Tag: Pac-12

Dog Days Are Over: Cal clips the Huskies to end 16-game losing streak

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, Calif. — Washington coach Mike Hopkins may have been the first to grasp what was transpiring when he called a pair of early timeouts to express his exasperation with the indifference his Huskies were displaying on defense.

Ultimately, Hopkins’ timeouts didn’t work.

The Cal Bears, off a favorable start, wavered briefly before halftime, only to recover and hand Pac-12 leading Washington a damaging 76-73 loss that will weigh heavily with the NCAA selection committee. Immediately, Cal’s win ends their 16-game losing streak that had outweighed any positives Wyking Jones’ team had gathered in a trying season.

“We knew we had it in us. We just had to find it,” said Connor Vanover. “It took awhile, but now I think moving forward we will have a clear head. If we can beat Washington, why not anyone else?”

Meanwhile, Washington found little consolation in winning the conference regular season title despite the loss when their closest pursuers, Oregon State and Arizona State, both loss on Thursday.

“We didn’t respect the game,” Crisp said. “We didn’t respect our opponent. We just expected we would come out and win the game. Obviously, you’re never going to win basketball games like that.”

The Bears bothered Washington early with a 2-3 zone that forced the Huskies into some careless turnovers, and quick, fruitless possessions. The Bears took the lead, 19-16, on Paris Austin’s 3-pointer with 11:57 remaining before halftime.

Any scenario seeing the Bears end their lengthy losing streak would have to involve an offensive explosion since the nation’s 313th-ranked defense was unlikely to make a difference at the Pac-12 level. And that formula played out as Darius McNeill,  Connor Vanover and Justice Sueing combined for 51 points, and the team shot 55 percent from the floor, and 53 percent from distance. The Bears shared the ball, solving Washington’s frequent use of a 2-3 zone.

“They kept their composure,” Jones said of his Bears’ poise down the stretch. “We turned it over a couple times, late, and they did as well, but the guys just continued to believe, more than anything. Connor continues to shine and kind of give us all a preview of how good he can be.”

And most importantly, the Huskies were limited, failing to produce a run that could create some separation on the scoreboard.

Instead, the Huskies blinked, scoring just four points in the final 5:03 of the game, allowing Cal to protect a paper-thin lead.

With Washington misfiring, the Bears got their final basket from Vanover with 3:26 remaining. Three made free throws broke the tie and gave Cal a lead they would protect.

The Huskies missed three shots in the final minute, including a good look from David Crisp at the buzzer. Crisp led all scorers with 32 points, but only 5 of those 32 came in the final 12 minutes of the game.

“We’ve done about everything wrong in the last couple games where we give up the lead within the last five minutes,” Sueing said. “Going into this game, we were used to having that close, intense matchup. We made it a thing to make sure we stayed together and fight until the end.”

“You got to play with passion and have a chip on our shoulder with every possession and we didn’t have that tonight,” Hopkins said. “We didn’t have basic principles. We were breaking down and you can’t do that with your foundation.”

Cal hosts Washington State on Saturday, their final home game before they close the regular season at Stanford on March 9.

Stanford routs WSU at Maples 98-50

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

by Joey Friedman

PALO ALTO — The Stanford Cardinal (15-13, 8-8 in Pac-12) routed the Washington State Cougars (11-17, 4-11) by a final score of 98-50 on Thursday night after dropping two consecutive road games to the Arizona schools last weekend. They looked to redeem themselves against the 11th-seeded Cougars with the Pac-12 tournament just a 3-game home-stand away.

Stanford looked focused on both offense and defense to start the game. On the back of 6 forced turnovers, 4 steals, and 3 blocks and they stretched their lead to 24 points with the score 31-7 with 10 minutes left in the first half. In that time, Cormac Ryan made 3 of his first 4 three-pointers and KZ Okpala led the Cardinal with 11 points. Okpala finished the half with 16 points and 8 rebounds.

Ryan, battling two ailing ankles, played tonight game assisted by what appeared to be heavy-duty ankle braces.

