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		Stanford gets the jump on Cal in Pac-10 opener By Morris Phillips January 2, 2011

	In the long history of the Stanford-Cal rivalry, this week registers as a clear knockout for the Cardinal. You didn’t need a Dwight Powell dunk to land on your head to figure that out. While Stanford’s been making headlines ending 90-game win streaks and preparing for the big stage of a BCS bowl game, Cal’s footballers are in hibernation, and Mike Montgomery’s squad just needs to make a defensive stop, or hit some free throws. Simply, these days Stanford’s doing bigger things. On Sunday night, the magic rubbed off on Johnny Dawkins’ men’s team as they shot a sizzling 72 percent after halftime and blew past the Bears, 82-68, at Maples Pavilion. Coming in, the Cardinal had been defined this season by their offensive struggles, shooting 43 percent and averaging just 66 points a game, leading to some frustrating losses. Of course, along with the electricity on the Farm, the Bears’ indifferent defense played a big role in the Stanford breakout. “We can’t give up 82 points and expect to win,” Coach Mike Montgomery said in a matter of fact manner. “We’ve been a team that’s prided ourselves on defense, and we just didn’t show up today,” Cal forward Harper Kamp said. Cal stayed within shouting distance until midway through the second half, when Powell and the Cardinal, using their superior length, took off. Powell finished with a career-best 20 points and seven rebounds, and gave Stanford the boost they had been expecting from one of the nation’s most heralded recruits. Powell has been playing off the bench recently, as Dawkins’ has attempted to find a niche for his 6’10” jumping jack, and on this night he found it--as Montgomery astutely noticed-- entering early after starting center Jack Trotter picked up a pair of early fouls. Montgomery wanted his guys to focus on Josh Owens and Jeremy Green defensively, since they had combined for more than 50 percent of Stanford’s offense in recent games, but Green got away from them early and Powell finished them off late. Green, the consummate catch and shoot scoring threat, had 14 of his 21 points before halftime, as Cal failed to contain him, or get their hands up to contest his three early 3-pointers. Owens played a supporting role because of foul trouble, and finished with 7 points, 6 rebounds. When Powell entered, he created a mismatch initially at the small forward spot, swooping into the lane over Kamp for a baby hook, then finishing with a dunk over Markhuri Sanders-Frison. Throughout, smaller Bears were hurt in the paint by taller Stanford players, and on the Cal offensive end, the Cardinal really were effective taking away Cal’s productivity in the lane, as they eventually settled for jump shots. Cal experimented on a lot of fronts Sunday, but none seemed to pan out. Brandon Smith started at point, with Gary Franklin coming off the bench, but Smith played just 14 minutes with just one assist. And while Franklin shot the ball well, finishing with 15 points and four 3-pointers, he made some questionable decisions with the ball in his hands as Cal tried to rally late. Defensive wrinkles also failed to slow Stanford, as the Bears showed a box-and-one look briefly in the first half against Green, and also fell back into a 2-3 zone in an attempt to keep the Stanford offense on the perimeter. Neither strategy held water as the Cardinal canned nine threes and paraded to the foul line for 26 attempts, converting 19. “We’ve got to grow up, we’ve got to get more physical,” Montgomery said. “Stanford did that tonight.” The good news for Cal is they have nine of their final 15 scheduled contests in Berkeley. The bad news is they desperately need to avoid an 0-3 start in Pac-10 play with at least one victory in Arizona next weekend, where they’ll see one of this year’s conference favorites in the Arizona Wildcats. Besides better defensive showings the Bears will need to get Jorge Gutierrez headed in the right direction. Gutierrez struggled with his ball handling—again—at Stanford and had four turnovers after he coughed up eight against Hartford. Oh by the way, things weren’t much better at Haas Pavilion on Sunday. The Stanford women had their way with Joanne Boyle’s Bears, winning 78-45, showing no letdown from their big win over Connecticut. The victory was Stanford’s fifth straight over Cal, and get this, the Cardinal are 17-1 in their last 18 trips to play Cal in Berkeley. Ouch.