Pac-12 basketball: Stanford holds off late surge to beat California

Daejon Davis scored 22 points before fouling out, Dorian Pickens made two free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining and Stanford overcame an erratic second half to beat California 77-73 on Sunday.

The Cardinal (14-13, 8-6 Pac-12) led by eight late in the second half before California rallied to make it 67-all following Don Coleman’s free throw with 4:31 left.

Stanford scored the next five points but Davis fouled out with 2:11 remaining. With its assist leader on the bench, the Cardinal struggled against Cal’s pressure defense and managed only five points after Davis fouled out.

It was just enough for Stanford to avoid a season sweep and earn its first win at Haas Pavilion since Jan. 14, 2015

Davis, the Cardinal’s quick freshman who shot 7 of 10 from the field, added five assists and seven rebounds. Pickens scored 17 points and Reid Travis added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Stanford.

The second matchup between the Bay Area rivals this season in many ways mirrored the first one in December when Stanford seemed in control early but blew a 17-point lead in the second half and lost to California in the Pac-12 opener.

This time the Cardinal hung on despite their problems against the Bears pressing defense. Stanford committed 16 turnovers that led to 21 points for California, a large chunk of that coming after halftime.

Coleman scored 17 points while Justice Sueing and Marcus Lee added 15 points apiece for California (8-19, 2-12).

Davis had two assists and made an eight-foot floater on Stanford’s first three possessions before going to the bench with his second foul less than four minutes into the game. He returned 3{ minutes later when Cal was in the midst of a 12-3 run.

The Bears went on another run and led 36-32 before Davis hit a 3-pointer and made a pair of free throws to put the Cardinal in front at halftime.

Stanford made seven consecutive free throws midway through the second half and led 63-55 before Cal made its push.