Round 1 goes to the Bears.
Cal only led for just over 5 minutes Friday night, but the Bears were out in front when it mattered most. Mark Madsen’s team buckled down on defense down the stretch to hold rival Stanford to just one field goal in its final 11 attempts leading to a 73-71 victory in front of an announced crowd of 8,710 fans at Haas Pavilion.
Star wing Jaylon Tyson went down with an injury in the second half forcing his teammates to step up with the Bears locked in a battle.
It ended up being one of the early-season heroes who answered the call.
Jalen Celestine opened the season on fire with a career performance, and he shined once again Friday night in Cal’s big rivalry matchup.
The redshirt junior guard went without a shot attempt in the first half, but he connected on 4 of 6 shots from the field in second half to score all 12 of his points in the final 9:27 of Cal’s victory.
Celestine broke a 68-68 tie on a jump shot with 2:16 left to play before hitting three free throws over the final 58 seconds to give the Bears the win.
It wasn’t just Celestine’s efforts on offense that made the difference for Cal in the second half Friday night. The Bears’ defense intensified during that time as well allowing them to make a few different runs throughout the half.
Cal held Stanford to just 32.1% shooting from the field over the final 20 minutes while also forcing the Cardinal into eight turnovers. Most of Stanford’s success in the second half came at the free-throw line as the Bears struggled to avoid fouling.
The Cardinal eventually connected on 10 of 11 shots from the line in the half and went 18 for 22 overall on the night.
The gritty 10-point comeback for Cal began after the first media timeout in the second half when the Bears went on a 10-0 run that was highlighted by a steal and dunk from Keonte Kennedy.
Tyson, Jalen Cone and Grant Newell all contributed during the run, which pulled Cal even for the first time since the 1:45 mark in the first half when Kennedy hit a 3-pointer. The veteran guard contributed with 11 points and 3 rebounds in Friday’s win.
Cone’s lone make of the night came on a jumper with 12:43 to play that reset the game by knotting both teams at 50. It was a rough shooting night for the Cal guard, but he made up for it with his work at the free-throw line.
Cone knocked down 8 of his 9 free-throw attempts in the game to finish with 10 points in 33 minutes.
Newell was a bit of an unsung hero for the Bears in Friday’s win as he finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds to notch his first double-double of the season. The versatile forward scored 6 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in the second half.
It’s become a rarity when Cal big man Fardaws Aimaq doesn’t have a double-double this season, and he continued his impressive play inside with yet another strong showing in the paint.
He finished his night with 13 points and 12 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season.
Tyson led all scorers with 14 points, plus 6 rebounds and a game-high 4 assists, despite playing just 28 minutes in Friday’s game.
Stanford was in control for most of the first 24 minutes of the game behind a strong start from Spencer Jones and contributions from several other players. In all, the Cardinal had four players score in double figures, but most of that scoring from the team’s leaders came in the first half.
Jones scored 13 points to finish the night as the top offensive player for the Cardinal.
The two teams were close in nearly every major statistical category in Friday’s game, though the Bears held a 32-28 advantage in the paint and a 12-9 advantage in the turnover category.
Cal will now look to build on the momentum of two consecutive wins when it heads to the desert next week to face No. 9 Arizona and Arizona State on the road.
