USC on Sunday became the first conference foe to topple the Cardinal since UCLA on Jan. 22, 2021. The stunner was the culmination of another tumultuous weekend.

The only teams to win twice were USC and Washington State, both of which were unranked.

Three ranked teams (No. 2 Stanford, No. 8 UCLA and No. 21 Oregon) all lost one of their two games.

And 14th-ranked Arizona lost twice on the road, against Colorado and No. 10 Utah. Clearly, the Mountain schools benefited — and the Wildcats suffered — from Arizona State having to forfeit its games against the teams because of a lack of healthy players.

As a result, Stanford, Utah and Colorado are tied for first at 5-1 in conference play, with UCLA one game behind and six weeks remaining in the regular season.

And guess what? The Mountain schools visit Stanford this week.

Eight teams have at least 13 overall wins, and everyone but ASU (7-9) has reached the double-digit victory mark.

Colorado is pushing to join the AP top-25 poll, while Oregon’s AP slot is looking tentative.

“The conference is fantastic,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “I think it’s the No. 1 conference in the country.”

That evaluation came before the loss to USC 55-46 — the Trojans’ first win over a team ranked as high as Stanford since 2008, when they also toppled the Cardinal.

USC defense brings down Stanford

The Trojans (13-4) won without their leading scorer, Kadi Sissoko, with their second-leading scorer (and top rebounder) Rayah Marshall in foul trouble, with a seven-player rotation and with paltry 27.3 percent shooting from the field.

It was a testament to their defense — and to Stanford’s recent shooting woes, particularly from 3-point range — finally catching up to the Cardinal.

Stanford (17-2) took a two-point lead into the fourth quarter Friday at UCLA, then pulled away down the stretch thanks to the Brink truck.

Pac-12 Player of the Week Cameron Brink had six blocks, seven rebounds and six points during a dominant fourth quarter as the Cardinal secured a 72-59 win that seemed like it would be the toughest test of the weekend.

Instead, Stanford fell behind by nine points at USC and never led; it shot 19 percent from 3-point range (4-of-21) and 30.9 percent overall. Only Brink had decent numbers (11 points and 14 rebounds).

“I don’t know that we can do anything any worse,” VanDerveer said. “This has to be rock bottom in terms of execution offensively, lack of screening.”

“We were connected on all levels,” said Destiny Littleton, USC’s transfer from that other USC (top-ranked South Carolina). “I was guarding (Brink). I just stepped up and did what I needed to do. At the end of the day, we came together as a whole, and our defense is what won the game.”

A 7-0 surge put the Trojans up by 10 points going into the fourth quarter. From 8:04 in the fourth until there were 28 seconds left, Stanford made just one field goal.

The point total was Stanford’s lowest since January 2016, when it scored 36 against UCLA. The Cardinal’s only previous loss this season was to South Carolina, 76-71 (in overtime) in November. Its 51-game winning streak against unranked opponents ended.

“I just thought we really took care of business this weekend, which is the understatement of the century,” said USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb, whose team beat Cal by 20 points on Friday.

Arizona, Oregon, wins snatched away

While nothing can eclipse Stanford’s loss as the top story in the Pac-12, two other games on Sunday featured one-point finishes that the losing teams appeared to have won.

Arizona freshman Paris Clark scored twice in the final eight seconds – first off her rebound, then off a steal – for a 79-78 Wildcat lead at Utah with 1.6 seconds remaining.

But Gina Kneepkens heaved a long inbounds pass to Alissa Pili, who was fouled with 0.3 seconds remaining and made both free throws for a Utes win.

Pili scored 27 points with Kneepkens added 20 in a riveting game that had 17 lead changes and 14 ties.

“I just love that we didn’t panic,” Utes coach Lynne Roberts said. “We work on end-of-game situations all the time. We’ve run that before in practice. Alissa just made a heck of a play … just a great, great college basketball game.”

In Eugene, Oregon appeared to escape a five-point hole against Washington State with eight seconds left thanks to a 3-pointer by Endyia Rogers, then another by Ahlise Hurst, but Hurst’s basket was negated by a clock issue.

The Ducks still forced overtime on a pair of Grace VanSlooten free throws and had the last shot in the extra period — a difficult runner by Te-Hina Paopao that didn’t find the bottom of the net in an 85-84 loss to the Cougars.

“As poorly as we played at times, we had a chance to win the game,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “That’s all you can ask for. It’s disappointing, but we just didn’t have enough players have good games.”

“We kind of showed the rest of America we are good,” said WSU junior Jessica Clarke, who scored four of her career-high 14 points in overtime.

It was Washington State’s first road win over a ranked Pac-12 opponent since 1998.

“I can’t even express how happy and excited I am for this team,” Cougars coach Kami Ethridge said. “I told the team before the game that it feels different with our team, with how they respond to adversity this season.”

Impact of ASU forfeits

ASU’s forfeits clearly were an advantage for Colorado and Utah, which played only one game for the second consecutive week following their rivalry meeting on Jan. 6.

Under first-year coach Natasha Adair, the Sun Devils have been shorthanded since November, with three players – Maggie Besselink, Morasha Wiggins and Jaylah Robinson – out for the year.

They had nine players available against Oregon State on Jan. 8 and, apparently, even fewer last week when the decision was made to forfeit two games.

“The reality is there was no decision to be made,” Adair said in a statement. “With few healthy scholarship players, time to heal is our only option. Our plan is to get our team healthy over the course of this week and be ready when we host Arizona (on Sunday).”

VanDerveer, the Pac-12 career wins leader,  was only somewhat sympathetic when asked Friday about ASU forfeiting.

“It’s a responsibility of the coaches to have a full roster,” she said. “It’s challenging when you have a new coach, the portal and people leave.

“Part of it is keeping people healthy. That’s a big part of the job. You have to weather that storm.”

ASU also forfeited a game at Cal last season because of travel complications.

Per NCAA rules, ASU’s losses and the wins for Utah and Colorado are counted only in Pac-12 standings and not in the overall record.

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716

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The Parker Hawks faced the Cherry Creek Bruins in Colorado’s Arapahoe Youth League, and to McCaffrey, the game held an importance he didn’t understand until it was over.

