Cal Basketball: Matt Bradley's Blocked Shot Triggers Bears' Win over Stanford

Cal's game-long lead over rival Stanford was down to a single point with less than seven minutes remaining in their opening game of the Pac-12 tournament on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Momentum was shifting.

Matt Bradley got it all back for the Bears with an emphatic block at the rim of a dunk attempt by Stanford's Lukas Kisunas. As the 6-foot-10 Kisunas began rising for his shot, the 6-4 Bradley slid over from the baseline, went straight up and rejected it with his right hand.

The swat that changed the game

The block. 😤
The dish. 🤟
The shot. 👌

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— Cal Basketball (@CalMBBall) March 11, 2021

Andre Kelly corralled the ball and gave it back to Bradley, who dribbled up court and drove toward the paint. Then he kicked a pass to the right wing where Ryan Betley unleashed a 3-pointer that triggered a decisive 12-0 run in a 76-58 win over the Cardinal.

"That was amazing," Kelly said. "He's an ultra-competitor. He's someone I love having on my team -- that's my boy. He does that in practice all the time. It's nothing special to me."

Oh, but it was special..

Cal coach Mark Fox said Bradley's play followed one of the pre-game focal points.

"We actually talked about . . . you've got to play every play to the bitter end and finish every play," Fox said. "Matt kept playing. He didn't surrender the dunk. It was a big play."

The Bears (9-19) became just the second No. 11 seed to win in the conference tournament since the league expanded to the Pac-12 in 2012. Cal now takes on No. 3 seed Colorado on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.

*** The Bears hope to defend as well against the Buffaloes as they did Wednesday.

Bradley, who was named to the All-Pac-12 second team for the second straight season this week, finished with 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting, including 3 of 4 from the 3-point line. He also had six rebounds and six assists, matching the highest total of his career.

"He passed the ball really, really well tonight and made other people better on the offensive end," Fox said. "I've talked to Matt a lot (about) you can make any play you want for yourself. The great player starts to make plays for other people. He was able to do that tonight.

"Certainly a really complete game for Matt."

Bradley actually did not start the game, although he was on the floor inside the first minute. Fox declined to give a reason, but said "It's nothing major."

Bradley was not made available for the postgame news conference.

Kelly, who had 12 points and nine rebounds, said Bradley's block provided the Bears with a well-timed emotional boost just as Stanford was perhaps ready to take the lead for the first time.

"It gets the team hyped," he said. "It definitely gave us some momentum going down to the other end. I think he changed the flow of things."

The immediate beneficiary was Betley, the graduate transfer shooting guard from Penn, who hasn't shot very well lately. Betley made 39 percent of his 3-pointers over the first nine games, just 28 percent in the next 18 outings.

But he calmly swished his shot after getting the feed from Bradley, who also assisted him on an earlier 3-pointer. Betley wound up with 13 points, his highest point total in two months.

Cal's 12-0 run included scoring from five different players, with Bradley adding his own two points to the decisive surge that pushed the Bears into a 64-51 lead with barely 3 minutes left. Cal scored 24 points in the final 6 minutes of the game, making its final six field-goal attempts.

Because he missed seven games this season due to a pair of different ankle injuries, Bradley had not played in 75 percent of the Bears' games he needed to be eligible for inclusion among Pac-12 statistical leaders. Wednesday night's game got him to that threshold and his 18.4 scoring average ranks third in the conference.

Cover photo of Matt Bradley on defense by Stephen R. Sylvanie, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo