STANFORD, Calif. - Chasson Randle isn't as concerned with Stanford's postseason possibilities as some of his teammates and coach might be.
Getting the Cardinal back into a comfortable offensive flow is a much more pressing issue for the mercurial point guard.
Randle scored 19 points and dished out a career-high eight assists to help Stanford break out of its month-long funk and beat California 72-61 on Saturday to complete a season sweep of the Golden Bears.
"It was more so just about our standards and what we want to do for the rest of the year, NCAAs or not," Randle said. "We just wanted to go out the right way. We wanted to come out as aggressive as possible."
Anthony Brown added 16 points and 11 rebounds while Michael Humphrey tallied 14 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double to help Stanford to its fifth win in the last six games between the two teams.
More critically, the win keeps the Cardinal (17-9, 8-6 Pac-12) in position for a key first-round bye in the conference tournament next month in Las Vegas. Stanford entered the game in fifth place, 1.5 games out of third. The top four teams at the end of the season get a pass in the opening round of the tournament.
"Right now we need some wins, that's the main thing," Randle said.
California (16-11, 6-8 Pac-12) had hoped to get into that mix but lost its second straight despite David Kravish’s career-high 23 points.
The final score was nearly identical to the 69-59 win Stanford had over Cal on Jan. 14 in Berkeley. The Cardinal needed a late run to pull away in that game but didn't need it this time around.
Stanford led the entire game and was up by 15 with nine minutes left to play before Cal made a late push.
Kravish scored on consecutive trips down the court and seldom-used Brandon Chauca made a 3-pointer to cut the Cardinal's lead to 63-55 with 4:40 remaining.
"I thought we had good looks but in the second half, the rhythm, the flow ... we just didn't get stops defensively," Cal coach Cuonzo Martin said. "We had breakdowns, missed boxouts. I don't think we defended well."
Randle, who shot just 5-16 from the floor, made two free throws to stem Cal's surge then fed Stefan Nastic down low for an easy layup that made it 67-55. Randle later sank two more free throws and finished 8-8 from the stripe.
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NOTES: Stanford has won six of the last eight meetings against California … Saturday’s game represented the first time in five meetings that the rivals played on the weekend … Stanford held a 35-23 halftime lead, shooting 41.4 percent overall and 5-7 form three-point range over the first 20 minutes. In its four previous games, the Cardinal was shooting 36.5 percent overall and 11-40 from beyond the arc. Stanford had trailed at halftime in five consecutive games, the last four by exactly six points … Chasson Randle has made his last 11 free throws dating back to Feb. 15 against Colorado … Anthony Brown notched his fifth double-double of the season and eighth of his career. Brown also knocked down three three-pointers, increasing his career total to 199 … Michael Humphrey became the sixth player this season to grab at least 10 rebounds in a game, joining Brown, Stefan Nastic, Reid Travis, Rosco Allen and Marcus Allen … Stanford was playing its third straight game without Rosco Allen, who is out indefinitely with a back injury … The Cardinal has committed 10 turnovers or fewer in 14 games … Stanford as 19-28 from the foul line compared to California’s 12-21 clip … Stanford improved to 12-2 at home this season and is 88-29 all-time at Maples Pavilion under head coach Johnny Dawkins … Stanford plays its final two home games next week, hosting Oregon State (Thursday, Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. PT) and Oregon (Sunday, March 1 at 4 p.m. PT).
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Stanford Head Coach Johnny Dawkins
“It’s what you grow to expect from a game like this: a rival game. Both teams wanted this game very badly and it showed that way on the floor. Our guys, especially in the first half, it was some of the best defense we’ve played all year. Holding them to 23 in the first half was a big number for us. It enabled us to build a lead going into half time, which was big.”
“I was really happy with our overall performance. Michael Humphrey has the best game of his career. He’s been getting better and better and it was great to see him have the type of performance in this type of atmosphere. It’s going to help him continue to grow.”
“All in all, it was a great effort by our team. A game that you want to come home — just because you come home doesn’t mean you’re going to win. You have to go out there and you have to earn it always, and our guys earned the victory tonight.”
Stanford Senior Chasson Randle
“It was more so just about our standards and what we want to do for the rest of this year. NCAA or not, we just wanted to go out the right way, especially being at home. Take what the defense gives you. We just wanted to come out as aggressive as possible and it just so happened that it came from the 3-point line.”
“Humphrey and Travis were huge for us. We talked about it all week that guys needed to step up and we needed contributors from the bench. Reid came in and did a great job and Mike was huge all night. We’ve got to keep bringing those guys along — getting performances like that from those two.”
Stanford Freshman Michael Humphrey
“Being a rivalry game, it was a big game and somebody needed to step up and multiple people stepped up. Reid had a great game. We knew our backs were against the wall and we needed to get a win today and everybody kind of had to play their best.”
“It was a lot of fun. We’ve talked in practice. It’s fun to play basketball when you’re winning. When you’re not winning, we’re not having any fun. I thought we played relaxed and we played well today.”
California Head Coach Cuonzo Martin
“I thought we had good looks, especially in the first half -- they didn't fall. I felt like we couldn't get into a real flow from start to finish in the game. The key for us was that we didn't get stops. We didn't defend well. Defensively we had breakdowns; we missed key box-outs. I think that's where it started.”
“I think the biggest key is taking pride in going around in the second half. I thought we did a better job of guarding Brown in the second half. We need to take individual pride in the perimeter defense to stop those guys. They're talented basketball players. You've got to make their catches tough, their looks tough.”
“I thought their two freshmen (Humphrey and Travis) had a great game. When you have veteran perimeter guys who are guards and play as well as they do, then your freshmen can be freshmen, and they can grow and take their lumps. Those young guys can lean on those older guys -- I think that's why they were able to play so well. I think that they had an opportunity with foul trouble (on Nastic) that they were able to showcase what they can do.”
“I thought David (Kravish) played real well. Nastic dominated us at our place. I told David and Kingsley (Okoroh) that Nastic cannot leave this game with one foul. It just can't happen. I thought they did a really good job of battling against him, because he does a great job of being physical in the post. We wanted to mix it up, double the post, and get him off balance.”
California Senior David Kravish
“The guys were finding me today. There was open space and Tyrone (Wallace), Brandon (Chauca), Sam (Singer) -- those guys were hitting me. I got a lot of good looks at the basket, so give them the credit.”
“They (Humphrey and Travis) are playing at Stanford in the Pac-12, which is a good conference. You expect players at this level to be able to play. Nastic had a tough day and they stepped up. So that was good for them.”
California Junior Tyrone Wallace
“I got a lot of good looks, especially in the first half -- I missed a lot of stuff I normally would make. From that standpoint, it was just one of those games offensively for me. David was able to step up and carry the scoring load -- we just needed more help to get there -- and a few more stops.”