and Reid Travis, who each put up 20 points.

”With the long [5 day] stretch off, coach [Haase] really held us accountable on everything,” Davis said. ”The level of focus on the little things helped us.”

Even the Pioneers’ coach, Rodney Billups, had to acknowledge Davis’ acceleration.

“Davis got hot. We didn’t anticipate him making so many shots. If you look at his season stats from behind the arc, we would have bet that he would not make so many tonight. But good players make plays,” Billups said.

Isaac White was the runner-up for Stanford. He put up 17 points and contended that being under .500 is “unacceptable.” Losing teams do not make NCAA tournaments, White explained, clearly wanting to compensate for the Cardinal’s recent streak of losses.

”We got a win. That was the number one thing,” Jerod Haase, Stanford’s coach, said following the match, also noting that the team was much stronger offensively tonight.

The Cardinal will face the University of San Francisco Dons this Sunday, December 17, at 3:00 p.m.

Michael Duca and Morris Phillips on Cal basketball

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by Michael Duca and Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–The thing about Cal facing Creighton and losing last weekend in that non conference game is that loss won’t help them as we approach the NCAA Tournament on whose going to go and who isn’t. Cal head coach Mike Montgomery knows there’s not that many opportunities in the non-conference to make them last.

When the Golden Bears went to Maui and lost to Syracuse 91-82 November 26th Syracuse is ranked number two in the nation right now but they weren’t ranked number two when Cal played them after raking up a few more wins. The Bears didn’t beat Syracuse and they didn’t beat Creighton that will hurt them come selection time.

As far as the Bears next opponent Furman is concerned whom they play at Haas on Saturday they won’t give Cal much of a battle that will be the final non conference game for the Bears and they will see Stanford on January 2nd at Maples Pavilion to open their first conference game in the new year.

The Bears best game in non conference play was the game against Oakland which they won 64-61 the team from suburban Detroit that was in Berkeley on November 15th that game went down to the last two minutes. Oakland went onto do some almost wonderful things.

The Bears also took Michigan State down to the end of the wire that game was played at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan. Non conference basketball is where you don’t want any slip ups like losing to someone your not suppose to lose to because people will come and hurt you come selection tme.

The NCAA will select someone whose in the top 40 who will hurt you, especially since Cal comes off that loss to Creighton which is disappointing and you’ll see them bounce back pretty well. The Bears are in Stanford Jan 2 and you don’t want to open the conference season with a loss and Cal hasn’t had much success at Maples lately. The Bears have lost the last three or four in Maples.

The Bears have won at Stanford only once since Montgomery was the coach the win was in his first year it’s a tough place to play for Cal. Montgomery doesn’t get much a of reception down there any more even though he was a great coach at Stanford for many years and they’re going to have to deal with Stanford and their size. If anything we know that Stanford doesn’t shoot the ball well all the time and hopefully Cal can take advantage of it.

Morris Phillips covers the Cal Bears with Michael Duca for Sportstalk Radio

Stanford Upsets Tennessee in a Tight One

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By: Joe Lami

Saturday marked the second time that two top ten teams matched up against each other this week, as number one Connecticut defeated number two Duke earlier in the week.  On Saturday it would be number six Stanford defeating number three Tennessee 76-70.

“It was a great environment” losing coach, Holly Warlick stated, as 6,044 were on to see two great rivals match-up once again.

Tennessee started the game on a 4-0 run with buckets from Isabelle Harrison and Bashaaara Graves.  Stanford would answer back with a run of their own, scoring 13 straight, eight of which came from Chiney Ogwumike.  The other five points from freshman, Lili Thompson.

“We dug ourselves a big hole early, and it was tough to get out of” said a Warlick after the game.

Stanford would hold the lead for the rest of the game, with their biggest lead getting to 12 points multiple times.  The game would tighten up towards the end as Tennessee made a really strong push, cutting the lead to two with only a minute to go.  However, Junior Guard, Amber Orrange would come up huge for the Cardinal getting a lay-up and a foul shot to extend the lead to five and really put the game away.