Sophomore point guard Daejon Davis injured his knee midway through the first half. Although he didn’t return to the court, he did return to the bench with crutches later on. No update had been made available since.

Stanford’s lead only grew, as everything appeared to be going right for the Cardinal. They took a 52-15 lead to the locker room at the half. Stanford converted a remarkable 64% (7-12) of their three-pointers in the first half after combining for a 15% 3 pointer percentage in the two games against the Arizona schools on the road last week. They also smothered the Cougars who shot just 23% from the field in the first half and were kept scoreless from beyond the arc (0-8).

The second half was more of the same. Sophomore Isaac White hit 3 3-pointers of his own in the second half. He finished the game tied with Cormac Ryan for second on the team in points with 14.

Freshman Jaiden Delaire finished with 12 points, 8 of which came in the second half. Fellow freshman Bryce Wills also finished in double digits with 10 points to pair with 5 assists. Senior Josh Sharma had 8 points and 7 rebounds while freshman Lukas Kisunas had a career-high 7 rebounds. Two of Stanford starters, Deajon Davis and Oscar Da Silva, didn’t score.

Stanford finished the game shooting 60% from the field and 54% from 3-point range. Stanford also collected a total of 20 assists. They forced 15 WSU turnovers and collected 26 points off those turnovers as a result. Head coach Jerod Hasse praised Stanford’s energy level tonight, especially on defense.

What’s Next?
Stanford will host the 25th ranked Washington Huskies on Sunday at 1:00 PM before they host the rival Cal Bears to close out the season. Washington is the 1-seed in the Pac-12 and the only school in the conference to be ranked.

Washington State will travel across The Bay to the 12-seed California Bears on Sunday at 4:00 PM before they host the Oregon schools to close out the regular season.

Stanford kicks off final homestand of the season vs. Washington State Thursday

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By: Ana Kieu

Last week, Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball toured the Grand Canyon State with two conference matchups against the Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe, Ariz. on February 20th and the Arizona Wildcats in nearby Tuscon, Ariz. on February 24th, respectively. Stanford got swept by both teams by the final scores of 80-62 and 70-54 in that order. It was unfortunate as the Cardinal had just built up a two-game win streak in Palo Alto, Calif. prior to boarding the two flights. But what can the team do? They can only move on and learn from previous mistakes.

Anyways, Stanford (14-13, 7-8 Pac-12) has been slated to open the final homestand of the season at Maples Pavilion. Game one has been scheduled for Thursday evening versus the Washington State Cougars, who currently sit second to last in the conference with a 11-16, 4-10 Pac-12 record, at 6:00 pm PT on the Pac-12 Network.

Yes, Stanford sits two spots above Washington State, but that won’t automatically mean that the Cardinal will win the conference matchup. Just take a look at my alma mater, San Jose State Spartans, this season under second-year head coach Jean Prioleau, who mustered a measly 3-23, 0-14 MW. As you can see, those three wins weren’t conference wins, so there’s a thing or two that makes conference games a tad bit tough, like, say, opposing team strength and quality of game site. If I missed anything, please contact me directly on Twitter @AnaKieu. Thank you!

Stanford was exposed to the hot-shooting Sun Devils and Wildcats, who both managed to get hot at the right times to down the Cardinal by far-fetched routs. Stanford was without Daejon Davis in Tempe. While Davis returned just in time for the Tuscon tilt, Stanford needed more than Davis’ leadership with 14 points for double figures to rise above Oscar da Silva’s 12 points, Josh Sharma’s 11 points and KZ Okpala’s 10 points.

Stanford’s stats were extremely poor as they shot just 39.6% from the field overall and finished 4-of-20 from beyond the arc in Tuscon. That being said, Stanford proved to be significantly better in the second half, shooting 52.2%. However, Arizona shot 50% in the second half to keep up and outlast the Cardinal in the end.

