Where do you start with this game? As a writer, there are so many potential angles.
It was senior day, and Cal’s two seniors made important contributions to the win. It was Stanford, a rival at all times and a benchmark by which Cal and the rest of the Pac-12 must measure itself. It was Cal rediscovering their offensive mojo against the best defense in the Pac-12. It was the catharsis of various streaks and narratives ending all at once. It was two hours of compelling basketball.
Cal had not beaten Stanford at Haas Pavilion since Alexis Gray-Lawson’s out-of-body experience, and that fact is a reflection both of Stanford’s frustrating consistency and also a heaping collection of weirdness - Cal has won twice at Maples since then and come close at home multiple times.