“We had lost bad earlier in the year to Cherry Creek in what we called the Super Bowl,” McCaffrey told this news organization in a recent exclusive interview. “In my head, it’s a big game. It’s like a blizzard, with just parents on the sideline. My dad was coaching my older brother on another field.

“I remember my mom was there. Long story short, it comes down to the end and I tip the ball away on defense to win the game. I started crying. I’d never had an emotion like that in my life.  I was 7 years old. I didn’t even know what emotions were yet. Joy to the extent of crying? I just knew right then I wanted to do this for my life.”

Nineteen years later, the real Super Bowl beckons on Feb. 12 with McCaffrey as the versatile offensive star for the 49ers.  The road to Super Bowl LVII begins Saturday when the 49ers (13-4) host the Seattle Seahawks (9-8) at Levi’s Stadium at 1:30 p.m.

A lot of things have gone right for the 49ers to run the table on the regular season after a 3-4 start, but none are bigger than the Oct. 20 trade with the Carolina Panthers that brought the former Stanford star back to the Bay Area.

Coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch served notice they were all-in for a run at the title when they shipped a sizable chunk of draft capital (second-, third- and fourth-round picks in 2023 and a fifth-round pick in 2024) to Carolina in exchange for McCaffrey.

After playing a bit part in a 44-23 loss to the Chiefs two days after arriving, McCaffrey became a featured back the following week against the Los Angeles Rams. He rushed for 94 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown, caught eight passes for 55 yards and a touchdown and even threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Aiyuk.

The 49ers haven’t lost since.

McCaffrey has scored 10 touchdowns during the 10-game win streak, rushed for 749 yards on 159 carries and caught 52 passes for 464 yards with the 49ers.  When you add in his pre-trade Carolina numbers, he’s having one of his best seasons since being the No. 8 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Given McCaffrey’s injury history — he missed 22 games in the 2020 and 2021 seasons after heavy use in 2018-19 — there wasn’t anything close to acclamation for the 49ers’ deal when it was made.

There was never doubt, however, about McCaffrey’s willingness to work and prepare. Teammates at every stop consider it legendary – traits born of an emphasis on school and multiple sports with four boys who all went on to play college football.

Ed McCaffrey played at Stanford and 12 years in the NFL with the Giants, 49ers and Broncos. Lisa McCaffrey, Ed’s wife, was a soccer player at Stanford. Her father was an Olympic sprinter.

Lynch, a teammate of Ed McCaffrey at Stanford, saw the dynamic up close when he and his family were invited to a McCaffrey barbecue after he joined the Denver Broncos in 2004. The McCaffrey boys – Max, Christian, Dylan and Luke ranged in age from 10 to 5. They were well-mannered but also hyper-competitive.

Lynch’s son Jake, who later played football at Stanford, grew up with three sisters and was in no way prepared for the McCaffrey experience during playtime.

“When it was time for dinner, Eddie and I went to get them, and Jake looked like he had seen a ghost,” Lynch said. “I said, ‘Jake, what’s going on buddy?’ He said, ‘Dad, they’re killing each other!’ It was dog-eat-dog.”

Christian went on to be one of the most celebrated high school athletes in the Denver area at Valor Christian in nearby Highlands Ranch and accepted a scholarship to Stanford like his father. David Shaw, the Stanford coach and a teammate of both Ed McCaffrey and Lynch at the school, learned quickly that McCaffrey’s special gifts included rocket fuel in terms of competitive nature.

When Stanford assistant Tavita Pritchard went on a recruiting visit for a Valor game, he called Shaw and told him he’d just seen a player who got mad every time he was tackled.

“He didn’t think anyone should be able to tackle him,” Shaw said. “His parents taught the kids to be the best kids they could be, to do well in school and compete like crazy. It’s a competitive family. But there’s also some nature in there. This guy’s a killer. He’s not faking it. He’s not putting it on. It’s just who he is.”

While Christian jokes “we were bred to play football,” in reality the boys were urged to play all sports growing up.

“He played football, basketball, baseball and lacrosse. He ran track. Played soccer at a real young age. Lisa was his coach when he was 3, 4 and 5,” Ed McCaffrey said in a phone interview. “He would fall in love with whatever sport he was playing at the time, but I think football was always his true love.”

But while Christian had varied interests, he wasn’t always open to new ideas.

“When Christian loves something, he’s all-in. That’s true in sports, it’s true in the classroom, it’s true in life,” Ed McCaffrey said. “But if he’s not interested in something, it’s like pulling teeth to get him to participate. He knew we wouldn’t allow him to play sports if he didn’t do well in the classroom, but he was miserable if it was a topic he didn’t care about.”

As a youth, Christian began piano lessons and was having none of it. The idea was aborted. But lo and behold, when a neighbor Christian’s age moved in and played the piano, his interest was piqued.

Maybe it was, as Christian later said, he was told “piano players get the girls.” Or that he realized he could play without the tedium of learning to read music. Either way, McCaffrey was hooked.

“He became obsessed with the piano,” Ed McCaffrey said.

Even where playing the piano was concerned, all roads led back to football.

“I started to develop a realization that piano is a lot like running back in a way,” McCaffrey said. “I can’t read music, so I just kind of listen to the sound and there’s a lot of synching and coordination with your brain and your body and reacting to noises the same way as a running back. You’re reacting constantly.”

The piano McCaffrey purchased remains behind in his Charlotte home and he said he doesn’t have a keyboard in his Bay Area residence. He’s all-in on football, every minute of every day. He has a famous girlfriend, Olivia Culpo, who is a former Miss USA, but even that is kept, as Lynch said, “low key.”

Besides the physical gifts, it is McCaffrey’s total immersion into football that makes him special.

“You look at the top golfers, the top tennis players, they’re all people who didn’t just start doing it in high school,” Shanahan said. “They’re usually guys who have been obsessed with it at a young age.”

Shanahan said McCaffrey and Nick Bosa, the 49ers star defensive end, are similar in the way they basically set up their life to maximize their ability to play football and achieve greatness.

