Cal Basketball: Cal Tops Stanford 52-50 Before a Crowd of 9,168 at Haas Pavilion
Paris Austin made two free throws with 3.2 seconds left to put Cal ahead, and a bucket by Stanford's Bryce Wills was ruled to come just after the final buzzer as Cal defeated Stanford 52-50 Sunday before a crowd of 9,168, by far the largest crowd at Haas Pavilion this season.
With the win Cal has already exeeded its win total of each of the past two seasons.
Cal (9-10, 3-3 Pac-12) overcame an 11-point deficit with 12 minutes left to pull out the win. The Bears missed 11 shots in a row at one point early in the seond half, and they started the second half 1-for-15 from the field.
"If I had seven timeouts, I would have called them all," said Cal coach Mark Fox, who was not all pleased with his team's start to the second half.
The Bears finished the game shooting just 32.7 percent from the floor, inluding 3-of-12 from three-point range. But they still managed to pull of their biggest win since Fox became thie head coach by outscoring Stanford 26-11 over the final 12 minutes.
Cal committed just seven turnovers in the game, including three in the second half. That helped the Bears stay close against the Cardinal, which committed 15 turnovers.
Stanford coach Jerod Haase, who once played for Cal, tried to explain the turnraround in this video:
Austin, who made just his seventh start of the season on Sunday, finished with a game-high 15 points for the Bears. He also had four assists, two steals and one turnover.
"He's practiced unbeleivably, and had a terrific attitude the last week to 10 days," Fox said of Austin in the main video above. "I just felt like he was going to play super, and he did."
Matt Bradley added 14 points and spearheaded the rally that got Cal back in the game. Kareem South had 13 pointout s, and he pointed out the big crowd had a "huge" impact on Cal's late run.
"It was huge," South (10) said in the video below while flanked by Paris Austin. "Having such huge support behind you is great for anybody. The energy was just super contagious, and we felt that, we felt that throughout the whole game."
Stanford (15-4, 4-2) shot 52.4 percent in the seond half, yet was outscored 31-27 over the final 20 minutes. The Cardinal was led by Oscar da Silva with 13 points.
Ultimately it came down to the closing seconds, after Cal called a timeout with 17.6 seconds left in a tie game
Fox decided to clear the floor, give the ball to Austin at the top of the key and let him make a play.
"Everybody thought Matt Bradley would be the guy," said Fox, explaining his decision to give the ball to Austin.
As the clock ticked down under eight seconds, Austin drove the right side of the lane and was picked up by Daejon Davis, who nudged Paris enough to get the foul call. Paris sank both free throws before Stanford called a timeout with 3.2 seconds remaining.
The Cardinal got off a good shot as Wills streaked down the floor and through the lane, putting in a relatively easy layup just as the buzzer sounded. The officials initially ruled the shot came after the buzzer, but it was close. Only after a review was it clear that Wills let go of the ball an instant after the final buzzer.
The crowd of better than 9,000 on Sunday was onsiderably bigger than what had been the largest home crowd for a men's game this season -- 5,734 for the Bears' loss to Saint Mary's on Dec. 14.
This was clearly Cal's best win of the season, and Fox tried to put it in perspective in the video below:
Pregame: Stanford came into Sunday's game in first place in the Pac-12 as the only team with only one conference loss. Stanford stood at 15-3 overall and 4-1 in the Pac-12 when the day began.
The Cardinal is coming off an 82-78 loss to USC, a game Stanford led by 21 points in the second half.
Stanford beat Cal 68-52 back on January 2 at Stanford. Cal came into this game against the Cardinal on a two-game losing streak. The Bears had their lowest point total in 32 years in the 50-40 loss to UCLA last Sunday. Cal entered Sunday's game with an 8-10 overall record, including 2-3 in the Pac-12.
Check back for in-game updates:
Cal starting lineup: Matt Bradley, Kareem South, Lars Thiemann, Paris Austin, Grant Anticevich
Stanford starting lineup: Daejon Davis, Bryce Wills, Tyrell Terry, Oscar da Silva, Spencer Jones
Honoring Kobe: Cal had a pre-game moment of silence for NBA icon Kobe Bryant, who was killed today in a helicopter accident outside Los Angeles. Bryant was 41.
14:53 first half: Cal took a quick 7-0 lead, with the final two points in the run coming on a breakaway dunk by Paris Austin at the 18:35 mark that got the crowd excited. Cal 9, Stanford 4.
10:59 first half: Cal missed six shots in a row as Stanford creeped back into the game. A three-pointer by Matt Bradley ended the drought and put Cal ahead 11-8 with 11:46 left in the half before Stanford scored again. Cal 11, Stanford 10.
7:40 first half: Stanford went ahead by three at 14-11 on two Tyrell Terry free throws with 9:04 left, but an 18-footer by Karrem South ut the margin to 14-13. South has seven points. Stanford 14, Cal 13.
4:39 first half: Cal is shooting just 30 percent but is trailing by just one as Stanford his hitting just 33.3 percent of its shots. Stanford 16, Cal 15.
3:20 first half: Grant Anticevich of Cal and Terry of Stanford trade buckets. Stanford 18, Stanford 17.
Halftime: Both teams were lousy offensively in the first 20 minutes. Cal made its first two shots of the game, but shot just 33.3 percent for the first half. That included a driving layup by Paris Austin with one second left that got the Bears within two points at the break. Oscar da Silva was 4-for-5 from the field for nine points for the Cardinal, but his teammates were just 4-of-17 from the field. The question is whether Cal will surpass the 40 points it scored in last Sunday's 50-40 loss to UCLA. Stanford 23, Cal 21.
18:32 second half: Stanford scored the first four points of the second half, but a three-pointer by Matt Bradley ended that brief run and closed the six-point deficit to three. Stanford 27, Cal 24.
15:49 second half: Two Kareem South free throws got Cal within a point, but a Stanford foul shot followed by a steal and resulting breakaway dunk by Stanford's Daejon Davis made the margin four again. Stanford 30, Cal 26.
13:14 second half: Cal has made just one of 11 field-goal attempts in the second half so far. The Bears were within a point at the 16:46 mark, but they are falling further behind. Staford 34, Cal 26.
11:41 second half: Cal missed 13 shots in a row early in the second half to make the Bears 1-for-15 for the half. Andre Kelly ended that with a dunk at 12:24, but the Bears are lagging behind now. Stanford 39, Cal 28.
7:06 second half: Matt Bradley put Cal on his back for a stretch, scoring last nine points in a 13-2 Cal run that tied the game. Cal 41, Stanford 41.
2:56 second half: Cal took a four-point lead with 5:24 left as the Bears scored 11 straight points. A three-point play by Tyrell Terry ended the run in which Cal outscored Stanford 17-2. Cal 49, Stanford 46.
44.5 seconds left, second half: With the score tied, Da Silva misses the front end of a one-and-one with 1:18 left, and Bradley misses a long three-pointer with 51 seconds remaining. Cal 50, Stanford 50.
17.6 seconds left: Cal forces a Stanford and calls timeout with 17.6 seconds remaining. Cal 50, Staford 50.
3.2 seconds left: Paris Austin makes two free throws with 3.2 seconds left to put Cal ahead. Cal 52, Stanford 50
Final: Bryce Wills' bucket is ruled to come after the final buzzer. It was close. Cal 52, Stanford 50
