Cal Basketball: Bears Send Home Stanford, Face UCLA in Mostly Empty T-Mobile Arena

The Pac-12 responds to COVID-19 by issuing crowd restrictions beginning Thursday

Cal will play again in the Pac-12 tournament on Thursday, albeit in front of a restricted audience at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The Bears delivered one of their best -- perhaps THE best -- performance of the season, handing rival Stanford a potentially very painful 63-51 defeat in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament.

The 10th-seeded Bears (14-18) will face No. 2 UCLA (19-12) in the 6 p.m. game, but there will be few fans in the arena after the Pac-12 announced just before Wednesday's game that it will restrict attendance beginning with the Thursday quarterfinal games in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I think the players and everyone's safety is the most important thing," Cal senior guard Paris Austin said. "We love to play in front of fans, but right now safety is the most important thing."

The Bears ignored the dire circumstances facing the globe to deliver two hours of generally splendid basketball. They ran their offense far better than they have much of the season and held a Stanford team with lots on the line to 32 percent shooting. The Cardinal had as many turnovers (17) as baskets.

The Bears never trailed and led by as many as 16 points to take the season series 2-1 from the Cardinal. Cal won away from Haas Pavilion for just the second time this season a week after being swept on a trip to Oregon by a combined 52 points.

"Our team is way better today than we were at the start of the year because we have a new system, new coach and everything else," said Cal coach Mark Fox, who won the 300th game of his career. "And so I don't think this is a bad loss for Stanford. I think they deserve to be in the postseason. We're very proud of our team today. We defended at an extremely high level, and we were able to sustain that and advance until tomorrow."

Fox said he appreciates the Pac-12's decision to take serious precautions and restrict attendance at the tournament games to essential staff, TV, credentialed media and limited family and friends.

"Tomorrow, if we're -- if health and the safety is the No. 1 priority that we say it is, then fully support keeping just those that are necessary to compete in the game tomorrow," he said. "And hopefully we can regroup and play well."

The victory demonstrated the progress Fox has made in his first season with this team, which was 16-47 the previous two seasons. This was the Bears' first victory at the Pac-12 tournament since 2017.

For Stanford (20-12), the loss could be costly. The Cardinal hasn't played in the NCAA tournament in six years but was sitting on the "bubble" Wednesday, regarded as one of the last teams in many bracket projections. This was their third straight loss, and it won't help their computer rating.

Matt Bradley and Austin both shook off foul trouble to score 18 points for Cal and Kareem South added 15.

"Me and my teammates, we did a good job, offensively," Austin said. "But most importantly we defended. Myself, I just wanted to go out there and make plays that led to winning tonight. And that's just what I wanted to do."

Matt Bradley grabs a rebound in the Bears' win over Stanford at the Pac-12 tourney / Photo by Stephen R. Sylvanie, USA Today

"I felt like my teammates kept me composed throughout the game, our coach, as well. I felt like I competed well," Bradley said. "Stuff wasn't going for me here and there but we stuck with it and kept defending, and I'm proud of my team."

Cal also got critical contributions in other areas. Grant Anticevich and Andre Kelly combined for just six points, but the Bears' starting front court players had eight and seven rebounds, respectively. Freshmen Lars Thiemann and DJ Thorpe played well in a limiting roles, and Bradley took notice.

"Our bigs aren't in here with us. It really goes out to Andre Kelly and Grant Anticevich and D.J. and Lars," he said at the post-game news conference. "They stuck to the game plan, and they stayed aggressive on him. (Oscar) da Silva is a really good player. Coach knew his tendencies, and we just stuck with it. We competed the whole 40 minutes. And that's the result.

Stanford's All-Pac-12 forward, da Silva to four points on 2-for-11 shooting.

 "I don't think we came out ready to handle what Cal showed us today," da Silva said.

Cal shot 48 percent from the field and enjoyed a 36-25 rebounding advantage. 

PRE-GAME: Cal has won a game this season in the state of Washington. One.

Elsewhere, outside the city limits of Berkeley, it hasn’t gone so well for the Bears.

They were 0-for-2 in New York, 0-2 in Oregon, 0-for-2 in Arizona, 0-for-1 in Utah, 0-for-1 in Colorado.

Heck, they are winless in two tries each in Los Angeles and San Francisco, one each in Santa Clara and Stanford.

Now Cal tries out its luck in Nevada, where the house usually wins but where the Bears will try to beat rival Stanford in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Neither of these century-old rivals is an explosive offensive team, but Stanford poses a challenge because of its defense, and defense usually travels, they say.

Given Cal’s routine trouble scoring, expect this to be a low-scoring affair. If that is not the case, it could spell trouble for the Bears, who have put up more than 56 points just once in their past five road games.

Here is a video of Mark Fox's comments following Cal's 52-50 victory over Stanford back on January 26 in Berkeley:

Check back for starting lineups and our in-game thread.

Pac-12 tournament update: In the afternoon session, Oregon State beat Utah 71-69 despite a spectacular performance by Utes junior Alfonso Plummer, who scored 35 points, including a Pac-12 record (all games) 11 3-pointers. Jarod Lucas won the game for the Beavers, hitting a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left. Meanwhile, Arizona overcame Washington 77-70. UW freshman Isaiah Stewart posted 29 points and 12 rebounds.