Oh, and in other news, Milwaukee Bucks center and Stanford alum Brook Lopez hosted a block party Monday night against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. The Bucks downed the Bulls 117-106. Lopez scored 13 points and four rebounds in 27 minutes played. Lopez, a North Hollywood, Calif. native, played college basketball at Stanford from 2006-2008 and was selected 10th overall by the New Jersey Nets in the 2008 NBA Draft.

Wildcats hand Stanford second straight Pac-12 defeat

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, February 23, 2019

Stanford dropped its second game of the Southwest road trip in Tucson on Sunday, as Arizona thumped the Cardinal 70-54 in Pac-12 men’s basketball.

Ira Lee led the Wildcats with 16 points, followed by Chase Jeter with 14. It was Arizona’s 19th straight victory over Stanford. Justin Coleman added 14 points and five assists.

It was Arizona’s second win over the Bay Area teams this week after defeating California on Wednesday, ending a seven-game losing streak.

The Wildcats (16-12, 7-8) jumped to an 11-point lead early and snuffed out two Stanford runs, as the Cardinal have been winless at McKale Center since 2008. Stanford missed seven of its first eight shots in the opening five minutes.

U of A led 31-23 at halftime. The Wildcats hit 7 of 16 3-pointers in the second half, while connecting on 14 of 28 field goals.

Stanford (14-13, 7-8) was led offensively by Daejon Davis with 14 points. Oscar Da Silva added 12 points. Prior to the current road trip, the Cardinal had been on a roll, winning five of their last six games before losing to Arizona State on Wednesday.

For the second straight game, KZ Okpala was out of the Cardinal lineup due to what Coach Jarod Haase called “an upper body injury.”

The Cardinal return home on Thursday to host Washington State.

Stanford Cardinal podcast with Joey Friedman: Can Cardinal hold off Wildcats after loss at ASU?

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

On the Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast with Joey Friedman:

#1 The Stanford Cardinal (14-12) absolutely got demolished on Wednesday at ASU (18-8). What were some of the fundamental issues on defense to contain the Sun Devils?

#2 The Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurely after the game was wearing a gangster shirt while addressing reporters and said that it was his gangster shirt and his players played like gangsters and delivered.

#3 On defense, the Cardinal tried everything and KZ Okpala said that he was overwhelmed by the turnovers and shooting that ASU capitalized on.

#4 Head coach of the Cardinal Jerod Haase said considering how hard the defense played it was disappointing with all that passion that Stanford had to take loss like this.

#5 It’s onto Tucson on Sunday and the Wildcats. Can the Cardinal contain the Arizona defense in that game?

Stanford Cardinal podcasts are heard each Friday with Joey Friedman at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Stanford prepares for another duel in the desert against Arizona Sunday

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: azcentral.com

By: Ana Kieu

Ah, the Stanford Cardinal didn’t get the final result that they likely hoped for in Wednesday evening’s conference game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at the Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Ariz. But have no fear as the Cardinal prepare for another duel in the desert against the Arizona Wildcats at the McKale Center in Tuscon, Ariz. Sunday at 5:00 pm PT on ESPN2. Be there or be square.

Sad news was that the Cardinal (14-12, 7-7 Pac-12) also came off a two-game sweep at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif. against the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins on February 13th and 16th, respectively. So it was likely difficult for them to fathom a large loss 80-62 to the Sun Devils (18-8, 9-5 Pac-12), who currently hold onto a two-game win streak. Anyways, a Cardinal win over Arizona (14-12, 5-8 Pac-12) is completely feasible as the latter is three steps below them in the conference standings as well as the fact that they’re currently on a four-game losing skid. The Wildcats’ last win came on January 31st in a rivalry (and road) game against ASU.

Sure, Stanford recently suffered a loss at the hands of ASU, but there were a couple of silver linings about that miserable game. Senior center Josh Sharma and sophomore forward Oscar da Silva combined for 32 points in a losing effort for the Cardinal. It was just that ASU looked good and Stanford was unable to go on a shooting streak. Well, at least in my humble opinion. By the way, I was covering San Jose State vs. Colorado State that night. But I did check out parts of the game on my laptop. That’s better than nothing, right?

