LAS VEGAS (AP) – No. 5 seed Stanford scored 13 of the game's first 17 points, and the Cardinal never looked back, en route to a 76-58 victory over No. 12 seed California Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena to advance to the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament.
All-America candidate Reid Travis led the Cardinal (18-14) with 19 points and 13 rebounds, his sixth double-double in his last eight games and 13th of the season. Senior Dorian Pickens added 16 points, connecting on four three-pointers.
"We're certainly excited to be able to move on," said Stanford head coach Jerod Haase. "I think in tournament situations, you do build momentum once you're in the tournament. So we feel like we have some momentum moving forward. We were able to catch Cal on a cold night. They didn't shoot the ball great, but I thought our defense was for the most part active. We executed the game plan how we wanted."
Stanford advances to face No. 4 seed UCLA on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. PT in the quarterfinal round. The Cardinal split the regular-season series with the Bruins.
The Cardinal held Cal (8-24) to 28 percent shooting and had a 30-18 advantage in the paint. Travis hit 7-of-11 shots and added
Darius McNeill led the Bears with 19 points, making 5-of-10 from 3-point range. The rest of the Bears combined to go 2-of-15 from the arc.
Stanford and Cal split the two regular-season meetings. The Cardinal has now won nine of its past 13 meetings with the Bears.
Travis did most of the damage early in round three, scoring Stanford's first five points and 11 points by the midpoint of the first half as Stanford built a 12-point lead.
Travis had 13 points by halftime and the Cardinal led 39-28 after hitting 16-of-29 shots.
Stanford didn't let up in the second half, extending the lead to 63-39 behind Travis and Pickens.