Stanford was led by Ogwumike who registered 32 points for the second straight contest, this time however she did it while playing all 40 minutes.  Ogwumike also had 20 rebounds, with 11 of them coming on the offensive side of the glass.

“She doesn’t take a possession off, we had trouble with her all night” said Warlick on the play of Ogwumike.

Stanford had a strong performance as well from Freshman Guard, Thompson, who scored 14 points, while bringing down two rebounds in the 35 minutes that she played.

Stanford head coach, Tara VanDerveer had nothing but praise for Thompson’s play “Lili isn’t a freshman for us, and this isn’t the type of game for freshman, you can’t make freshman mistakes.”

Mikaela Ruef had eight points and eight rebounds for the Cardinal.  Coming off of the bench huge for Stanford was Taylor Greenfield scoring 11 points, with nine of them coming from beyond the arc.  The junior also brought down a single rebound.

“Taylor’s threes were huge for us today, it seemed like they were always falling at the right time” VanDerveer commented on Greenfield ‘s play.

On the other side of the ball, Tennessee was led by Ariel Massengale with 17 points.  Meighan Simmons was right behind her with 15 points, and Graves scored 14.  Harrison was on the only Lady Vol to record a double-double as she scored ten points, and added 13 rebounds.

The biggest stat of the night would have to be that of the rebound, as Stanford out-rebounded Tennessee 43-40.  VanDerveer praised the teams rebounding performance as she said to the team before the game, “If you win the battle on the boards, you will win this game.”  Though Stanford did give up 21 offensive rebounds to the Lady Vols that led to 24 second chance points, the head coach was still thrilled about the performance.  She also said that rebounding and boxing out needs to be constantly worked on throughout the season, as Cal will be a very similar team to Tennessee.

With the win, Stanford has beaten the Lady Volunteers in three consecutive contests for the first time in series history.  Stanford also defends Maples Pavilion, as Tennessee has been unsuccessful there since the 2005-06 season.

Tennessee is handed their first loss of the season and moves to 10-1.  They will go on a holiday break and return to the floor on December 29th for the last time of 2013, as they host Lipscomb.  After the New Year, they will then start SEC conference play with their first game against LSU.

Stanford keeps their winning streak alive and moves it up to nine games, and ups their record to 10-1.  The Cardinal will also go on holiday break and return to action December 28th against the Fresno St. Bulldogs in Fresno.  After the New Year, Stanford will also start their conference play with their next home game against the Oregon Ducks on January 3rd.

Stanford Continues Dominance of Davis in 83-56 Win as Huestis Moves Up Cardinal All-time Blocks List

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By Matthew Harrington

Stanford continued its dominance over UC Davis Saturday night at Maples Pavilion, with the Cardinal (7-2) crushing the visiting Aggies 83-56. The victory stands as Stanford’s 17th triumph against Davis (3-8), while the Aggies’ lone victory in the series came in December of 2005.

Stanford forward Dwight Powell registered a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds while guard Chasson Randle netted a game-high 16 points, all but one of them coming on his five three-pointers. The Cardinal nailed 31 of 53 field-goal attempts, including 11 shots from beyond the arc. Forward Georgi Funtarov led the Aggies on the stat sheet, dropping 13 points for an otherwise offensively-stymied UC Davis squad. In total, the visitors connect on only 20 of 58 field goal tries.

Forward Josh Huestis had 15 points on the night and swatted away four Aggies shots to continue his climb up the Cardinal all-time blocks list. The four rejections places the senior from Great Galls, MT into a tie for third-best alongside Curtis Borchardt who ended his Stanford career with 146 denials.

With UC Davis trailing 8-0 four minutes in to the game, Darius Green made the first Aggie basket, a three-pointer to cut the Cardinal advantage to five points. Corey Hawkins would add the only other two points Davis would score in the next eight minutes of play, as Stanford went on a run to expand its lead to a commanding 22-5 edge. By the half the hosts held a 40-23 lead and did not let up. The closest Davis came to catching up with Stanford came 2:30 into the half after a Hawkins trey trimmed the Cardinal lead to a 16-point, 46-28 margin. That would be the closest they got as Stanford coasted to its second-straight victory.

