OKRGGXEYUEZXHMUOKRGGXEYUEZXHMU
Men's Basketball

Green And Powell Lead Men's Basketball Past Cal In Pac-10 Opener, 82-68

Jan. 2, 2011

Box Score |  AP Photo Gallery  |  Staff Photo Gallery 

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Jeremy Green scored 21 points and Dwight Powell had 20 to lead Stanford to an 82-68 victory over California on Sunday night in the Pac-10 opener for both teams.

The Cardinal (8-4) never trailed after Green's 3-pointer made it 14-12 about 8 minutes into the game, but the Golden Bears (7-6) stayed close most of the way.

Anthony Brown added 11 points and Aaron Bright had 10 for Stanford, now 7-0 at home this season. Powell also had a team-high seven rebounds.

Harper Kamp led Cal with 16 points and Gary Franklin scored 15. Mark Sanders-Frison had 14 points and nine rebounds while Jorge Gutierrez had 11 points and eight assists.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins:
Opening Statement:
"I thought it was a great game. I thought Cal came in prepared. I think they shot the ball really well. I felt like our kids came out and played hard and with a lot of heart. Especially when they were cutting into the lead, I think they showed a lot of poise."

Identifying key players:
"We made the plays that we needed to stay ahead. I think our kids are growing and I think it's an experience that will help define our younger players. I'm really proud of our older players for stepping up. Jeremy Green had a great game, and we had key contributions from our youngsters like Dwight Powell, Aaron Bright and Anthony Brown. All three of them gave good contributions along with our upper classmen. They really executed well."

Drawing inspiration from women's basketball team:
"We're very proud of our women. They beat Connecticut and they ended up winning today (at California) as well. We're excited for them and also for us. We're in the process of trying to become what we want to become. I think they do give an inspiration for us. Having to see them every day is a good thing because they've been so successful and Tara (VanDerveer) has done such a good job with the program. It's an amazing campus and very unique. When you see the programs as well as they've been doing, it's a good feeling. It's very much a team atmosphere."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

California head coach Mike Montgomery:
Opening Statement:
"We can't give up 82 points and expect to win. To Stanford's credit, they had some guys really play well. They shot the ball well, made plays. We really had a hard time with the (Dwight) Powell matchup. We tried to minimize (Jeremy) Green, I didn't think we did a very good job in the first half, as he had 14 (points). Three of those were threes in which we stood there and watched him shoot. We didn't get a hand up, like we didn't trust that he could shoot it."

On Cal's defensive struggles:
"We shot 50 percent, but we couldn't get stops. They shot 72 percent (in the second half), so they kind of had their way with us. It all stemmed primarily from not being able to guard their post guys at the point of attack. And primarily, that means Dwight Powell. Anthony Brown was another that hurt us. He hit some tough shots as the game was winding down."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

NOTES: Stanford snapped a three-game losing streak to California, picking up its first win in the series since a 75-69 victory back on Jan. 17, 2009. The Golden Bears still lead the all-time series 140-113 ... The Cardinal improved to 7-0 at home ... Dwight Powell poured in a career-high 20 points on 7-11 shooting, becoming the first Stanford freshman to score at least 20 points in game since Jeremy Green contributed 22 points on Mar. 7, 2009 at Arizona ... Tonight marked the first time two Stanford players scored 20 points in the same game since Jan. 30, 2010, when Landry Fields (22) and Jeremy Green (20) accomplished the feat at Arizona State ... In two victories this week, Stanford finished a combined 17-31 from three-point territory ... Stanford shot a season-best 57.4 percent ... California became the first team to shoot 50 percent against Stanford this year ... Of Stanford's 25 rebounds, 23 were defensive ... Stanford has now made at least one three-pointer in 299 consecutive games, dating back to an 0-6 performance against Purdue back on Nov. 24, 2001.