Cal Clamps Down Late, Snaps Rivalry Skid with Statement Win at Stanford
STANFORD - Rivalry games have a way of flipping the script, and on Saturday night, California did just that. With a suffocating defensive stretch to close the game, the Golden Bears held Stanford without a field goal for the final 7:41 and walked out of Maples Pavilion with a 78-66 win - snapping a five-game losing streak in the series and making a major statement in the process.
The turning point came with 6:24 left on the clock. Tied at 60, Chris Bell stepped into a confident three and buried it, triggering an 18-6 run that sealed the deal for Cal. DeJuan Campbell added a pair of gritty putbacks, and Bell capped it all with a thunderous follow slam that silenced the home crowd and put an exclamation point on the Bears' night.
This one meant a little extra. Stanford had taken all three meetings last season and had won six straight against Cal at Maples. But on this night, it was the Bears who had the final word - and they did it with a mix of new faces stepping up in big moments.
Graduate forward John Camden, playing in his first edition of the rivalry after stops at Delaware and Virginia Tech, delivered his best performance of the season. He poured in 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first double-double, setting the tone with poise and physicality.
Meanwhile, sophomore guard Justin Pippen - a Michigan transfer - was everywhere. He scored 18 points, dished out six assists, and took on the challenge of guarding Stanford freshman phenom Ebuka Okorie, who entered the night as the nation’s seventh-leading scorer at 22.1 points per game.
Pippen didn’t just rise to the occasion - he smothered it. Okorie finished with 14 points but shot just 1-of-16 from the field, never finding a rhythm under Pippen’s persistent defense.
“(Pippen) took that match-up very, very personally, very seriously,” Camden said postgame. “I think he showed tonight he’s one of the best defenders in the ACC.”
Cal did it all despite losing their leading rebounder, Lee Dort, who exited midway through the second half with an apparent leg injury and didn’t return. Head coach Mark Madsen didn’t have an update after the game, but Dort’s absence didn’t derail the Bears’ momentum.
The game itself was a rollercoaster. Cal went ice-cold early, enduring a nearly seven-minute field goal drought in the first half as Stanford ripped off a 16-2 run to build a 29-13 lead. Jeremy Dent-Smith sparked the Cardinal with three first-half triples, giving Stanford control - but only temporarily.
The Bears responded in a big way. After Stanford’s football team brought out The Axe to celebrate its 2025 Big Game win, the basketball team stalled.
Cal caught fire, hitting five straight shots - including back-to-back threes from Pippen - to claw back into it. TT Carr’s three-point play gave Cal a 35-34 lead with just over a minute left in the half, and Campbell drilled a three to make it 38-34 at the break.
That capped a 25-5 run over the final six minutes of the half.
Cal kept the pressure on out of the locker room, hitting six of their first nine shots to stretch the lead to 56-43. But Stanford wasn’t done. A switch to zone defense slowed Cal’s rhythm, and the Cardinal attacked the rim, drawing fouls and making seven straight free throws during a 10-0 run to knot the game at 60.
That’s when Bell’s three broke the tie - and Cal never looked back.
Defensively, the Bears were locked in down the stretch. Stanford shot just 27.3% from the field and 19.4% from deep.
Even around the rim, the Cardinal struggled, converting just 11 of 27 layups and dunks. As Stanford coach Kyle Smith put it bluntly, “Bottom line, you have to put the ball in the basket and we were unable to do so.”
Free throws were a big part of the night, with both teams combining for 56 attempts. Cal was solid at the stripe, hitting 20-of-25, while Stanford went 24-of-31.
Coming in, both teams were 14-5 and riding similar waves - outperforming preseason expectations and eyeing long-awaited returns to the NCAA Tournament. Stanford, picked 17th in the ACC preseason poll, already had marquee wins over North Carolina and Louisville and remains the only team to beat current No.
24 Saint Louis. But this head-to-head loss could loom large come March.
“We see the headlines that Stanford’s on the bubble just like we are, so to get this head-to-head means a lot for us,” Camden said.
Stanford was also playing without senior forward Chisom Okpara, who was ruled out for the season earlier in the week due to a leg injury. Okpara ranks in the top three on the team in nearly every major category - points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals - and his absence was felt, especially on a night when Okorie couldn’t get going.
“We can’t rely on him to have 30-point nights every night,” said junior guard Ryan Agarwal. “Everyone knows he’s our best player, so the scout is going to be on him, and we as teammates have to help him.
Today was an off night but I don’t think any of us is worried. He’s never too high or too low.
He’s going to bounce back.”
Dent-Smith did his part to pick up the slack, finishing with 20 points - well above his season average - but it wasn’t enough to counter Cal’s closing punch.
For Mark Madsen, the win was especially meaningful. The third-year Cal coach earned his first career victory at Maples Pavilion - the same building where he starred as a player for Stanford from 1996 to 2000, going 105-24 during his time there.
“I had a lot of friends in the stands,” Madsen said. “I’m extremely grateful for the relationships and time spent here at Stanford.
That being said, I’m happy and excited to build something special at Cal. Go Bears.”
The win came in front of a packed house - Maples Pavilion’s second straight sellout, following Duke’s visit the previous weekend. It marked the first time Stanford had back-to-back sellouts since 2008.
But it was Cal who owned the spotlight Saturday night. A statement win, a rivalry streak snapped, and a team that’s starting to believe it can make some real noise down the stretch.