The Cardinal next travels to Hartford to take on perennial power Connecticut in a Wednesday night tilt that will air on ESPN2. Following the contest, Stanford will travel to Brooklyn for a Saturday marquee match-up against Michigan, the team that nearly upset top-ranked Arizona Saturday afternoon, in the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports 1.

Cardinal Keeps Bulldogs on Leash

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By Joe Lami

The Stanford Cardinal returned to the court on Saturday, after a two-week long hiatus for finals.  They took on the number 23 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs, and defeated them by the score 73-45.

The Bulldogs came into the game with a record of 8-1, with their only loss coming to the 11 ranked Oklahoma Sooners by the final score of 82-78.  The Zags were also riding a six-game winning streak coming into Maples Pavilion.

The first couple of minutes were going back and forth with a score of 9-8 in favor of Stanford, until around the 15-minute mark Stanford started to pull away from the Bulldogs. Stanford had gone on a 24-8 run to end the half to make the lead 33-19.

Stanford continued the dominance in the second as well, outscoring their opponent 40-26, to give them the 73-45 win.

Stanford was lead by Senior, Chiney Ogwumike who scored 19 points, just one point shy of recording her seventh 20-point game.  However, she was held to only seven rebounds, a season low at home.  Amber Orrange had anther strong outing for the Cardinal scoring ten points and three assists.  Freshman, Kailee Johnson came off of the bench to score 11 points, a new career high. Johnson also led the Cardinal in rebounding with eight, another career high for her young career.

Sonja Greinacher led the Bulldogs in scoring with 18, all of them coming from the field.  Greinacher also had six rebounds, with five of them coming on the offensive side.  Elle Tinkle, younger sister of former Stanford player Joslyn, was held scoreless, but still had two rebounds.

With the win, Stanford ups their record to 8-1, seven of them have been consecutive.  The Cardinal return to Maples on Monday, where they will host the New Mexico Lobos.  Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game can be heard live in the Bay Area on Stanford radio, 90.1 FM KZSU, or online at kzsuive.stanford.edu.

 

 

Stanford Has the Perfect Mexican Road Trip

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By: Joe Lami

The Stanford Cardinal wrapped up their three game road trip with a victory over the South Dakota State Jackrabbits on Thursday. The Cardinal were victorious in all three of their games as part of the Hardwood Tournament of Hope, with victories over Purdue, Florida Gulf Coast and South Dakota State.  The number six-ranked team moves onto a record of 7-1, and improves their winning streak to 6 games.

Stanford beat the Jackrabbits by the final score of 80-60.  Their first half was quite impressive as they held the Jackrabbits to only 19 points.  The Cardinal were leading 20-14 with about ten minutes left in the first half when they completely took over the game; Stanford then went on a 20-5 run to end the half.

Stanford came out of half time leading by the score of 40-19.  The game was completely in their hands.  The second half went back and forth and was really tight, but the 21-point lead going into the half would be more than enough for Stanford to earn the victory.

Chiney Ogwumike led the squad with 29 points in 29 minutes.  The pre-season All-American also added 12 rebounds to record her sixth double-double of the year.  Guard Amber Orrange also contributed 13 points, four assists and five steals.  Freshman Kaliee Johnson came off of the bench and had her second straight game where she found double digits in scoring with ten points.  Redshirt Senior, Mikaela Ruef helped out a lot as well, though she only recorded one point, she had 12 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block.

Ogwumike was also given the tournament MVP, as she averaged 26 points, 11 rebounds and shot nearly 78 percent over the three days.

Megan Waytashek led the Jackrabbits with 13 points, including nine from beyond the arc.  Forward Megan Stuart was the only other player to hit double digits in scoring, as she came off of the bench to add 11.

