Pac-12 basketball: Stanford beats Alabama in Maui Invitational; Cal rolls past Nicholls

Highly touted freshman Ziaire Williams scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds in his collegiate debut and Stanford beat Alabama 82-64 in the relocated Maui Invitational on Monday.

Stanford will face 14th-ranked North Carolina (2-0) on Tuesday. The tournament is being played in North Carolina instead of Hawaii due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The game served as Stanford’s season opener because its first scheduled game against Utah Valley was cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols.

Williams, a 6-foot-8 forward, is a McDonald’s All-American, a 5-star recruit and viewed as Stanford’s highest-rated prospect in program history. Current 2021 NBA draft boards project him as high as a top-5 lottery pick should he decide to leave after his freshman season.

Bryce Wills scored 15 points for Stanford and Oscar da Silva and Daejon Davis each scored 13.

Jahvon Quinerly lead the Crimson Tide (1-1) with 14 points and Jaden Shackelford scored 10.

Williams’ jumper with 7:42 before halftime broke a 25-all tie and the Cardinal closed the half on a 16-4 run and it was largely in control the rest of the way.

California 60, Nicholls 49

Matt Bradley tied a career-high with 26 points and Grant Anticevich scored 11 and California fought Nicholls 60-49 on Monday night in the Bears’ home opener.

Bradley’s layup off a Nicholls turnover gave Cal a 51-36 lead with 3:22 left to go. But the Bears struggled against the Colonels’ press, turned it over on three consecutive possessions in the last 90 seconds, and Ty Gordon’s layup with 32 seconds remaining got Nicholls within 54-46.

Bradley helped preserve the win with six-made foul shots in the last 28 seconds to send Cal to 2-1.

Cal went on an 18-2 run in a nine-minute span for a 21-6 lead before Nicholls (2-2) responded with a 16-2 run to draw within 23-18 at intermission. Out of the break, Najee Garvin made a layup, Gordon buried a 3-pointer and the Colonels tied it at 23.

Bradley countered with a 3 with 17:18 left and the Bears led the rest of the way.

Garvin led the Colonels with 15 points and Gordon scored 12.

It was just the second meeting between the two teams. The first game occurred 13 years ago during the 2007-08 season. Cal won that meeting, 74-62.