Stanford Holds Off Cal, 70-55

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BERKELEY – Matt Bradley continued his torrid scoring pace – totaling 24 points for his third consecutive 20-point outing – but Stanford proved to be too much for the Golden Bears and pulled away with a 70-55 victory Thursday in Haas Pavilion. Cal won't have to wait long to try to avenge the loss as the two teams will meet again Sunday night at Stanford.

Bradley made five of his seven 3-point attempts and was a perfect 7-for-7 at the free throw line. The five 3-pointers matched a career best, and he is now 13-for-21 from behind the arc over his past three games. With his 24 points, Bradley moved into 35th place on the Bears' all-time scoring list, now with 1,135 points after passing Andy Wolfe and Harper Kamp Thursday.
 
Andre Kelly was the only other Golden Bear in double figures, finishing with 15 points and team-high seven rebounds.
 
Oscar da Silva, who entered the game as the Pac-12 scoring leader, led Stanford with 24 points and 11 boards, while Jaiden Delaire added 14 points and Noah Taitz had 10 points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Stanford jumped out to an early advantage before Bradley gave Cal its first lead at 16-13 on a long 3-pointer with 10:52 left in the first half. The Cardinal, though, responded with an 8-0 run over the next 1:36 with da Silva and Delaire combining for 19 of Stanford's 21 points at that juncture. The Cardinal eventually ended the half with a 42-29 edge, shooting 60.7 percent from the field during the opening period.
 
Bradley started an 8-2 Cal run with his fourth 3-pointer of the game to start the second half as the Bears crept within 44-37 by the first media timeout. A few minutes later, a 4-point play from Bradley made it 46-43. But that was as close as Cal would get as five turnovers over the next six minutes helped lead to nine straight Cardinal points.
 
UP NEXT
Cal and Stanford have a rematch on Sunday, Feb. 7 at Maples Pavilion at Stanford. The game tips off at 7 p.m. and will be televised on FS1.
 
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