The Cardinal return back to the farm with a record of 7-1 and get a couple of weeks off for finals. They then return back to Maples Pavilion on December 14 to take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Ogwumike Records Fourth Double-Double of the Season in Win Over UC Davis

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By: Joe Lami

The Stanford Cardinal came into Sunday’s contest against the UC Davis Aggies riding a win from Friday night, where they defeated the Cal Poly Mustangs 86-51.  The Aggies came into Maples Pavilion with a record of 0-2, with losses to USC and Pacific.

Davis was the first team to get on the board after four missed baskets by the Cardinal to start the game.  The 2-0 lead for the Aggies would be the only one they would see all day, as Stanford would get two baskets in a row from Lili Thompson and Mikaela Ruef.  The Cardinal would not look back as they extended their lead to 14 going into halftime.

Coming out of the first half Stanford would knock down four baskets before the Aggies would find the hoop again, this time a three-pointer coming from Sydnee Fipps.  Stanford would struggle a bit to extend their lead further in the second half, only outscoring the Aggies by four, but it was a strong enough performance to net their third victory of the year.

Chiney Ogwumike lead the way for the Cardinal scoring 28 points, she also recorded 15 rebounds on her way to achieving her fourth double-double on the young season.  Freshman Karlie Samuelson led the bench in scoring for Stanford with eight points in 33 minutes played.  Stanford out rebounded the Aggies 49-37, but was still in double digits in turnovers with 11.

Fipps was the only Aggie to get into double figures for UC Davis as she recorded 14, Kelsey Harris had nine and Briana Salvatore had eight.

With the win, head coach Tara VanDerveer, records her 897th win in her prestigious career and Stanford also moves onto a record of 3-1.  The Aggies fall to 0-3, and are still looking for their first win of the season.  UC Davis hosts San Jose State on November 26.

Stanford has almost a week off until they tip-off once again.  They travel to Austin, Texas to take on the Longhorns next Saturday.

Stanford Ladies Return Home and to Their Winning Ways

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By: Joe Lami

The number three Stanford Cardinal returned to Maples Pavilion for the first time this season on Friday night, where they beat the Cal Poly Mustangs by the final score of 86-51. It was the first time that the Cardinal have played on their home floor since March 26th, where they hosted Michigan in a second round NCAA tournament matchup.

The Cardinal are coming off a two game east coast road trip which started the season with a record of 1-1.  After a win against Boston College, the Cardinal went to take on number one Connecticut, a game where they would fall 76-57.

Friday night’s game was back and forth between Stanford and Cal Poly for the first ten minutes, seeing six different lead changes.  It was a close game up until Stanford broke free and went on a 27-10 run to end the half.  The halftime score was 41-27.  Stanford continued to dominate the second half of play as well, outscoring Cal Poly 45-24.

Stanford was led by Chiney Ogwumike, who scored 36, a new career high.  She also brought down 11 rebounds in Friday nights’ win.  For Ogumike, its’ her third double-double in as many games and also the 61st in her career on the farm.  Ogwumike was also the only Stanford player to get into double figures, as the next closest player was Mikaela Ruef with nine.  Though Stanford only had one player in double digits, it was a complete team game for the Cardinal as ten different players got onto the scoring sheet.  All of Stanford’s starters got on the scoring sheet as well, as Ruef scored nine, Ogwumike had 36, Kailee Johnson scored seven and Lili Thompson and Amber Orrange each had six.

Stanford continues to struggle with turnovers however, where Cal Poly forced another 15, totaling 46 in only three games.  Luckily for the Cardinal, they were able to dominate the boards once again, outrebounding the Mustangs 47-37.The Cardinal up their record to 2-1 in the win, and they will cap off their short two game home stand on Sunday against the UC Davis Aggies with a scheduled tip for 2 p.m. before they go back on the road to take on Texas.

Cal dusts Denver, moves to 2-0

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By Morris Phillips

Mike Montgomery’s carefully crafted non-conference schedule led to big doings on the court as the Bears blew past Denver on Monday, 77-50.

Cal improved to 2-0 on the season and they’ve won 35 of 41 non-conference games under Montgomery in the veteran coaches’ five-plus seasons in Berkeley.

