Feb. 17, 2001
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
BERKELEY, Calif. - Like the rain that fell on California's campus,second-ranked Stanford started early, came down hard and rarely let up.
By late afternoon, the Golden Bears were drowning.
Casey Jacobsen scored 18 points, and Jason Collins had 13 points and eightrebounds as Stanford beat Cal 88-56 on Saturday in the 234th meeting betweenthe archrivals.
As water dripped through Haas Pavilion's roof into a somber Cal studentsection, the Cardinal (23-1, 11-1 Pac-10) improved the nation's best recordwhile beating Cal for the ninth straight time - Stanford's longest winningstreak in the rivalry's history.
"That was a thorough and a complete game for us," Stanford coach MikeMontgomery said. "Hopefully we can build on that in the final weeks of theseason. We thought this game was critical for us."
Stanford struggled to put away its opponents in recent weeks, but theCardinal silenced a hostile crowd with methodical, efficient play on both ends- including 62-percent shooting and a 41-21 rebounding edge.
"If you want a statistic, try this: They're probably the only team in thecountry which hasn't lost a road game this year," Cal coach Ben Braun said."If that's not a sign of toughness, I don't know what is."
The Bears, who have surged into the top half of the conference this seasonafter years of lagging behind their higher-profile in-state rivals, began theday with high hopes of finally catching Stanford. They quickly evaporated.
"They probably thought they had a chance to get us finally," saidJacobsen, who shot 7-for-11 and got seven rebounds. "We didn't let it happenfrom the get-go. We took them out early. That's the best defensive effort we'vehad, and it's by far the sweetest win because it's Cal-Stanford."
Collins and his twin brother Jarron combined for 25 points and 16 rebounds,with Jason dominating the first half and Jarron the second.
Stanford, which has won the last three in the matchup by a combined 109points, won its 11th straight road game and won on Cal's home court for thefourth straight time.
The Cardinal beat the Bears 84-58 at Maples Pavilion last month, and therematch in Berkeley wasn't any closer - in fact, it was Cal's worst-ever homeloss to Stanford.
With the win, Stanford maintained its one-game lead over UCLA in the Pac-10.Cal (17-7, 8-4) stayed in fourth place, a game ahead of Southern California.
"We definitely needed to make a statement," said Stanford's Ryan Mendez,who had 12 points. "I think we definitely separated ourselves from the rest ofthe league today. We're the leaders of this conference. People have to comeafter us."
Seldom-used reserve Teyo Johnson had nine in the first half for Stanford,which led by 11 points after 10 minutes, 20 at halftime and 30 with sevenminutes to play.
The pounding continued in the second half, when Matt Lottich hitback-to-back 3-pointers to give Stanford a 32-point lead with two minutes left.
Cal lost at Haas Pavilion for just the second time this season. For thesecond time in four weeks, the Golden Bears appeared physically capable ofmatching Stanford but mentally unable to overcome the pressure of facing theirarchrivals.
"I didn't execute the game plan Coach gave us," point guard Shantay Leganssaid. "We needed more mental toughness. We tried to do all these things wedon't normally do."
Cal shot poorly throughout, finishing at 39 percent, and was prone tocrucial defensive lapses, particularly against the slippery Jacobsen. In areflection of Cal's nervous play, Nick Vander Laan airballed two free throwswhile missing four straight in the second half.
Sean Lampley, the Bears' leading scorer and rebounder, missed seven of hisfirst nine shots before finishing with 15 points and just three reboundsagainst six turnovers.
Vander Laan had 12 points and six rebounds inside against Stanford, whichfound out Saturday that backup center Curtis Borchardt is out for the year witha broken foot.
Many Cal students began waiting outside Haas Pavilion on Friday night forthe game. Inside, the students jeered Stanford forward Mendez, who playfullyquestioned their intelligence earlier this week, and Mike McDonald, who accusedthe Bears of excessive whining when the teams met last month.