Down 16, Cal storms back to take down rival Stanford

John Camden scored 25 points with 10 rebounds and Justin Pippen added 18 points with six assists as Cal overcame a 16-point first-half deficit to rally for a 78-66 victory over host Stanford on Saturday

Dai Dai Ames had 11 points and Chris Bell added 10 as the Golden Bears (15-5, 3-4 ACC) ended a five-game losing streak against their Bay Area rivals that included three losses last season as the teams made their ACC debuts.

Cal shot 41.4% from the floor, while holding Stanford to 27.3% after both defeated then-No. 14 North Carolina at home last week.

Jeremy-Dent Smith scored 20 points and Ebuka Okorie added 14 as the Cardinal (14-6, 3-4) lost at home to Cal for the first time since 2019. Okorie was just 1 of 16 from the floor but hit 12 of 14 free throws.

Ryan Agarwal scored 12 points with nine rebounds for the Cardinal.

The Golden Bears opened the second half on a 7-2 run to take a 45-36 lead and pushed their advantage to 13 on two occasions, including at 56-43 with 13:35 remaining.

A 7-0 run got the Cardinal to 56-50 with 11:11 remaining and a 10-0 run tied the game 60-all with 6:38 remaining after two free throws from Aidan Cammann. A 3-pointer from Bell with 6:24 left started a 18-6 run down the stretch.

The Cardinal did not make a basket from the floor after an Agarwal 3-pointer with 7:41 remaining.

Pippen and Camden each made a 3-pointer during a 12-0 run for the Golden Bears to build a 77-62 lead with 55 seconds remaining. Bell delivered an emphatic follow-up dunk to end the run and put the game away.

Cal won despite losing starting forward Lee Dort to a left knee injury with 10:38 remaining.

Cal trailed by 16 with 7:08 remaining in the first half before going on a 17-3 run over the final 4:04 to take a 38-34 lead into the break. Camden had 11 points in the first half for the Golden Bears, while Dent-Smith had 11 for Stanford.

--Field Level Media