Cal, Stanford set for rivalry clash after confidence-building upsets
Cal and host Stanford renew their rivalry Saturday following a recent development that gives them more than the Bay Area in common.
Each program earned a reaffirming home victory over then-No. 14 North Carolina last week, dropping the Tar Heels further in the rankings while also providing both much-needed optimism for the road ahead.
They also each had a home loss against Duke last week in a reminder that more hard work remains.
Stanford (14-5, 3-3 ACC) earned a 95-90 victory over North Carolina then was crushed by Duke 80-50 last Saturday when the Cardinal committed 18 turnovers and were held to 35.2% from the floor.
"That's a good team but I don't think they're 30 points better than us on our home floor," Stanford head coach Kyle Smith said. "That's not OK, ever. We need to find a way to close the gap there."
Jeremy Dent-Smith scored 18 points for the Cardinal, while AJ Rohosy had eight points with 11 rebounds. Stanford freshman leading scorer Ebuka Okorie (22.1 points per game) was held to nine points on 3-of-9 shooting with four turnovers.
Chisom Okpara (13.9 points) missed his second consecutive game for the Cardinal and revealed this week he is out for the season after surgery to repair a torn knee tendon.
Cal (14-5, 2-4) fell 71-56 to Duke before rebounding with an 84-78 victory over North Carolina last Saturday. John Camden scored 20 points and the Golden Bears went 14 of 26 (53.8%) from 3-point range in the win.
Dai Dai Ames and Justin Pippen each scored 19 points for Cal, which led by as many as 19 points in the first half while making 10 3-pointers. The Golden Bears held on after seeing their lead cut to three points in the closing seconds.
Cal delivered its first victory over a top-15 team since a home victory over No. 11 Oregon in 2016. It came after three consecutive conference defeats.
"For us, it was just about bouncing back from the few losses that we had strung along in a row," Camden said. "It was just a big game for us, not only in terms of our tournament hopes, but in terms of our confidence as a team."
Stanford is on a five-game winning streak against Cal, including three victories last season when the teams made their debut in the ACC. Cal last won at Stanford in March of 2019.
The teams will meet again at Cal on Feb. 21.