Clayton scores 26 to lead California over Stanford 92-70

Jan 6, 2023, 11:22 pm

BERKELEY, Calif. -- — DeJuan Clayton hit six 3-pointers and scored 26 points as California rolled to a 92-70 victory over Stanford on Friday night.

Clayton, who missed Cal's first 13 games because of a hamstring injury, sank 9 of 14 shots for the Golden Bears (3-13, 2/3 Pac-12 Conference). He added seven assists. Sam Alajiki came off the bench to score 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 5 of 6 from beyond the arc. Kuany Kuany hit 5 of 7 shots, 3 of 4 from distance, and scored 18.

Clayton buried all four of his first-half 3-pointers, scoring 14 points to lead the Golden Bears to a 45-37 lead at intermission.

Cal shot 64% in the first 20 minutes (18 of 28) and buried 8 of 10 from beyond the arc. Freshman ND Okafor and Alajiki both had eight points as the Cal bench outscored the Cardinal subs 21-11. Okafor hit all four of his shots and Alajiki was 3 for 3 with two 3-pointers. Stanford shot 53% from the floor in the first half but made only 3 of 12 from distance.

The Golden Bears were never threatened in the second half. Grant Newell hit a 3-pointer to put Cal up 53-43 two minutes into the second half and the Cardinal trailed by double digits the rest of the way.

Michael Jones led the Cardinal (5-10, 0-5) with 14 points, while Spencer Jones scored 13. Maxime Raynaud pitched in with 12 points and eight rebounds. Isa Silva scored 12.

Cal shot 59% overall and a blistering 73% from beyond the arc (16 of 22). Stanford shot 50% overall but only 30% from distance (7 of 23).

Cal has won two straight and 3 of 4 since a 0-12 start to the season.

UP NEXT

California: The Golden Bears travel to play Washington State on Wednesday and Washington on Saturday.

Stanford: The Cardinal travel to play Washington on Thursday and Washington State on Saturday.

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