“I’ve never been around a guy who cares more about performing,” Bosa said. “It’s literally his livelihood, and adding a guy like that to the team, especially at a position that is super important in Kyle’s offense, was a very important addition.”

When McCaffrey arrived in Santa Clara and needed to learn the offense as soon as possible, he was set up with quarterback Brock Purdy, at the time the backup to Jimmy Garoppolo.

“He wanted me to read every single play. He would say where he’s lining up, what he’s doing, his assignment,” Purdy said. “To see how fast he learned when he got here and how fast he knew our playbook was crazy to see. He’s so serious with everything he does. I’m thinking, ‘Man, this is what greatness looks like. This is why he is the way he is.’ “

Yet McCaffrey has gradually shown his humorous side as he’s gotten to know his teammates, zinging fullback and Harvard grad Kyle Juszczyk last week.

“It is wild to have a Stanford guy and a Harvard guy in the backfield at the same time, I don’t know if that’s ever happened before,” McCaffrey said. “I have to talk slow.”

McCaffrey displays virtually no pretense or sense of celebrity, to which he credits a home life that wouldn’t allow it and brought a sense of perspective to go with his football obsession.

“I’ve never looked at anyone as more important than anyone else,” McCaffrey said. “I come from a family that if you were to do that, they’ll humble you pretty quick. Plus this game is very humbling. It takes constant work to be great and you never have it all figured out.

“I mean, we play football for a living. If I go into a quantum physics class, I’m no longer the celebrity there. I’m an idiot.”

Please note: Some questions have been edited for clarity and brevity.

The dates of the 2023 conference games haven’t been finalized, but the opponents for each team are known. Do you agree that Utah has the toughest out-of-conference schedule and Oregon has the toughest in-conference schedule? — Jon Joseph

Sure, you could make the case for Utah, which plays Florida at home, Baylor on the road and Weber State. Anytime two of the three opponents are Power Five programs, the challenge is substantial.

But Colorado typically plays one of the toughest non-conference lineups, and 2023 is no exception. The Buffaloes open on the road against TCU, then host Nebraska and also play Colorado State.

Granted, Weber State is a quality FCS program. But the Hotline would prefer to face Utah’s trio of opponents.

And let’s not discount Washington’s schedule. The Huskies visit Michigan State, and they host Boise State, which should have a top-25 team, and Tulsa.

When the weakest opponent (purportedly) is a five-win team from the American, there are no cupcakes.

And yes, the conference schedule rotation for 2023 is set. In fact, the Hotline published all the schedules (in cross-division format) a few years ago.

Oregon plays everyone in the old North division, plus USC (home) and Utah (road).

But I’d argue the toughest intra-conference lineup belongs to Cal, which is set to face not only the Northwest schools but also USC, Utah and UCLA, plus Colorado.

Oh, and the Bears play Auburn, as well.

Do you think mass roster overhauls each year at the “big brand” schools is sustainable, or will the approach to player development at Utah and Oregon State be the winning formula in the future? You can’t buy culture and identity in my opinion. — @DrBTru

You most definitely cannot, and the model at work in Corvallis and Salt Lake City is humming for those programs.

The massive roster turnover that we have seen at Arizona, ASU, USC and Colorado (to name four) isn’t sustainable; nor is it necessarily intended to be.

The process works well for new coaching staffs and allows for rapid recovery. But in most cases, transfers eventually will be used to supplement the roster, not define it.

Remember, the supply chain remains clogged — and will, for two more years — because of the free season of eligibility resulting from COVID.

Do you see a scenario where name, image and likeness (NIL) collectives enter into contractual agreements with the players? For example, a player commits to a school for two years for X amount but has to pay it back if he leaves early. — @cubsfan7331

That situation already exists. Players are signing NIL contracts all the time.

At some point, the NIL market will settle. After all, the boosters supplying the cash have fat wallets for a reason: They are smart businessmen and businesswomen who aren’t likely to continue writing five-figure checks for backup guards.

NIL will continue to be used (improperly) as a recruiting inducement, but with the cash and contracts focused on the high-value positions. In fact, that process is already underway in the shadows.

Now that commissioner Kevin Warren is leaving the Big Ten, do you still think USC and UCLA will make the jump? — @MsMichelleYoung

What do you think the chances are of either the L.A. schools having buyer’s remorse in a few years and wanting to come back to the Pac-12? — @LondonUte

The L.A. schools are gone, regardless of Warren’s departure to the Bears and regardless of the Big Ten’s choice to succeed him.

They are entering the conference on Aug. 2, 2024 no matter what.

But buyer’s remorse is a distinct possibility, in our opinion, particularly for UCLA. The Bruins aren’t equipped financially to thrive in their early years in the Big Ten. They are entering the conference, as Maryland and Rutgers once did, with a mountain of debt.

The expected cash windfall from Big Ten media rights likely will be used to eat away at UCLA’s debt, for which the athletic department is fully responsible.

Meanwhile, the competition (USC, Michigan, Ohio State, etc.) will be reinvesting its cash.

We foresee the Bruins falling behind immediately and struggling to catch up. By the late 2020s, there could be a load of disgruntled UCLA fans.

Could the Pac-12 sign a non-conference game package with UCLA and USC to play one game each year? This will assure two games against an L.A. team every year, help the media rights negotiations and keep the Pac-12 in the L.A.  market. — Jack Sunabe

The issue here is timing: The Pac-12’s media negotiations are closer to the end than the beginning (presumably), which doesn’t carve much space for the crafting of a formal scheduling partnership.

However, I suspect the Bruins and Trojans will make an attempt to continue playing Cal and Stanford as often as possible.

The last thing either L.A. school wants is a heavy load of travel for non-conference games.

What’s the likelihood that any new schools rumored to be potential additions in the Pac-12 — be it San Diego State, Fresno State, SMU or some other program — get announced before the start of next season? — @aka_branderson

How about the Pac-12 pulling a surprise move and offering San Diego State and locking up the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area by getting SMU and TCU? — @RockDawg3

If the Pac-12 expands — and that’s hardly a guarantee — then a decision will come well before the start of the 2023 season. I expect the issue to be resolved this spring, in fact.

