Cal Basketball: Stanford Adds to Bears' Struggles With 70-70 Victory at Maples

Cal lost its sixth straight game Sunday night, falling 76-70 at Stanford. It was the Cardinal's second win over the Bears in four days.

Cal (7-14, 2-12 Pac-12) was even at 22-all with just over minutes left in the first half before the Cardinal (12-7, 7-5) closed the half with a 13-2 run to lead 35-24. Stanford led by 19 points just 6 minutes into the second period.

The Bears kept at it and pulled within 70-64 on a 3-pointer by Grant Anticevich with 51 seconds left.

Stanford's Oscar da Silva converted two free throws with 39 seconds left. A 3-pointer by Jarred Hyder with 20.7 left pulled Cal within 73-68 but the Bears got no closer.

The Bears, who never got within single digits in the second half, have won just 4 of their past 40 Pac-12 road games.

Matt Bradley shot just 1 for 6 in the first half but wound up as the Bears' leading scorer with 15 points. Hyder scored a Cal-best 13 points while Joel Brown and Ryan Betley each scored 12.

Cal shot 38 percent from the field, including 8 for 24 on 3-point tries. Stanford attempted just nine shots from beyond the arc and converted 58 percent from the field.

Da Silva scored 23 points for the Cardinal, which once again dominated inside. Stanford outscored Cal 44-22 in the paint after establishing a 40-22 advantage on Thursday.

Lukas Kisunas scored a career-high 12 points for Stanford, which continues to play without starting senior guard Daejon Davis and star freshman Ziaire Williams.

SECOND HALF

15:50 2nd H: Cal has scored on its past two possessions, but Stanford opened the half with a 9-2 burst to forge a 44-26 lead with barely 3 minutes gone in the period. Dating back to when it was 22-all, that's a 22-4 run. Cal is getting manhandled inside -- Stanford is outscoring the Bears 30-10 in the paint. Stanford 46, Cal 31.

11:55 2nd H: Cal fought back within 50-38 after trailing by 19 and had the chance to get closer. But Andre Kelly, who has had a tough night, missed a dunk and Stanford responded with a layup by da Silva for a 52-38 lead. Bradley has 11 points for Cal and Brown has nine and two assists. Stanford 52, Cal 38.

7:37 2nd H: Cal shows signs of life. The Bears on a 6-0 run fueled by a jumper from Ryan Betley, two free throws by Jared Hyder and a layup by Kelly. Bradley has 15 points to lead Cal. Da Silva has 19 for the Cardinal. Stanford 58, Cal 48.

-- -- --

STARTING LINEUPS: Cal will start Ryan Betley, Joel Brown, Matt Bradley, Andre Kelly and Lars Thiemann. Stanford will start Michael O'Connell, Jaiden Delaire, Oscar da Silva, Spencer Jones and Lukas Kisunas.

11:24 1st H: Cal is somehow hanging in there despite shooting 4-for-12 and getting nothing so far from Matt Bradley (0-for-1). Grant Anticevich, who did not start, came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer and Jared Hyder just scored on a fas break pass from Joel Brown. Stanford 12, Cal 9.

7:11 1st H: Consecutive 3-pointers by Bradley and Bradley, then a step-back jumper by Bradley and Cal trails by just one in a game with four lead changes in the past 3 minutes. Oscar da Silva has 8 point for the Cardinal. Stanford 18, Cal 17.

3:29 1st H: Joel Brown playing terrific for Cal - has team-high 7 points. Bears are shooting better, rebounding well but have six turnovers. Stanford keeps coming. Da Silva has 10 points. Stanford 26, Cal 22.

HALFTIME: Stanford 35, Cal 24. The Bears pulled even at 22-all on a drive by Joel Brown with 4:19 left. But Stanford outscored them 13-2 the rest of the half, including a 15-foot prayer by freshman Noah Taitz at the buzzer. Stanford made 7 of 10 shots to end the half and Cal was 1 for 7 over that span. Da Silva finished the half with 12 points for Stanford, which shot 56 percent. Rebounding was fairly even through much of the half, but the Cardinal grabbed three offensive boards in the final 3 minutes and scored four points off of them. Cal shot 36 percent in the half, was 4 for 13 on 3's and had six turnovers. Brown led the Bears with 7 points while Betley and Bradley each scored 5. But Bradley -- who was 13 for 21 on 3-point tries the past 3 games -- made just 1 of 5 attempts from deep.

PRE-GAME

The Super Bowl may not quite be over when Cal and Stanford tip off at 7 p.m. (FS1) at Maples Pavilion, so perhaps you’re not yet tuned in.

We’ll keep you posted here until you can tear yourself away from Brady vs. Mahomes or the commercials, or whatever has you locked into CBS.

The Bears (7-13, 2-11 Pac-12) have been anything but super most of this season and will be trying to snap a five-game losing skid when action tips off at Maples Pavilion. Stanford (11-7, 6-5) beat Cal 70-55 on Thursday at Haas Pavilion and will be attempting to pull off a season sweep for the fourth time in 10 years.

Matt Bradley, seemingly all the way back from separate ankle injuries that cost him seven games, has averaged 23.3 points in three games since returning to the starting lineup. But his teammates have average a total of just 34.0 over those three games.

The Bears will need more balance to beat the Cardinal, who are led by Oscar da Silva (19.2 points, 7.3 rebounds) but also have gotten a huge boost from junior forward Jaiden Delaire, averting 16.9 over the past 10 games.

Here's our game preview.

IN-STATE NET RANKINGS: There are 22 Division men’s basketball programs in California and the Bears are ranked 12th among them in the NET computer ratings.

Here’s how those 22 stack up nationally: 16. USC; 22. San Diego State; 38.UCLA; 53. UC Santa Barbara; 57. Stanford; 63. Saint Mary’s; 84. San Francisco; 121. Loyola Marymount; 128. Peppedine; 135. Santa Clara; 138. Cal State Bakersfield; 183. Cal; 215. Fresno State; 233. UC Davis; 241. Sacramento State; 252. San Diego; 264. UC San Diego; 270. Cal Baptist; 291. Cal State Northridge; 297. Long Beach State; 327. San Jose State; 334. Cal Poly.

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

Add us as a preferred source on Google