But you have to keep in mind that the Cardinal’s still without the services of their leading scorer and sophomore forward KZ Okpala, who remains day-to-day with an injury. Moreover, the Cardinal just put on a 2-of-21 shooting performance against ASU, which was downright terrible to say the least. ASU’s win evened the season series between the two schools. Stanford defeated ASU, 85-71, in the first meeting on January 19th at Maples Pavilion.

The Cardinal men’s basketball Twitter tweeted out “Right back to work tomorrow. Another opportunity awaits on Sunday.” There’s a chance that they’ll rebound and pick up a win at Arizona, but until then, we’ll see how things go.

Prediction: Stanford picks up a 95-70 win over Arizona.

Hot-shooting Sun Devils rout Cardinal 80-62

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: gostanford.com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, February 20, 2019

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State Coach Bobby Hurley was wearing his black shirt on Wednesday because, he explained, “It’s my gangster shirt.

“Our guys played like gangsters tonight, and the guys delivered. It was a great win for us.”

Stanford, playing without leading scorer KZ Okpala, tried everything defensively, but couldn’t contain the Sun Devils in an 80-62 Pac-12 men’s basketball loss at Wells Fargo Arena.

Going into the game, Stanford, which defeated the Sun Devils 85-71 on Jan. 12 at Maples Pavilion, had won five of its last six games, six of its last eight.
The win keeps Arizona State (18-8, 9-5) in third place in the conference, while the Cardinal (14-12, 7-7) dropped to seventh place in the Pac-12 race.

“We’ve done a great job all season of not getting too high or getting too low,” Cardinal Coach Jerod Haase said. “It was certainly disappointing, considering how hard the guys played, and the passion they played with.

“We didn’t play well, especially shooting the basketball. We have to be more effective if we’re going to get some more wins.”

Okpala, who averages 17.4 points per game for the Cardinal, did not play due to what Haase called “an upper body injury,’ adding that there’s no timetable for Okpala’s return.

“I don’t think it affected our shooting, but I think it affected the game because he’s so talented,” Haase said. “The guys shooting the shots were the guys I wanted shooting. They’re very talented.”

Remy Martin and Rob Edwards led the Sun Devils with 16 points each. Martin added six assists and two steals; Edwards had four assists. Martin, Edwards and Luguentz Dort each grabbed five rebounds, as ASU held a 38-32 rebounding edge.

Josh Sharma was Stanford’s top scorer with 17 points — 10 of them in the first half. Oscar Da Silva was next with 15 points. Sharma and Ryan Cormac had seven and six rebounds, respectively.

Defensively, Arizona State held the Cardinal 38 percent shooting (21-of-55) — 2-of-20 from behind the 3-point arc. That lack of firepower hurt Stanford from late in the second half to throughout the second half, when the Cardinal couldn’t get any closer than seven points.

“It was a combination of everything,” Haase said. “We had some great opportunities around the rim, and some open 3’s that weren’t effective. Then, Arizona State has a very talented team that had enough makes to never let us get too close.”

After each team scored within the opening minute, both the Sun Devils and Cardinals went nearly 3 ½ minutes without scoring until Sharma hit a jumper in the paint.

Arizona State led most of the first half, but the Cardinal stayed close, pulling to within 35-32 on Marcus Sheffield’s 3-pointer at 1:43. But the Devils made a late 7-2 run, capped by Martin’s long 3-pointer, giving ASU a 42-34 halftime lead.

From there, the Sun Devils gradually extended their lead. Zylan Cheatham’s 3-pointer at 4:50 of the second half put ASU up 66-52, capping another 7-2 run. De’Quon Lake’s free throw with 40 seconds left gave Arizona State an 80-60 lead, with an announced crowd of 10,327 roaring its approval.

The Sun Devils shot 51 percent (27-of-53) from the field, including 9-of-22 3-pointers (41 percent), and handled the Cardinal’s various defensive switches from man-to-man to various zones.

“We worked on it,” Hurley said. “We knew they would play man and some 2-3 and a 1-3-1, so we were prepared for what they’ve been doing recently.”

“ASU plays hard. They do a nice job of pressuring the basketball,” Haase said. “They’re great on their ball-screen coverages and put us back on our heels a little bit.

“But in the first half, we had too many turnovers. Some of the shots could have gone in, but the reality is that (ASU) did a nice job.”

In the second half, Stanford free throw shooters were 8-of-17 against the vaunted Curtain of Distraction.

The Cardinal’s southwest road trip continues with a visit to Tucson Sunday to face Arizona. Tip-off is at 5 p.m.

TAGS: Stanford, Arizona State, Pac-12, Sports Radio Service,

Stanford heads to Arizona State for Pac-12 showdown Wednesday evening

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By: Ana Kieu

After a rough road trip in the Beaver State, Stanford men’s basketball rebounded with two straight home wins over rivals USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins, respectively. The Cardinal routed the Bruins 104-80 on February 16th and edged the Trojans 79-76 on February 13th. Not bad for two Bay Area versus Los Angeles style showdowns.

But Stanford (14-11, 7-6 Pac-12) now has a tall order with a brief stop in the desert, where they’ll take on the Arizona State Sun Devils, who currently stand tall with a 17-8, 8-5 Pac-12 record, and pay a visit to the Arizona Wildcats, who are third to last in the conference with a 14-12, 5-8 Pac-12 record. Tempe and Tucson are two different cities that are 100 miles apart, but I doubt the travel time and time difference won’t be factors in the Cardinal’s next two games. The Cardinal will bring a two-game win streak, while the Sun Devils will be looking to make it two wins in a row. ASU last defeated the Utah Utes 98-87 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on February 16th.

The Cardinal had won five of their last six games, which has been a positive sign for the wishy-washy team even though they likely won’t become a promising postseason contender this year. If you’re antsy for the game, you can check out GoStanford.com for their live countdown to the tipoff. You can thank me later, too.

Not only did Stanford beat UCLA, Josh Sharma–a Cardinal senior center–was voted the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Player of the Week Monday. Sharma led the Cardinal to a sweep of the LA-based schools. The Cardinal’s win over the Bruins was their largest in 22 years. The Cardinal’s currently tied with Colorado and USC for fifth in the conference at 7-6 in Pac-12 play.

Sharma averaged a double-double for the week at 18.0 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game. He posted his second career double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds in the win over UCLA. His 22-point performance was one shy of his career-high, which was set earlier this season against Long Beach State.

Sharma, the Pac-12’s field goal percentage leader at 69%, finished 10-of-11 from the field in the win over UCLA, becoming just the 10th player in Cardinal history with at least nine field goals made and just one or no missed field goal attempts in a game. He finished Saturday’s win with seven dunks.

Sharma registered 14 points and nine rebounds in the win over USC on Wednesday.

Sharma was recognized by the Pac-12 for the second time this season. He was also named the conference’s player of the week on Dec. 31. He’s the first Stanford player to be recognized with the conference’s weekly award multiple times in the same season since Landry Fields in 2009-10. He’s also the sixth Cardinal to accomplish the feat all-time, joining Fields (2009-10), Matt Haryasz (2005-06), Matt Lottich (2003-04), Adam Keefe (1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-92) and Todd Lichti (1988-89).

Cal Bears podcast with Morris Phillips: Cal heads to ASU in hopes to pick up their first Pac-12 win of the season Wednesday

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @CalMBBall

On the Cal Bears basketball podcast with Morris:

#1 The Cal Bears (5-20) head into Wednesday night’s game to face the ASU Sun Devils (17-8). The Bears are winless in the Pac-12, could they go winless for the rest of the way at this rate?

#2 The Bears’ big highlight in their 89-66 loss to the USC Trojans (14-12) on Saturday night was a three-pointer from Jacob Orender in the closing minutes of the game.

