Cal Basketball: Cold-Shooting Bears Have No Chance at Stanford in 68-52 Defeat

Here's a formula that won't work: 18 turnovers and 17 baskets.

That was the most compelling statistical carnage to come out of Cal's 68-52 loss at Stanford on Thursday night in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.

"Our team has had an epidemic of turnovers throughout the year," said coach Mark Fox, whose Bears are now averaging 13.6 turnovers per game. "It's been a problem for our team in many games. It wasn't just tonight, and that's taking nothing away from Stanford, which has a very good defense. We have to get it fixed."

The Bears (6-8, 0-1 Pac-12) remain winless in six tries outside Haas Pavilion.

They never got closer than nine points in the second half and Stanford (12-2, 1-0) led by as many as 21. The Cardinal avenged losses to Cal each of the past two seasons at Maples Pavilion.

Cal shot 30.4 percent with just three assists and for much of the game got no offense from anyone but Grant Anticevich. The junior forward from Australia wound up with 16 points and 10 rebounds for his second career double-double.

Leading scorer Matt Bradley continued to scuffle with his shot, especially early. He made just one of his first 11 attempts, although he connected on 4 of his final 5 tries to finish with 13 points and 8 rebounds.

The rest of the Bears combined to shoot just 6-for-29 for 20.7 percent, including 1-for-8 by Kareem South. Stanford doubled the post much of the game, and the result was 6 turnovers each by Cal big men Andre Kelly and Lars Thiemann.

"I love Matt Bradley to death but he and Kareem combined for one basket in the first half," Fox said. "That's tough for our team to overcome because we just don't have a lot of other firepower around them."

Fox said he was encouraged that Bradley continue to try to shoot his way out of his slump, which has persisted over the past six games, during which time he is converting just 38 percent from the field and 21 percent of his 3-point attempts.

"I just told him he's got to trust his stroke. Obviously, as the leading scorer, the windows for open shots get smaller and smaller. When he gets a window he's got to trust and let it go and not overthink it."

Daejon Davis had 20 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists for the Cardinal and freshman Tyrell Terry scored 14.

Cal returns to action next Thursday at home against Washington State.

PRE-GAME: Cal opens Pac-12 Conference play at Stanford tonight for the second time in three seasons, and the Golden Bears are hoping to get the same outcome as they did in 2017-18.

The Bears (6-7) and Cardinal (11-2) have had dramatically different seasons thus far.

Cal, picked to finish last in the Pac-12, has done nothing so far to change anyone’s opinion. The Bears were 6-2 at home, but 0-5 in games played outside Berkeley.

Stanford, meanwhile, is coming off a home loss to Kansas but otherwise was 11-1 with a one-point neutral-site loss to Butler.

Last year, Cal lost at USC to opener conference play and went on to drop their first 15 games in Pac-12 play before winning their final three.

In 2017-18, Cal won 77-74 at Stanford to open the Pac-12. Grant Anticevich, a freshman at the time, hit a 3-pointer with 1:19 left to pull the Bears within 73-72.

But the Bears couldn’t build on that win, dropping their next nine games on the way to a 2-16 conference record.

Check back after tipoff for updates on tonight’s game.

CAL LINEUP: The Bears go with Joel Brown, Kareem South and Matt Bradley at the guards, Grant Anticevich and Andre Kelly up front.

15:32 1st H: Well, this is unsightly. Both teams are shooting 1-for-8, meaning the game's turnover total (3) exceeds the number of baskets (2) by the two teams. So far this looks like a game between teams picked to finish 10th (Stanford) and 12th (Cal) in the Pac-12. Cal 2, Stanford 2.

11:56 1st H: Don't shoot the messenger, but this game remains something of a mess. Cal is shooting 3-for-14 with 4 turnovers . . . but has the lead. Stanford converting 2-for-12 with 3 turnovers. Grant Anticevich leads all scorers (and there haven't been many) with the robust total of 4 points. Cal with a 13-8 edge on the boards, including 4 offensive rebounds. Alas, just 2 second-chance points. Cal 7, Stanford 4.

9:38 1st H: Anticevich just hit a 3-pointer for the Bears to halt an 11-0 Stanford run that was fueled by threes from Tyrell Terry and Isaac White. Cal had turned the ball over four straight times by four different players. Stanford 13, Cal 10.

7:50 1st H: Anticevich hit another 3-pointer and has 10 points for Cal. The rest of the team is 1-for-13 from the field, including 0-for-5 by leading scorer Matt Bradley. Stanford seems to be overcoming its early jitters. Cal 5-for-18 FGs and 8 turnovers. Stanford 7-for-18 with 3 turnovers. Stanford 18, Cal 13.

2:55 1st H: Stanford continues to inch ahead. Other than Anticevich, the Bears are shooting 2-for-19 from the field. They also have 10 turnovers -- 4 more than their field goal total. Stanford 23, Cal 16.

HALFTIME: Stanford 32, Cal 21. The Cardinal has its biggest lead after Jaiden Delaire hit a 3-pointer from the left corner with 3 seconds left. Cal is shooting 27.6 percent (8-for-29) and has 11 turnovers. Anticevich has 10 points for the Bears, the rest of the team has 11 points on 4-for-23 shooting. That's 17 percent. The other four starters are 1-for-16. That's 6 percent. Yikes! Stanford, after an equally horrid start, is up to 42 percent and its turnover total is just 5. Cal has a 22-17 rebounding advantage, but Stanford has outscored the Bears 18-10 in the paint. Bradley missed his first six shots before making one, but wound up 1-for-8 in the half. He does have 7 rebounds, so his effort level remains good. Juhwan Harris-Dyson gave the Bears some good minutes off the bench. Cal, among the nation's worst in assists, has exactly one at halftime.

16:00 2nd H: Kareem South will shoot 3 free throws after the timeout, but Stanford led by 15 points just a minute ago and seems in control. Anticevich now has a team-high 12 points but Bradley continues to struggle. He's 1-for-11 from the field. Daejon Davis has 12 points for the Cardinal. Stanford 40, Cal 27.

11:51 2nd H: Bradley has made his past two shots -- both on strong drives to the hoop -- but Cal has gotten no closer than 9 points this half. The Bears continue to shoot poorly (32.5%) and have 14 turnovers. Just not enough consistent offensive execution to make up the gap. The Bears still have just one assist. Stanford 44, Cal 35.

10:39 2nd H: We may have reached the tipping point in this game. Stanford has scored 8 straight in a span of barely 50 seconds and the gap has widened. Cal back down to 31 percent from the field. Stanford 52, Cal 35.

7:41 2nd H: Back-to-back 3-pointers by Bradley and South and Cal has outscored the Cardinal 8-3 over the past 90 seconds. Bradley has made 3 of his past 4 attempts. Still a long climb ahead for the visiting squad. Stanford 55, Cal 43.

4:08 2nd H: Stanford goes 13-4 over 2 1/2 minutes and it's pretty much over now. Bradley, after shooting 1-for-11 to start, has made 4-for-5 and now has 13 points to go with 16 for Anticevich. Davis has 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for the Cardinal. Stanford 68, Cal 47.