Starting lineups: Cal will start Austin Paris, Kareem South, Matt Bradley, Grant Anticevich and Andre Kelly. Stanford goes with Daejon Davis, Bryce Wills, Tyrell Terry, Jiaden Delaire and Oscar da Silva.

COVID-19 update: The Pac-12 announced that beginning Thursday, the remainder of the Pac-12 tournament will be played in front of only essential staff, TV, credentialed media and limited family and friends in attendance. The decision was made based on recommendation of the NCAA's COVID-19 advisory committee.

15:30 1st H: The Bears are having their way offensively so far, hitting four of their first five shots. They are moving the ball and making passes to create good scoring chances. Paris Austin has four quick points and Kareem South hit a 3-pointer. The only downside: The Bears already have committed four fouls, including two by Grant Anticevich. Cal 11, Stanford 4.

11:24 1st H: Cal continues to play well offensively. South has seven points and the Bears are shooting 50 percent (although just 1-for-4 on 3's). Andre Kelly now also has two fouls, so DJ Thorpe and Kuany Kuany are getting some playing time. Cal 15, Stanford 9. 

7:34 1st H: Well, the Cal offense has come to a screeching half. The Bears have missed the past seven shots and 10 of their past 11 and have not scored in nearly 5 minutes . . . and somehow still have the lead. But foul trouble is escalating: Bradley also just picked up his second. That's three Cal players with two fouls. Wills and Terry have two apiece for Stanford. The Bears are shooting 5-for-16, the Cardinal 4-for-14. Twelve foul calls so far, eight of the on the Bears. Cal 15, Stanford 12.

5:57 1st H: Cal drought is now 6 minutes, 34 seconds. Bears have missed their past eight shots. Cal 15, Stanford. 14.

3:35 1st H: Suddenly, the Bears get their offense sorted out - they have scored on four straight possessions to re-establish their advantage. Two baskets each by South and Austin, who will shoot an and-1 free throw after the timeout. Cal at 43 percent from the field, Stanford just 28 percent. In particular, All-Pac-12 forward Oscar da Silva is shooting 1-for-7 and has two turnovers. Cal 23, Stanford 17. 

HALFTIME: Cal 30, Stanford 20. A dynamite finish to the half by the Bears, who outscored the Cardinal 13-3 over the final 4:59 to forge a 10-point lead. Three freshmen had big hands in the late surge. Lars Thiemann scored on a beautiful left-handed hook shot off a post feed from DJ Thorpe, and Joel Brown went coast to coast in the final 5.1 seconds for a layup after Stanford missed two free throws. Cal is shooting 48 percent (despite 1-for-7 on threes) and Stanford is at 27 percent. Austin and Paris each have nine points at the half. Daejon Davis has seven for the Cardinal. Cal also has an 18-12 rebounding edge and has a 16-8 edge in points in the paint. 

Larry Scott's remarks on COVID-19 situation: Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott appeared on the Pac-12 Network at halftime to explain why the conference "reluctantly" decided to dramatically restrict who will attend Pac-12 tournament games beginning on Thursday.

"I say reluctantly because we really feel for our fans who are here in Las Vegas, the student-athletes that want to play in front of fans and they’re not going to be able to," Scott said. "I guess the operative words from our leadership, we need to show an abundance of caution and contribute to the efforts to limit the spread of this disease.”

Scott said the Pac-12 is trying "to keep up with advice of leading medical experts and public health authorities.  And on top of that we’ve got 12 of the leading universities in the country with some of the best medical schools and amazing medical research - so we’ve also had access to incredible intelligence on this from our 12 universities."

Asked if the complete cancellation of the Pac-12 tournament is possible, Scott said, "At the moment, we are planning on conducting all of our athletics events, albeit with restrictive attendance policies. Obviously, this is an evolving situation, every hour there appears to be new news and we will continue to monitor the situation and as there is new information we may have to consider other steps.”

16:00 2nd H: Stanford closed within six points, but a 3-pointer by Bradley re-established the Bears' lead. Austin picked up his third foul just 44 seconds into the half. Cal 35, Stanford 26.

13:24 2nd H: Cal continuing to attack the interior of the Stanford defense. Anticevich scored on a putback and Bradley just converted a drive. The Bears have a 22-12 edge in points in the paint. South, Bradley and Austin each with 11 points. Stanford's da Silva is shooting 2-for-10 and the Cardinal is at 27 percent as a team. Cal 41, Stanford 29.

11:31 2nd H: Foul problems growing for the Bears -- Austin, Bradley and Anticevich now all have three personal fouls. Cal 43, Stanford 35.

8:06 2nd H: Cal has scored the past five points, including a strong baseline drive by Bradley and a decisive drive to the hoop by Anticevich. Stanford has not scored in 3-plus minutes and is shooting 30 percent. The Cardinal had two chances to get within four points, but came away empty, Cal is at 46 percent and has a 30-21 edge on the boards. This is looking like it might happen for the Bears. Cal 48, Stanford 37. 

3:47 2nd H: Cal has three turnovers and a missed free throw in its past four possessions but its defense has been up to the task. Stanford has scored just two points since the 7:56 mark. The Bears are holding the Cardinal to 28 percent. Cal 53, Stanford 41.