#3 The Trojans’ Benny Boatwright made himself at home with 36 points and 10 assists. With Boatwright, was it a matter trying to contain everyone or was Boatwright USC’s go to guy all night long?

#4 Bears head coach Wyking Jones said that the defensive woes carried into the offensive woes. How so?

#5 It’s off to Arizona State University for a Wednesday night tip with the Sun Devils. What are the Bears’ odds to get their first win this season in this one?

Morris does the Cal Bears podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stanford overwhelms UCLA at Maples, 104-80

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By: Eric Epstein

PALO ALTO, Calif. — The Stanford Cardinal avenged their Jan. 3rd loss to the UCLA Bruins by blowing them out with a score of 104-80 on Saturday evening. The Cardinal have now won 5 out of their last 6 Pac-12 games, pushing their in-conference record to 7-6. The Bruins move to 13-13 on the season and 6-7 in-conference.

When the Cardinal and Bruins met in Los Angeles earlier this year, the Bruins imposed their will on their guests, blowing them out by 22 points. The Cardinal, however, one-upped the Bruins by welcoming them to Maples Pavilion with a 24-point beatdown. Saturday marks the first time since 2013 that the Cardinal have scored over 100 points in a game.

Stanford outscored UCLA in the first half 49-40, powered by their 22 points in the paint along with 22 bench points. Despite sophomore guard Jaylen Hands’ 17 first half points on 6-8 shooting, the Bruins only managed to shoot 39% from the field, turning over the ball 8 times in the process. After Bryce Wills committed 2 quick fouls for the Cardinal, fellow freshman guard Cormac Ryan picked up the slack off the bench by making his first five shots and pitching in a team-leading 14 first half points.

Sophomore forward and Stanford’s leading scorer KZ Okpala had an extraordinarily sleepy first half where he started the night 0-4 and finished the period with a notably inefficient 2-7 shooting mark.

After a basket malfunction caused an extended halftime delay, the Cardinal quickly increased their lead to 20+ points thanks to dynamic play from senior center Josh Sharma, sophomore guard Daejon Davis, Wills, and Ryan.

The game flow of the second half came screeching to a halt, as the referees blew the whistle 13 times against each team. UCLA won the free throw battle, going 25-35, compared to the Cardinal’s 20 makes in 28 attempts.

With less than 5 minutes to play in the game, Okpala and Wills both endured hard falls to the hardwood after fouls at the rim. They both left the game momentarily but returned to after a brief seat.

The Cardinal finished with a season-high 5 players scoring in double digits with Sharma, Okpala, Davis, Wills, and Ryan all filling up the bucket at an exceedingly high clip.

Sharma, who was able to stay out of foul trouble for most of the night, led the team in scoring with 22 points on an insanely efficient 91% field goal percentage. In the second half alone, he wreaked havoc on the emergency replacement rims, throwing the ball down 5 times. He also grabbed a game-leading 12 rebounds.

Davis finished with 11 assists, the highest total for a Stanford player this season. He also coughed the ball up one time over the course of the game, an arguably more impressive feat.

After only playing 3 minutes in the first half, Wills played a very solid second half where he scored 10 points on 3-4 from the field and 4-5 from the foul line, also tallying 3 assists along the way.

Okpala turned his night around and scored 13 second-half points, shooting 50% from the field and throwing down an extremely athletic alley-oop dunk out of an inbounds play.

Ryan cooled down after his blazingly hot first half, and he only scored 5 points in the second period. He finished the night with 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Hands never looked back after his monster first half, as he finished with a game-high 29 points on 8-14 shooting from the field and went 10-11 from the charity stripe. He and freshman guard Jules Bernard were the only reliable offensive weapons for the Bruins, and the loss surely would have been a lot uglier if they weren’t able to carry the offensive load that they did.

The Cardinal will try to build off of their Pac-12 momentum when they visit ASU and Arizona for their last road trip of the regular season before hosting their last three Pac-12 games at Maples.