Feb. 3, 2007
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Fred Washington scored a season-high 21 points to go with eight assists and six rebounds, leading No. 23 Stanford past rival California 90-71 on Saturday night.
The Cardinal avenged a four-point loss to the Golden Bears at Maples Pavilion last month, when Cal ended a 13-game losing streak on Stanford's home floor dating nearly 14 years.
Stanford (15-6, 7-3 Pac-10) salvaged a split out of the week after losing to six-time defending West Coast Conference champion Gonzaga 90-86 in double overtime Wednesday night in the Cardinal's first regular-season game in the poll since ending the 2003-04 season ranked No. 1.
Brook Lopez, coming off a career-high 20 points against Gonzaga, had 19 points and seven rebounds and Lawrence Hill scored seven straight points during one second-half stretch on the way to 24 points and also added seven rebounds and four assists.
Lopez's 7-foot twin, Robin, had five blocks for the Cardinal.
Ayinde Ubaka had 17 points and seven assists - shooting just 5-for-13 - for the Bears and is still regaining his strength from a stomach virus. He needed an IV during the game against USC on Jan. 27. Ubaka scored a season-high 26 points in the first meeting.
Jerome Randle scored 19 points and Theo Robertson added 11 and five rebounds for the Golden Bears (12-10, 4-6), who faced a ranked team for the fourth straight game and missed a shot at their first sweep of the season series since the 1992-93 season when Jason Kidd was a freshman for the Bears.
Freshman and leading scorer Ryan Anderson was held to 11 points on 4-for-11 shooting.
Cal had won two in a row against Stanford, but hasn't taken three straight since getting five consecutive wins from 1985-87. Some fans in the sellout crowd of 11,877 at Haas Pavilion started making their way for the exits well before the final buzzer.
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Hill had his second straight big game, but came out on the winning end this time. He shot 10-for-13 with four 3-pointers after scoring 22 against the Zags. Stanford also converted 22 of 24 free throws, 8-for-8 by Anthony Goods, 7-of-9 for Washington and 6-of-6 by Taj Finger.
Goods was whistled for a technical with 7:44 to go after tossing the ball behind him toward Cal's Taylor Harrison. Ubaka's two free throws made it a 10-point game at 59-49, but Hill quickly scored on the other end for Stanford - the first of his seven straight points.
After Ubaka's 3-pointer with 14:45 to play pulled Cal within 44-40, Stanford used a 12-2 run to take charge for good.
The Cardinal earned a spot in the poll this week for the first time since the 2005-06 preseason, and third-year coach Trent Johnson has a ranked team for the first time during his Stanford tenure. It's unclear whether this win will be enough to keep them in the poll for another week.
A 16-4 run by Cal got the Bears back in it late in the first half, with pint-sized freshman point guard Randle scoring nine in the spurt, including two 3-pointers. Stanford shot 54 percent in the opening half.
Cal started the game 2-for-12 to 8-of-11 for Stanford, which jumped out to a 20-4 lead before Cal began to get into its offense. The Bears forced eight first-half turnovers to stay within 35-29 at halftime despite shooting 38 percent.
The Bears welcomed back forward Eric Vierneisel, who missed the previous two games against UCLA and USC with a sprained left ankle. His return still left the Bears with only nine healthy scholarship players, including a former walk-on and two freshmen.