TCU certainly would make sense as a partner for SMU if the Pac-12 desires a foothold in Texas, but it’s an unlikely outcome.

If the Big 12 schools have signed the grant-of-rights agreement that accompanies the renewal of their contract with ESPN and Fox, nobody is going anywhere. They are all locked into the conference until 2031.

If the grant-of-rights contract remains unsigned — a distinct possibility given that the conference hasn’t formally announced the new media deal — then any outcome is possible, however remote it appears.

If the Pac-12 goes back to divisions, do Washington fans have the right to be absolutely livid at this one year dumpster fire set of rules? — @LocustAutoX

Nope, because 1) it’s a multi-year change that could very well be permanent, and 2) the elimination of division was approved by all the schools.

Instead of being livid at the conference, UW fans should be frustrated that the Huskies lost to Arizona State.

Win that game, and they would have played for the conference title.

Do you think the NCAA denying the Pac-12’s request to move the Colorado-Arizona State game to Week Zero had more to do with rival conferences (and networks) wanting to protect their own Week Zero games? — @em_buff

My sense is the decision was based on the NCAA not wanting to set a precedent that would allow dozens of teams to justify playing on Week Zero every season.

In our view, the NCAA should move the football calendar up one week, because it would create flexibility during the fall for a second bye.

Will that ever happen? The schedule for the expanded playoff, with opening-round games in the middle of December, could impact decisions with the calendar.

When is the Pac-12’s 2023 schedule expected to be announced? — @rreid32

I don’t have a firm date but anticipate a release in the next 10 days or two weeks.

If Denver fans/media are right and former Stanford coach David Shaw is interviewing to be Jim Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator with the Broncos, what TV show would this reunion most resemble? — @WorkishFromHome

There would be plenty of material for Divorce Court.

Does Cal’s new apparel deal with Nike get the Bears out of athletic budget hell? — @SirCharles_OG

I haven’t seen the contract or heard a whisper number on the cash component, but it’s unlikely to be substantial — certainly not close to the $3.5 million in cash the Bears were supposed to receive annually from Under Armour.

And regardless of the value, the deal won’t have a major impact on Cal’s financial situation.

Between the enormous scope (i.e., cost) of the athletic program and the stadium debt service payments, the Bears are deep, deep in the red.

Which Pac-12 men’s hoops coaches are on the hot seat? — @MarcSheehan006

Cal’s Mark Fox, Stanford’s Jerod Haase, and Washington’s Mike Hopkins are atop our list. There’s a better chance of all three getting cut loose than none of them.

Given ASU’s resurgence, we’ll assume Bobby Hurley is safe. And although Wayne Tinkle’s situation at Oregon State seems tenuous, he has a relatively new contract.

That said, we could see a retirement, or someone could leave the Pac-12 for a better job — in some form or fashion, it will be a busy spring.

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The Hotline asked Brandon Huffman, the Washington-based national recruiting editor for 247 Sports, to offer a few projections for the Pac-12 with the high school juniors who will sign letters of intent in the winter of 2023-24.

Will the intra-conference dynamics change with USC and UCLA bound for the Big Ten?

Will resurgent Washington challenge Oregon for Pac-12 supremacy?

How will the Deion Sanders era at Colorado change the balance of power?

Huffman provided the following predictions …

1. Oregon reigns supreme

“Oregon will once again have the top recruiting class in the Pac-12.

“The Ducks are finishing with a top-10 class this year, in the first full cycle under coach Dan Lanning. And he’s going to secure another stellar group in 2023-24 given their ability to recruit nationally and, obviously, their ability to close with players on the West Coast and across the country. That will put them in a good position.

“They already have a top-10 class with the current high school juniors even though there are just four commitments. But  all of them are four-star prospects, including top players in Oregon, Washington and Pennsylvania.”

2. USC flourishes

“That said, I think USC’s class will be rated higher than Oregon’s. But because the Trojans will be headed to the Big Ten in the summer of ‘24, they won’t have the highest-ranked class in the Pac-12. Instead, it will be absorbed by the Big Ten.

“The second full recruiting cycle for coach Lincoln Riley is expected to be strong. Why do I say that considering the Trojans just lost one of their top prospects? (Four-star athlete Aaron Butler, who’s from Southern California, has de-committed.)

“Well, they went into Oregon and landed the No. 1 player in the state in four-star tight end Joey Olsen, and they have a four-star receiver from Long Beach in Jason Robinson. That’s only two commitments, but there will be less reliance on the transfer portal.

“The big portal push from Riley might have scared off some recruits in the ’23 class. But the Trojans will revert to the mean with the number of high school recruits and end up with the highest-rated class on the West Coast, just as a member of the Big Ten.”

3. Utah’s rise continues

“Utah will sign an even better recruiting class in 2024 than it has in the current recruiting cycle with the 22nd-ranked class nationally.

“Obviously, the Utes do a great job recruiting within the state. But what helps them is with the consecutive Pac-12 championships and the consecutive Rose Bowl berths, they are going to become a bigger national brand than they have been in recent years.

“They have recruited Florida well, and they have been able to recruit Texas and, of course, the West Coast. Now, I think they have a better chance.

“An example is CJ Blocker, the four-star defensive back from Texas who committed to them, then de-committed and eventually circled back and stuck with them. You’ll see more recruiting wins like that, where they go into Power Five states outside the western footprint and get elite guys. The upward trajectory will continue.”

4. Here comes Colorado

“I anticipate that Colorado will have a top-five class in the Pac-12 in the 2023-24 cycle.

“The Buffaloes are already off to a strong start with three commitments — all of them since the hiring of Deion Sanders. Their class ranks No. 17 nationally right now.

Two of the three highly-rated guys are from Georgia, so it’s a matter of holding onto them. (Omar White is a four-star defensive lineman.) And let’s not forget that Sanders has ties to Georgia from his time with the Falcons and Braves.

“I anticipate the Buffaloes finishing with a top-five class whether you count USC as being in the Pac-12 or not.”

