I had a good feeling about Clayton. I'm glad the team got to pick up the pace on offense!
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The Bears extended their lead to 8 at the break, going on a 9-0 run and closing on an ND Okafor dunk and a nifty layup from Marsalis Roberson on a nice wraparound pass from point guard Joel Brown, who led the Bears with 7 assists on the night.
After the Bears went up by 10 after the break, Stanford was able to get no closer than 7 after a pair of 3’s from Spencer Jones (13 points) and Michael Jones (14 points) narrowed the Bears’ lead to 50-43 two minutes into the half but back-to-back 3’s from frosh forward Grant Newell (7 points, 4 rebounds) and Kuany pushed the lead to double digits the rest of the game.
Bears on Fire From Perimeter, Pound Stanford 92-70
Berkeley - Continuing their run of good play, the Bears won their third of their last four games this season and second straight Pac-12 contest in tonight's impressive 92-70 win over Stanford. The decisive win came despite leading scorer Devin Askew being unavailable for the second straight game.
The Bears came out of the gate on fire from the perimeter, hitting eight of the first 10 shots from the arc, with guard Dejuan Clayton and wing Sam Alajiki hitting four and three of their first shots from deep a piece to start the game. Clayton finished the night with a game-high 26 points along with 6 assists, going 6-for-8 from 3 as the Bears finished with a scoring 72% from the arc and 59% from the field in the big win over the Cardinal. Alajiki finished with a personal-best 19 points, also going a sterling 6-for-8 from 3 to match Clayton. Overall, the Bears tied a team record with 16 3-pointers in the win.
“Really happy for our players and our fans,” said Cal head coach Mark Fox after the game. “We went into this game understanding the importance of the rivalry. We told our team at the beginning of the week and even as soon as the Colorado game ended the other night, this game is different. We practiced very hard and we prepared very hard.
“We didn’t defend very well, give them credit (50% from the field). We couldn’t stop them. But we also found a rhythm and it’s amazing the difference that Dejuan makes on our team. You’ve seen it the last couple games. If we’d have had him for the first 13, who knows what we could’ve been.
“He was terrific in his ability to score the ball but he also had 6 assists and no turnovers. He makes everybody better. Really, a complete team effort.”
Forward Kuany Kuany also had a career-high 19 points in the win, going 5-for-7 from the field, 3-of-4 from 3 and a perfect 5-for-5 from the line in the Bears’ romp over their rivals from across the bay. He also added five rebounds and three assists in his best game as a Bear.
The victory was the first 90-point offensive output and highest percentage from the field the Bears have totaled since 2015.
The Cardinal started the game hot from the perimeter and were able to penetrate consistently and pull down offensive rebounds early, leading the first 7 minutes of play before the Bears knotted things at 32 with 5 minutes left in the half before the Bears took a lead they’d never relinquish.
The Bears extended their lead to 8 at the break, going on a 9-0 run and closing on an ND Okafor dunk and a nifty layup from Marsalis Roberson on a nice wraparound pass from point guard Joel Brown, who led the Bears with 7 assists on the night.
After the Bears went up by 10 after the break, Stanford was able to get no closer than 7 after a pair of 3’s from Spencer Jones (13 points) and Michael Jones (14 points) narrowed the Bears’ lead to 50-43 two minutes into the half but back-to-back 3’s from frosh forward Grant Newell (7 points, 4 rebounds) and Kuany pushed the lead to double digits the rest of the game.
After the Bears built the lead up to 21 with 5:45 left in the game on another Alajiki 3, unlike their narrow win over Colorado where they wilted under a fullcourt press so see a similar lead whittled down to 2, the Bears remained composed throughout, not allowing Stanford to make a run of any kind.
The Bears also had their highest assist output of the year with 22 compared to Stanford’s 13 and they also outrebounded the Cardinal 30-25. They took care of the ball most of the night as well, limiting their turnovers to 10 in the victory.
"We're not the 0-12 team you guys saw," said Alajiki after the game. "We didn't have DeJuan. We didn't get to play together a lot. We are a completely different team now. Everyone can feel it."
After beginning the season 0-12, the Bears have won three of four and moved with to a 7th place tie with Colorado at 2-3 in conference play. Cal returns to the court Wednesday at Washington State. The game tips off at 8 p.m. and will air on ESPNU.
Related:
Bears Close Out 2022 on a High Note With 80-76 Win Over Colorado
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