The Bears started fast against the smaller, outmanned Pioneers, establishing a 24-5 lead twelve minutes into the first half.  David Kravish ignited the offense early and finished with 15 points.  Tyrone Wallace led with 16 points and Richard Solomon grabbed a career-best 16 rebounds.

Cal’s 40-20 advantage on the glass and the Pioneers 20 percent shooting in the first half jump off the stat sheet, but both appeared to be a byproduct of the Bears’ coaches’ familiarity with Denver’s sneaky backdoor cuts after playing the Pioneers in each of the last two seasons.

“The main thing you have to do against Denver is maintain your concentration,” Montgomery warned.  “They kind of lull you to sleep.”

The Bears beat Denver by 21 at Haas in 20011.  Last year’s game was competitive for a half in Denver then the Bears pulled away in the second half behind the Crabbe-Cobbs duo.  Because of the experience in Denver, Montgomery knew his defense had to disrupt Chris Udofia and Brett Olson, the Pioneers’ leading scorers.  And his Bears adhered, holding the duo to 16 combined after they got 33 in 2012.

“We didn’t get off to a good start, our shooting, obviously was non-existent, I mean for all intents and purposes.  I mean in general obviously it was a very tough assignment right out of the gate, against a veteran older team,” Denver coach Joe Scott said, touching on the fact that Cal had a game under their belt while the Pioneers were playing their opener.

The Bears shot 59 percent in the opening half, led by 17 at the break, and were actually outshot (50 percent to 44 percent) in the second half, but still outscored Denver by 10.  But Scott’s group was more than obliging in their lack of desire to shoot inside the arc—more than half their shot attempts came from three—rebound at either end, or take care of the ball (committing 14 turnovers).

Denver’s lack of aggression or firepower kept Solomon and Kravish on the floor for ample minutes without worry of foul trouble and the pair came up big most often on put backs and feeds from Justin Cobbs who had six assists.  After just two games, it’s apparent that the two starters will be the only real size in Cal’s nine-deep rotation making it imperative that the two not only stay on the floor, but stay on the floor together.

“When we get going we can be pretty good,” Solomon said.  “We’re long athletic, we can jump, we like to rebound, and we like to get the ball too.”

The Bears opening stretch includes Oakland (of suburban Michigan) on Friday and Southern Utah on Monday.  Of the opening quartet, the SUU Jaguars currently rank as the juggernaut of the group, ranking 212 in the current 351-team labyrinth of Division I.  So the Bears won’t garner any much-needed NCAA style points early, but they do seem to be gaining an identity as a typically-unselfish offensive team with some real potential along with depth on the wings.

Accordingly, all eyes are on 6’6” Jabari Byrd, Cal’s highest-ranking recruit.  The Richmond native seems eager to please, but hasn’t really put it together in either of the first two games.

“He’s going to be really good,” Montgomery said of Bird.  “He was probably a little bit nervous.  He wants to be good.  You just have to keep working.  He’ll be fine when he gets his feet under him and more comfortable with the offense and more comfortable with where his shots are going to come from.”

EARLY OBSERVATIONS:  All of the Pac-12 teams have a game or two under their belts and clear vision doesn’t require a prescription.  Arizona is really good, maybe even a Final Four capable team with the addition of San Jose’s Aaron Gordon and others, likely well ahead of Oregon and UCLA.  Cal is either the best of the next group of four–depending on whether you trust AP, USA Today or the conference media pre-season poll—or not in that group at all.   Cal’s lack of size and overall youth suggest they’ll need the smoothest of rides.  But if that happens, it’s possible that one or more of Arizona State, Colorado, Stanford or Washington could falter pushing the Bears into NCAA consideration in what appears to be a robust three-to-five bid league.

Stanford—picked by most to finish ahead of Cal despite the differences in recent pedigree–looked to be a prime candidate to disappoint on Monday when they fell at Maples Pavilion to BYU in a wild shootout 112-103.  The West Coast conference contender shot 53 percent against the Cardinal and incredibly missed 15 free throws while scoring 112 points.  Stanford looked ragged tactically and lacking defensively allowing the starting BYU backcourt to combine for 57 points.