5. Status quo at UCLA

“In contrast to Colorado, UCLA won’t have a top-five recruiting class in the conference even though the Bruins have one ranked that high in the 2022-23 recruiting cycle.

“Why? They have offered the fewest number of scholarships in the Pac-12 to prospects in the class of ’24. And of the teams in the Big Ten, the only school that has offered nearly as few scholarships is Northwestern.

“UCLA will continue to rely on the transfer portal. In the 2023 class, the Bruins have nine transfers and 13 high school signees. They’ll go with something close to a 50-50 balance during their years in the Big Ten.”

6. Stanford will struggle

“Stanford has been one of the recruiting stalwarts in the Pac-12, even amid some bad years on the field. But I think there will be a rude awakening for coach Troy Taylor in Year One.

“It’s not that I don’t think Taylor can recruit, or don’t think his staff can recruit. It’s that there’s a new face of the program. There isn’t a David Shaw, who produced a No. 1 overall draft pick and Rose Bowl wins. Taylor is still a relatively unknown quantity among recruits.

“Stanford got a number of ’23 commitments even when it didn’t have a coach — in the days after Shaw announced his resignation. And the program has one commitment in the class of 2024 right now in three-star cornerback Jamir Benjamin.

“But the Cardinal has to find its footing, because the NIL (name, image and likeness) landscape has changed things.

“It may take a year or two for Taylor to prove it on the field. Even though Stanford recruits itself, the program still might need a little bit of a recalibration.”

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The Denver Post confirmed the 50-year-old Shaw spoke with Broncos officials in a bid to replace Nathaniel Hackett, whom Denver fired after just one disastrous season that ended with a last-place finish at 5-12.

Source confirms former Stanford coach David Shaw interviewed for #Broncos job today. Penners and Rice have strong Stanford ties. Also, Shaw worked for Jim Harbaugh at Stanford before taking over the program. #Denver7

— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) January 12, 2023

Shaw, who ended his 12-year run at Stanford following a second straight 3-9 finish immediately after a season-ending loss to BYU, joins an impressive list of coaches connected to the Broncos job. Longtime Saints coach Sean Payton is considered the Denver’s top candidate, with former 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh also reportedly heavily in the mix. Harbaugh interviewed with the Broncos on Monday.

Both Shaw and former Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell, 67, interviewed with the Broncos on Wednesday.

While Shaw said he had no immediate plans to coach when he revealed he was stepping down at Stanford on Nov. 26, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Shaw is looking to return to the NFL. Before joining Stanford, Shaw was an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Eagles, Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Ravens from 1997-2005.

Shaw last coached in the NFL as the Ravens receivers coach in 2005, but his success at Stanford made him a target of NFL teams for years. Shaw’s teams went 96-54 (.640) in his 12 years there. He is the Pac-12’s only four-time coach of the year and Shaw’s 65 conference wins are tied for fifth most in conference history.

But after finishing in the Top 10 in four of his first five seasons and winning at least nine games in seven of his first eight seasons, the Cardinal went 14-28 in the past four years – the team’s first losing seasons since 2007.

Shaw was replaced at Stanford by former Cal quarterback and Sacramento State coach Troy Taylor.

There’s some speculation that perhaps the Broncos see Shaw as part of a package to lure Harbaugh from Michigan back to the NFL. Shaw was once Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator at Stanford. Could Shaw return to the NFL as Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator?

Shaw certainly has plenty of ties already to the Broncos ownership group. Part owner and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice runs the Hoover Institute at Stanford. CEO Greg Penner and his wife, Carrie Walton-Penner, are both graduates of Stanford.

Shaw, Harbaugh and Caldwell all interviewed this week, as did Broncos first-year defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, who was a 49ers assistant 10 years ago.

Four more candidates will speak to the Broncos hierarchy next week, according to the Denver Post. Payton, 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn are all scheduled to interview.

“You have to believe you’re getting better,” Curry told the group, according to a video shared on Twitter by Associated Press reporter Janie McCauley. “Eventually you’ll get into a game and look at each other like, ‘We’re here.’ … Maintain that patience and perseverance throughout all these growing pains and it’ll pay off.”

After delivering a message, Curry also received another jersey to add to his collection. Cal’s Jayda Curry presented him with her No. 30 Cal jersey. The two star guards share a number and last name, but they’re not related.

Jayda Curry — who has made at least one 3-pointer in 37 straight games, the third-longest streak in Pac-12 history — said it was cool to have the four-time NBA champion take the time to meet with their team after the game.

“Having somebody who does it professionally in the NBA kind of reiterating the key things that we’re trying to key in on I feel like for me is showing that we know what we can do,” she told the AP.

Curry has long been an ardent supporter of women’s sports. His family also has close ties with Stanford star Cameron Brink as both players’ mothers have been best friends since college. Curry took in the cross-bay matchup sitting courtside alongside his mother, Sonya, who wore a Stanford sweatshirt.

The Golden Bears owned a three-point advantage with four minutes left in the game but couldn’t hold on, losing 60-56 to their cross-bay rivals. The defeat dropped them to 10-5 on the season and 1-3 in Pac-12 Conference. Meanwhile, Stanford, who was led by star Brink’s double-double, remains undefeated in conference play, extending its win streak against Pac-12 opponents over three seasons to 38.

Huge thanks to @StephenCurry30 for being our guest last night! pic.twitter.com/hlsfCQImYN

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) January 9, 2023

But when Hannah Jump got the ball, wide open in the corner in front of the Stanford bench, it didn’t matter that 20 seconds remained on the shot clock.

When Jump is wide open from 3-point range, she doesn’t think – she just does what she does best. And she knows Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer is good with that, too.

“Hannah Jump has the ‘as-green-as-it-gets’ light,” VanDerveer said after the game. “There were some other people taking shots I didn’t like, but not Hannah.”

Heading into Monday’s showdown with No. 18 Arizona — a rematch of the 2021 national championship game — the 6-foot senior is the nation’s top 3-point shooter. Jump’s 6-for-10 showing from beyond the arc in Stanford’s win over Arizona State on Saturday brought her to 51 made 3-pointers on the season, more than every other player in the country, and she’s also in the top 10 in percentage, at 50%.

