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Bears fall to Stanford for ninth straight time 

Minutes before Saturday’s game at Haas Pavilion, the Stanford Tree was prancing around the court, riling up the packed house of Cal fans. As the mascot left the floor, the top of the tree fell off. That was just about the last thing that went wrong for the Cardinal on the day. 

Combining stifling defense with sharpshooting accuracy, the No. 2 Cardinal (23-1 overall, 11-1 Pac-10) pummeled the Bears 88-56, once again showed why they are the class of the Pac-10, if not the nation. Casey Jacobsen scored a game-high 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and was one of four Cardinal players to score in double figures. Third-string point guard Tony Gioavcchini piled up eight assists in just 15 minutes. 

Stanford dominated nearly every aspect of the game. They shot 61.8 percent from the floor and 8-of-14 from behind the three-point line, outrebounded the Bears 41-21 and held the Bears to 38.9 percent shooting, their lowest mark in 19 games. The Cardinal also dealt out 23 assists in the game, their second-most this year. The shooting percentage and rebounds were season highs. 

“We played well, that’s the bottom line,” Stanford head coach Mike Montgomery said. “We came out and were hitting on all cylinders.” 

Montgomery’s players agreed with him. Senior shooting guard Ryan Mendez called it “our best effort all year,” and point guard Mike McDonald said, “this was our best effort all year. We knew we need to make a statement, to separate ourselves from the pack.” 

They certainly separated themselves from the Bears, running out to an 11-point lead after 10 minutes. It took them just eight more minutes to extend their lead to 20 points, which they held until halftime, going into the locker room with a 44-24 lead. 

The Bears never got closer than 18 points in the second half, as the Cardinal continued to pound away. They were up by 31 with 11 minutes left before throttling back, running down the shot clock and enjoying their continued dominance over their Bay Area rivals. 

The victory was the ninth straight for Stanford over Cal, and was the worst beating they have ever handed the Bears in Berkeley. The three Cardinal seniors (Mendez, McDonald and Jarron Collins) have never lost to Cal, the first class that can boast such a feat. 

For Cal senior Sean Lampley, of course, the opposite is true. He will end his Cal career without beating Stanford, and he was obviously pained by that fact after the game. 

“I really wanted a win tonight,” said Lampley, who shot just 4-of-14 from the floor. “It’s a little disheartening to have never beaten them.” 

Lampley struggled against the Cardinal defense, which was designed to keep him from getting quality shots. He committed six turnovers and pulled down just three rebounds. While he led the Bears with 15 points, he clearly felt he didn’t do the job. 

“For this team to play well, I have to play well,” he said. “I’m not saying the whole game was my fault, but I showed no leadership and we lost by 30. My shot wasn’t falling, but I should have done other things; rebound, assists, defense. I didn’t do them.” 

Cal head coach Ben Braun took some of the load from Lampley’s shoulders, saying his star was double-teamed most of the night. 

“Sean can beat one Collins, but not two,” Braun said, referring to the giant twins who harrassed Lampley for much of the game. The Collinses each pulled down eight rebounds and took turns guarding Cal’s leading scorer. But whenever Lampley got by one twin, the other would come in for help. 

“We just wanted to stop him outside the paint and make him take hard shots,” Jarron Collins said.