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Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Men's Basketball

Second-Half Charge Leads Card

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- Sophomore KZ Okpala scored a career-high 30 points and had eight rebounds, and Stanford held on to beat California 84-81 on Sunday.
 
It's the 12th time this season that Okpala has had 20 or more points, most in the Pac-12 teams and eight more than he had all of last season.
 
"He's been a rock in terms of offensively producing," Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said. "There's so much more for him to grow, but he's really developing really quickly. He's a foundational piece for everything we do."
 
Okpala's shot 10-of-17 in the game, finishing with nine of Stanford's final 19 points.
 
"Just making the right reads," Okpala said. "The game was coming to me. Every game I have the same approach, use my ability to get to the rim."
 
Bryce Wills added 16 points and Daejon Davis scored 14 for Stanford (11-10, 4-5 Pac-12). The Cardinal have won three of four.
 
Justice Sueing had 23 points and seven rebounds for California (5-16, 0-9). The Golden Bears have lost 10 straight, matching the longest streak in school history.
 
Okapala scored 19 in the second half and made a clinching free throw with 13.3 seconds left, but it was a play moments earlier that had the Haas Pavilion crowd buzzing.
 
California's Matt Bradley drove baseline and scored for an apparent tying basket. Stanford's Josh Sharma was initially called for his fifth foul but the play was reviewed by officials and overturned.
 
Instead of Bradley going to the free throw line for a chance to give the Bears the lead, Stanford got the ball and closed out to beat Cal for the third time in four games.
 
"I didn't know that you could overturn the call," Cal coach Wyking Jones said. "He's a great official. He went to the monitor and saw something different. I respect the call."
 
Paris Austin missed a 3-pointer for the Bears as the buzzer sounded.
 
Okapala got going early with a dunk, then had a steal and layup but the Cardinal sputtered for most of the first half and had 11 turnovers before the break.
 
Cal took advantage and led by five midway through the first half before Stanford closed with its best run of the game and pulled within 38-37 on Kodye Pugh's short hook.
 
Stanford continues its three-game road stretch at Oregon State on Thursday in Corvallis.