Jan. 22, 2000

Box Score

By ROB GLOSTER
AP Sports Writer

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - California thought it could upset No. 3 Stanford by being physical. Bad idea.

Mark Madsen scored 19 points and the Cardinal, the nation's top defensive team, held California to 19 percent shooting in the first half in an 81-70 victory over the Bears on Saturday.

Ryan Mendez added 15 points and Casey Jacobsen had 14 as Stanford (15-1, 4-1 Pac-10) won its sixth straight against San Francisco Bay area rival Cal (10-7, 1-4).

Sean Lampley had 16 points off the bench for the Bears, whose strategy of trying to overwhelm the Cardinal with in-your-face defense succeeded for only a few minutes. After that Stanford, which has five players 6-foot-9 or taller and is one of the most physical teams in the nation, dominated inside.

"I feel like one of the strategies of teams is to come out and play physical with us, because they know that's what we do," Madsen said. "They just try to fight fire with fire, and just try to do it better."

Cal couldn't do it better, and in the second half the Cardinal moved outside to expand their lead. Mendez, who was 4-for-4 on 3-pointers in the game, hit three 3-pointers after halftime.

Madsen, who has been struggling offensively since returning from a strained right hamstring that forced him to miss eight games earlier this season, went 7-for-8 from the field after coming into the game averaging 36 percent in the previous four Pac-10 games. He added 11 rebounds.

"He just keeps battling in there," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said. "Then you look and he's got 19 (points) and 11 (rebounds) and it's just on sheer will."

Stanford, which leads the nation by allowing opponents only 33 percent shooting, held Cal to 5-for-26 shooting in the first half.

Cal coach Ben Braun held Lampley, who leads Cal in scoring and is third in the Pac-10 with 17.1 points per game, out of the starting lineup for the first time this season. Lampley had just two points on 1-for-7 shooting in the first half, but went 7-for-11 from the field while scoring 14 points after halftime.

Leading 34-25 at halftime, Stanford extended its lead to 16 points by opening the second half with an 11-4 run that included five points by Jacobsen. Cal scored the next 10 points to pull within 45-39, but Madsen had a three-point play to start a five-point run for Stanford.

Mendez and Moseley hit consecutive 3-pointers as Stanford matched its biggest lead, 58-42 with 10:57 remaining, and Cal never got closer than seven points again.

"That was a tough game. We played hard enough today, and usually when you play that hard you're going to come away with a win," Braun said. "But when you play Stanford, you've got to be better than good to win."

Cal's decision to go physical against the Cardinal resulted in a foul-filled first half. Cal had 16 fouls before halftime, and Stanford had 14.

After taking a 6-2 lead, Cal went cold from the field. Despite hitting just nine of its 27 shots in the first half, Stanford gradually took control by scoring on a series of tip-ins while holding Cal without a basket over the final 8:40 of the first half.