BERKELEY — Dai Dai Ames drilled a 25-foot step-back triple over Stanford forward Aidan Cammann to give Cal its first made field goal of the game and a 5-0 lead with 17:42 remaining in the first half.
And that was all she wrote on Saturday at Haas Pavilion.
Despite some admirable runs from the Cardinal (16-11, 5-9 ACC), the Bears (19-8, 7-7 ACC) never relinquished their advantage, earning a 72-66 win and a regular-season Battle of the Bay sweep over Stanford for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign.
“Yeah, it was big time,” Cal forward John Camden said postgame, after finishing with 18 points. “First time in (16) years, I think I heard. So that's a big accomplishment for us.”
A big accomplishment indeed.
The announced 9,020-person crowd in Berkeley was electric, matching, if not exceeding, the atmosphere in Palo Alto during Cal’s 78-66 win on Jan. 24.
Alums were proud. Kids made memories. Students relentlessly shouted “F---k you, Stanford.”
And all who made the trek were admired by Mark Madsen — in Charmin Smith fashion — after the victory, as the Bears’ voiceless three-year head coach and Cardinal alum shouted out the “best fans in the United States” before ending with a classic “Go Bears!”
It is always fun to beat the rival, especially as traditions die by the day in the modern NCAA landscape. But beating the rival twice in one season is even better.
Just ask Cal forward Chris Bell, who grew up in Concord, how much it meant to him to not only defeat Stanford at Maples Pavilion but also at home, Haas Pavilion, where he attended games as a kid.
“I think it just feels good, to me personally,” Bell said postgame, after scoring a game-high 20 points. “You know, a bunch of my family and friends are out there in the crowd. So, just for me to be able to see them out there, enjoying the game and seeing us win, that's the biggest part for me.”
Cal might not have the coveted Stanford Axe after losing the 128th Big Game in Palo Alto.
However, the Bears’ men’s basketball team took care of business during the 2025-26 season, hitting the Cardinal where it hurts.
If only the head coaches involved in the rivalry weren’t buddies …
“That was a great atmosphere,” said Stanford coach Kyle Smith postgame. “Good to see in the Bay Area. Two teams competing pretty hard.”
“I think the ACC has been really good for our brand in our basketball,” Smith added, speaking of Cal and Stanford. “It's a funky rivalry because Mark’s a Cardinal Man. So … it's too polite, to be honest. Like, I know it's a Big Game and all that stuff. In all respect, (Madsen’s) just — and you guys know — he's a class act and Mr. Enthusiasm. So, (the Battle of the Bay) is funky that way.”
There were no fights between Oski and the Stanford Tree on Saturday.
But the Bears brought a broom.
And that’s worth celebrating.
“You look at all the former players that have played here — the Cal players that have played here, the Cal coaches, the staffs. We're trying to build on the tradition that they set forth,” Madsen said of the sweep postgame. “There's been a lot of great basketball that's been played in this arena.
“And we want to follow in the footsteps there and continue to try to build around that.”
The Bears could be seeking a third win over the Cardinal, if the two programs were to meet in the ACC Tournament.
But for now, Cal has won two games in a row with four regular-season games remaining and consideration for the NCAA Tournament on the line.
Sweeping Stanford, a decent team over .500, surely boosts Cal’s morale and tournament odds of any kind.
