STANFORD, Calif. – A game of large scoring runs that swung in both directions, Stanford men’s basketball fell to rival California, 78-66, at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal drops to 14-6 on the season and 3-4 in the ACC.
The Cardinal played in front of a sold-out Maples Pavilion for the second consecutive game, marking the first time with back-to-back sellouts at Maples since March of 2008, against Washington and Washington State. The result snapped a five-game win streak for the Cardinal in the series, and a six-game streak at Maples Pavilion dating back to 2020.
Jeremy Dent-Smith matched his Stanford-high with 20 points, making seven field goals with a trio of 3-pointers, while adding four rebounds and a game-high three steals. Dent-Smith averaged 19.3 points per night over Stanford’s three-game homestand, including at least 18 points in all three games.
Ebuka Okorie scored 14 points, with 12 of his tally coming at the free throw line. Okorie passed Brevin Knight for third place in the Cardinal’s freshman record book for made free throws with 122 on the season. Ryan Agarwal added 12 points and a season-high nine rebounds, while Donavin Young also grabbed nine rebounds – a career-high.
Stanford won the rebound battle and the battle of the turnovers, but a cold shooting performance led to the victory for the Golden Bears (15-5, 4-3 ACC).
Stanford led in the first half by as many as 16 points, utilizing a 21-4 run to take a 29-13 lead with 7:08 to play in the first half. Cal responded with a 25-5 run of its own to take a four-point lead into the half, 38-34.
Cal led by 13 points with 13:35 remaining to play, 56-43 but Stanford stormed back to tie the game at 60-60 with 6:38 to play. The Golden Bears regained momentum with a 17-2 run to secure the victory.
Stanford returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at Miami. The 6 p.m. PT tip will air on ACC Network.