Stanford Beats Cal, Denies Bears Pac-12 Title

If you had told me that Stanford would beat Cal despite getting only four points from Josh Owens, I would've laughed at you. But that's exactly what happened, so we can laugh together at Cal. That Stanford's 75-70 win at Maples Pavilion on senior day denied the Bears the Pac-12 regular season title made it extra sweet.

Chasson Randle scored a team-high 17 points and added five rebounds and four assists for Stanford, which reached the 20-win plateau during the regular season for the first time in Johnny Dawkins's four years at the helm. Aaron Bright came off the bench to score 12 points, and while he struggled from the free throw line in the final minute, he grabbed two offensive rebounds off his own misses to help seal the win.

The officiating was pretty bad, but it went both ways. Jorge Gutierrez picked up two quick fouls, both on questionable calls, but Owens and Andrew Zimmermann played most of the game in foul trouble as well. Owens was limited to 18 minutes and attempted only two shots, while Zimmermann had 13 points -- one shy of his career high -- in 25 minutes.

Stanford was 8-for-18 from beyond the arc, had more assists than turnovers, and shot well enough (69%) from the free throw line. Cal was a hot mess during several stretches, made only four of its 15 3-pointers, and committed 15 turnovers.

The Cardinal plays Arizona State, which knocked off Arizona today, in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday. A win would set up a rematch with Cal on Thursday. Another win over the Bears would probably leave Monty and Co. sweating things out on Selection Sunday. That would be as sweet as the Pac-12 is awful.