Born in England but raised in the Bay Area, Jump spent a lot of her youth competing against Haley Jones, now her teammate at Stanford. Jones still has a vivid memory of one of their early meetings as middle-schoolers on opposing club teams.

“She was giving us straight-up buckets,”Jones said. “She was getting busy and nobody could guard her. I thought she was, like, four years older than me. She was so good.”

Jump and Jones would keep facing off all throughout high school, with Jump starring at Pinewood in Los Altos while Jones went on to be the nation’s No. 1 recruit out of Archbishop Mitty. It was at Pinewood where Jump learned under legendary shooting coach Doc Scheppler and had her shooting ability blossom.

“I brag about her in terms of her shooting numbers in our drills and competitions,” Scheppler said, adding that Jump once made 35-of-36 3-pointers in a two-minute drill and once hit 49 3-pointers in a three-minute drill.

On the court, Jones’ Monarchs won the Central Coast Section’s top championship over Jump’s Panthers every year they faced off. But when competing in the state-wide tournament after the section playoffs, Pinewood won back-to-back NorCal titles each time, including beating Mitty in the 2018 NorCal championship game.

But the rivals also were friends and teammates on the Cal Stars elite club basketball team in the East Bay. And when it came time to head to college, both stayed close to their homes and their hearts to play at Stanford.

While Jones instantly stepped into a starring role, VanDerveer saw Jump fitting as a game-changing offensive spark off the bench. She hit eight 3-pointers in her sixth collegiate game, scoring 24 points against a ranked Syracuse team to help lead Stanford to a win.

But there was one area of the collegiate game Scheppler knew she’d struggle with: Physicality.  VanDerveer saw it right away — and Jump’s playing time became very inconsistent.

“When she would get in the game, they picked on her. They went right at her. I mean, sometimes she had to come out in two minutes,” VanDerveer said. “But her competitiveness — she’s always been a team player, but I think she realized that she wants to contribute at both ends.”

Jump agreed and knew she needed to improve on her defense entering last offseason. But what she decided to do was try out an entirely different style of basketball: 3-on-3.

It’s the formal version of schoolyard 3-on-3 with the pace of the pros. Played on a half-court, the ball only needs to clear the 3-point line to change from defense to offense. Baskets inside the 3-point line count as 1 point and beyond the line count as 2 points. Games are played on a rolling 10-minute clock but can end before that if one team scores 21 points.

Jump suited up for England in 3-on-3 at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, about 75 miles south of her birthplace of Warrington. Even against older competition, she starred, finishing second in the tournament in points per game (7) and helping England win a silver medal. She had a blast doing it, too.

“I fell in love with the game of 3-on-3,” Jump said. “Being a shooter, it’s a dream world of basketball. The ball was in my hands a lot, so I had to learn to make really quick decisions … I learned a lot about the physicality of the game but also just kind of learned to slow the game down and make really good reads.”

To VanDerveer, it was Jump’s defense that grew the most in 3-on-3 and made her into “a different player.

“I think her playing in the 3-on-3 helped her a lot because she is a much more confident defender,” VanDerveer said of Jump. “Everyone knows she can shoot and she’s got a fabulous shot. But she’s a lot more than that.”

Jump agreed: “I really think that 3-on-3 helped my defense. You’re basically playing 1-on-1 defense, you can’t have much help in 3-on-3. … The quick transition, if you miss a shot, you can’t think about it because you’re immediately on defense and you just have to flip that switch.”

And now, VanDerveer has no hesitation about keeping Jump on the floor, even admitting: “I don’t want to take her off the floor — I have to, but it’s hard because she’s so valuable.” She played all 40 minutes in that aforementioned game against Tennessee.

“I think what Hannah has done is inspirational,” VanDerveer said. “She basically transformed her body from high school to college. She is thick and she is strong. She’s a great teammate, she’s a leader by example. She practices hard. It’s a really exciting story.”

After growing up going to Stanford summer camps and dreaming of playing for VanDerveer, Jump has pushed any self doubt out of her mind and embraced the opportunity.

“It’s always been like a dream and a goal of mine to play here, so to be able to be in my senior year and be starting right now, it feels incredible,” Jump said. “I put in a lot of hard work to get here, a lot of belief and doubling down on myself, knowing that I can and that I belong here. I think that’s been like the biggest thing, it’s been kind of like the mental switch of it.”

Jump could play another season at Stanford, using the free year of eligibility every college athlete got from the coronavirus-impacted 2020-21 season.

If she decides to pursue a professional career, she could first focus her efforts on the 3-on-3 game and try to help Great Britain qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Or she could try to make it in the WNBA, where her shooting ability would presumably be welcomed.

“The reason Hannah can play in the WNBA is because the value of having a shooter is now common knowledge,” Scheppler said. “She’s a floor spacer, and she’s worth 20 points a game whether she scores them (herself) or not.”

Jones, who will almost certainly be a top-four pick in April’s WNBA Draft, added, “I think Hannah’s one of the best shooters in the country, so why would you not see her playing pro somewhere? There’s always going to be a place on a team if you can shoot like that.”

Jump’s value in the cutthroat world of the WNBA — which employs only about 135 players, which is almost a quarter of the spots available in the NBA — will be up for some debate. Ahead of a Stanford game this year, one WNBA executive at Maples Pavilion said of Jump, “What translates to the pro level? She’s got to be able to do more than [shooting]. Specialists are no longer in our league.”

But so far this season, Jump is showing that she’s not just a specialist. And all the work that she put in to get to this point is leaving a major impression on the coach she grew up wanting to play for.

“I wish everyone would get the Hannah Jump formula,” VanDerveer said, “because it’s just special.”

Over the next 10 to 15 years, Childress hopes to build a sizable real estate and investment portfolio that eventually surpasses the tens of millions of dollars he earned playing in the NBA and in the EuroLeague.

“That’s my goal,” Childress said. “I said that was a big part of my motivation in starting the company and really creating a business that I own and operate is (because) I want to make more off the court than I made on the court. … Not that it’s all about money, it’s about building but it’s always nice to have financial goals in what you’re doing and that is my goal.”

