On Wednesday, Cal men’s basketball upset Stanford 63-51 in the Pac-12 Tournament in Cal head coach Mark Fox’s 300th career win. Cal came in as the #10 seed while Stanford came in as the #7 seed. Cal sophomore guard Matt Bradley and Cal senior guard Paris Austin both had 18 points for the Golden Bears. Stanford junior guard Daejon Davis finished with 16 points for the Cardinal. Cal advances to the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament where they will face UCLA on Thursday night at 6:00 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks.

Cal got out to a strong 7-0 start with 17:51 to go in the 1st half. Kareem South (3 points), Matt Bradley (2 points), and Paris Austin (2 points) were on the board for the Bears. With 15:30 to go in the half, Cal would lead 11-4 as Austin was up to 4 points after another bucket inside. Cal was shooting 4-5 from the field while Stanford was shooting 2-5. Cal was off to as good of a start as they could hope for. As for Stanford, they needed to wake up.

Cal would continue to lead 15-9 with 11:23 to go in the half. South was up to 5 points for Cal and was off to a nice start. Cal was shooting 5-10 from the field and 4-4 from the foul line while Stanford was shooting 3-8 from the field and 3-4 from the line. Cal continued to remain in control.

With 7:34 to go in the half, the game grinded to a halt a bit as Cal led 15-12. Cal had 0 points in the last 4:56 while Stanford had 0 field goals in the last 2:44. After that rough patch, Cal started to come out of their slumber to lead 24-17 with 3:35 to go in the half. Austin and South each had 9 points, finding their groove for the Bears.

At halftime, Cal would lead 30-20 after freshman guard Joel Brown rattled home a layup at the buzzer. Cal had made 3 of their last 3 field goal attempts and was now in firm control. All things continued to go Cal’s way.

With 16:00 to go, Cal led 35-26 as Bradley was up to 9 points. As for Austin, he was up to 11 points. Cal had Stanford on the ropes as the Cardinal were shooting a paltry 8-30 (26.7%) from the field. They were really struggling on offense. The struggle continued for Stanford as Cal would lead 41-29 with 13:24 to go. Stanford called for time as they were desperately looking for answers.

Cal would lead 43-34 with 11:31 to go as South was up to 13 points. He continued to have a big night. Stanford was trying to claw back in the game as Davis was up to 10 points. With 8:06 to go, Cal led 48-37 as time was starting to run out for Stanford. Stanford had 0 points in the last 3:04, really struggling to get back on track. Bradley was up to 13 points for Cal as the Bears had the Cardinal in a very vulnerable position.

Cal extended their lead 53-41 with 3:47 to go as Bradley was up to 16 points. Davis also was up to 16 points, doing his part for Stanford. Sadly for Davis, he wasn’t getting enough help while Bradley in turn was getting help from his friends. Cal had made 4 of their last 5 field goal attempts while Stanford had made just 1 of their last 9.

In the end, Cal walked out with a 63-51 victory. Austin and Bradley each had 18 points for Cal while Davis had 16 points for Stanford. It was a big time win for this Cal team, who has faced so much adversity this year. To get a win over their rival in the Pac-12 Tournament is a great way to finish off this season. Even if they don’t win another game this year. As for Stanford, this loss really stings. NCAA Tournament projections had them as one of the last four teams to make the field of 68 prior to today’s game. After this loss, odds are good they miss the field.

Up next for Cal is a game on Thursday against #2 seeded UCLA. That game will tipoff at 6:00 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks.

Keys to beating UCLA: If Cal wants to beat UCLA and extend their season into Friday, there are three things that I think they need to do. First, Cal needs to contain UCLA junior forward Chris Smith, who is averaging 13.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. When UCLA won 50-40 earlier this year in Los Angeles against Cal, it was Smith who came to the rescue with his 17 points and 8 rebounds. If Cal can contain Smith and not allow him to have a big night, that will go a long ways towards securing a Cal victory. As Cal saw in their lone game against the Bruins, UCLA has the tendency to struggle on offense almost as much as they do.

Secondly, going back to today’s game against Stanford, Cal needs to maintain a good offensive flow. Cal had three players really go off against Stanford in South (15 points), Bradley (18 points), and Austin (18 points). If Cal can have another strong night from those guys and get a little more support from guys like Grant Anticevich and Andre Kelly, they should be fine. If it’s Matt Bradley out there trying to carry the team on his back, Cal will not win this game.

Finally, Cal needs to keep the good free throw shooting coming. Against Stanford today, Cal shot 16-20 at the foul line, doing a nice job of getting to the line and knocking down their shots. If Cal stays aggressive, draws fouls, and makes their foul shots, they have good odds to walk out with a win and continue their run in the Pac-12 Tournament.