Childress grew up in Compton and is a 2001 graduate of Mayfair High in Lakewood, where he was a McDonald’s All-American. The 6-foot-8 small forward went on to play college basketball at Stanford before being selected sixth overall in the NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks in 2004.

He has transitioned to a new arena in the business world as the CEO of LandSpire Group, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm that is focused on revitalizing communities of color with strategic live, work and thrive developments that for example sometimes include daycare facilities to ease the burden of working parents.

“Even our name, LandSpire, is to inspire change through land development and land investment so that’s a big part of what we do and why we do it,” Childress said. “I would be doing myself and my community a disservice if it was only about the money. That’s an important piece of it. You have to have some sort of commercial benefit but it’s not the only reason. We’ve taken on projects in communities like Bellflower, which is very close to Mayfair, and we’re doing a project in Compton that we didn’t necessarily have to do but it’s about representation and being in communities like the ones I grew up in.”

Childress participated in the “Athletes in Business” panel at the LA Sports Innovation Conference last month at Hollywood Park in Inglewood. Other panelists included former Laker Metta World Peace and former Dodger Adrian Gonzalez.

Afterward, Childress, 39, said two things inspired him to transition into business and investing after his professional basketball career.

“First, my great-great-grandfather was a landowner in the south,” Childress shared. “So you can imagine that’s super inspirational at a time where African-American people didn’t have a ton of ownership and for him to provide for my family lineage through real estate was incredible.

“Secondly, my scholarship donor at Stanford University, John Arrillaga, was a big real estate developer up in the Bay Area and he exposed me to commercial real estate at scale, which over my 15-year playing career I was able to navigate and see a little bit more from that side so when I retired for me it was a no-brainer to get into real estate.”

After an international career that saw Childress play professional basketball in Atlanta, Greece, Phoenix, Brooklyn and Australia, he learned there was more to life than sports.

“I just envisioned myself as not having limits,” Childress continued. “I thought that having the ability to go from Compton to Stanford to everywhere else, I was able to do things that I couldn’t have dreamed of as a kid and so when I put my mind to something and set my sights on something, it’s almost like a why not mentality. Why not me? Why can’t I? I’m not going to limit myself based on preconceived notions.

“I’m going to go out there and give it my best. That’s what I’ve done in three years of my company’s existence and hopefully continue to build that over time.”

Josh Childress, a former NBA lottery pick, is thriving as a CEO in his life after professional basketball. In a wide-ranging interview, @JChillin explains why he’s drawn to real estate investing and shares how he became co-owner of an NBL team. @CoachMoore82 @MayfairHoops pic.twitter.com/x3QH0ZFrRD

— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) December 30, 2022

In addition to real estate development, he’s also a budding investor who co-owns a professional basketball team in Australia, the South East Melbourne Phoenix, in the same Australian National Basketball League that he played in toward the end of his career.

“I played in Australia for three years so I know the landscape over there a bit,” Childress said. “When the opportunity presented itself, the entire ownership group is pretty much based here in LA, guys that I know. Some real estate guys, myself, Al Harrington, Zach Randolph, John Wall, some NBA connectivity, it was a great opportunity for us to take that next step.

“We played for a number of years, John (Wall) is still playing and to be part of a basketball team and help guide that basketball team and help that grow is what a lot of pro athletes aspire to do and we had an opportunity in Australia.”

One of the most pivotal decisions Childress ever made came in 2008 when he chose to play for a team in Greece over the NBA. Childress said not only did that decision net him more money because of tax implications but also set him on a different path when it came to the idea of building generational wealth.

“It was definitely an early exposure for me in how to navigate the tax world,” Childress explained. “One of the bonuses of playing overseas is that typically the teams pay your local taxes, so when you come back home, you offset that by your state taxes and at the time I was a Nevada resident so I was able to get most of (my) taxes covered and that obviously increased the amount I was able to earn.

“It was a great lesson, a great learning experience and thankful that I went through that. I still came back and played some years in the NBA after that but it was a great learning experience for sure.”

Mayfair basketball

Mayfair boys basketball coach Steve Moore has known Childress since they were teammates on the Southern California All-Stars AAU basketball team nearly 25 years ago.

“He’s always been a hard worker, of course. You see the 6-foot-8 frame and you know he can jump out the building but you really didn’t see the work that he put in from the outside looking in,” Moore said. “(Childress) is a worker, so it’s really no surprise what he’s doing off the court with his firm and his outreach program and just coming back and paying it forward to us is really no surprise at all because that’s just how he is.”

Moore said what also makes Childress so special is that despite his success, he has remained accessible to the Mayfair basketball program.

“I’m excited to be at a school where he set his foundation but also to be somewhere where I can give him a call and he can really tell me and help us on some of the things it takes to be a Monsoon,” Moore added.

He’s also equally as accessible and inspiring to the team’s varsity basketball players.

“When he came back when I first got hired (in the summer of 2022), one thing he was really big on was telling the guys what’s going to happen when the ball stops bouncing and you have to be ready for that when that opportunity comes.”

A change of scenery worked out just fine for Katie Ledecky.

Shifting coasts and coaches after last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, the American swimmer turned in another stellar performance at the world championships, set a pair of world records and capped 2022 as The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year, selected by a panel of 40 sports writers and editors from news outlets across the country.

Ledecky, who previously won the award in 2017, edged out American track star Sydney McLaughlin in balloting announced Wednesday.

The two tied in total points, but Ledecky got the nod based on 10 first-place votes to McLaughlin’s nine. Basketball standout A’ja Wilson finished third.

“I know so many great athletes have won this honor,” Ledecky said. “I’m really happy — happy with how my year went, and also excited about the future.”

Ledecky, who won her first Olympic gold medal in 2012 at age 15, has managed to stay on top in female freestyle swimming’s longest pool events for the better part of a decade.

She has held the long-course world record in both the 800- and 1,500-meter free since 2013, rarely facing a serious challenge in either of those grueling races.

At this year’s world aquatics championships in Budapest, Hungary, Ledecky touched first in the 800 by more than 10 seconds and won the 1,500 by nearly 15 seconds. She also claimed gold in the 400 free and was part of the winning U.S. team in the 4×200 free relay.

Before 2022 was done, Ledecky added two more world records to her ledger. She set short-course marks in both the 800 and 1,500 a week apart — even though she rarely competes in the 25-meter pool.

But the real enjoyment for Ledecky comes when no one is cheering her on, when it’s just her and her coaches and teammates, putting in the long, lonely hours of training.

“I might be one of the few swimmers who loves the training even more than the racing,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong: I love the racing, too. But I truly enjoy going to practice every day. I’m excited when I go to bed for practice in the morning.”

Last year, after an Olympic performance that was a slight disappointment by her lofty standings, Ledecky left coach Greg Meehan and the Stanford University team where she had competed and trained while earning a psychology degree.

Her top priority was getting closer to her family in the Washington, D.C., area. She was intrigued by the program that Anthony Nesty, a rising star in the coaching ranks, had built at the University of Florida.

One of Nesty’s freestylers, Bobby Finke, surprisingly swept gold in the men’s 800 and 1,500 free at Tokyo. Another, Kieran Smith, captured an unexpected bronze.

So, Ledecky moved nearly 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) from Palo Alto, California, to Gainesville, Florida.

“It’s been a lot of fun every day,” she said. “This is the right place for me to be at this point in my career. I’m training really well and learning a lot along the way.”

The shift to Nesty and a program where she usually trains with the men seems to have pushed the 25-year-old Ledecky to even greater heights.

Nesty said one of his main challenges is making sure Ledecky doesn’t train too hard.

“She needs to understand that once you get older, the body is different,” the coach said. “I have to tell her, ‘Katie, you’ve got understand you’re not 18 anymore.’ The body will get tired. When it gets tired, it’s OK to throttle back a little bit.”

Moving to Florida has led to other changes.

Always a bit reserved, Ledecky now seems far more willing to speak up — even holding her own in good-natured trash talk with her male teammates, according to Nesty.

“This group is a very competitive group, a fun group and, at times, pretty chatty,” he said. “It seems to have made her pretty chatty. You’ve gotta be with our group. I think our group has kind of made her come out of her shell a little bit.”

Ledecky agreed.

“Guys are guys. They love to trash-talk with each other,” she said with a smile. “I’ll poke a little fun at the some of the guys, give them a little push here and there. I’m definitely pretty comfortable in this environment now.”

Ledecky tackled a brutal program at the Tokyo Games, where women competed in the 1,500 free for the first time. As expected, she swept the 800-1,500 double but came up short to Australian rival Ariarne Titmus in two shorter freestyle events.

Ledecky settled for silver behind Titmus in the 400 and didn’t even win a medal in the 200, finishing 1 1/2 seconds behind the Aussie in fifth place.

It was the first time Ledecky failed to win a medal in an Olympic race.

“There were some things I would’ve liked to be better in Tokyo,” she conceded. “But also, I was really stretching myself, I was swimming 1,500 at the Olympics for the first time, while also swimming the 200 free. The events were even on the same day, which is something I don’t think anyone else was doing. It was a challenge I had set my mind to for many years, something I wanted to take on. I don’t regret taking that on.”

Over three Olympic appearances, she has claimed seven gold medals and three silvers. At the biennial world championships, Ledecky has piled up a staggering 19 gold medals along with three silvers.

She has every intention of going faster.

Ledecky is focused squarely on the 2024 Paris Games, where she’ll likely compete in at least four events. She even is glimpsing ahead to her home-country Olympics at Los Angeles in 2028.

She’ll be 31 by then but sees no reason why she can’t stay on top.

“I’m always setting new goals for myself,” Ledecky said. “I enjoy the process more and more every year. What it takes to stay at this level. What it takes to continue to have your eyes set on something that’s a couple of years away.”

___

Paul Newberry is a national sports writer for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry(at)ap.org

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

“In the first half we did a good job on Hannah, but Haley was killing us,” Golden Bears coach Charmin Smith said.

Then, Jump more than did her part after intermission.

Jones hit her initial six shots and scored 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and four assists, leading No. 2 Stanford past Cal 90-69 on Friday in the Pac-12 Conference opener for both schools.Jump knocked down five 3-pointers on the way to 17 points to emphatically bounce back after missing all five of her tries from long range in Tuesday’s 72-59 home win against No. 21 Creighton. It was her first game without making a 3 since an NCAA Tournament Elite Eight game vs. Texas last March.

“It’s really great for our team to be able to have different people who can step up on any given day who are ready when their number’s called,” Stanford senior Francesca Belibi said. “That makes it hard for other teams to guard us because you never really know who’s going to be the one to step up on any given day. We’re always excited for each other.”

Cameron Brink had 11 points, five rebounds and two blocks while Kiki Iriafen added nine points and seven boards for Stanford (13-1, 1-0 Pac-12). Freshman 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts also scored nine points as the Cardinal got 26 points from the bench in their eighth straight victory since a 76-71 overtime setback to top-ranked South Carolina at home on Nov. 20.

“Going down the stretch we’re going to need everyone, so it’s trying to balance minutes and get people some playing time,” Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer said.

Jayda Curry scored 20 points and Leilani McIntosh added 17 for Cal (9-3, 0-1), which came in averaging 76.1 points and allowing 83.8. The Cardinal haven’t given up more than 77 points to an opponent since the end of the 2019-20 season.

“It’s a positive we were pretty horrendous offensively and we scored 69 points,” Smith said.

Pac-12 favorite Stanford has won the last eight meetings in the rivalry, which currently features all-time winningest women’s coach VanDerveer opposite former Cardinal star Smith beginning her fourth season in Berkeley.

The teams meet again Jan. 8 at Cal’s Haas Pavilion.

“I’m glad we played Stanford first,” Smith said, “It’s like, ‘Hey, this is the standard.’ ”

TARA CARES

After the game, VanDerveer spent some time with the women’s basketball team from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and even led the women through a cheer as the Warhawks stopped on The Farm after their game at UC Santa Cruz. Coach Keri Carollo earned her 400th career victory on the West Coast trip.BIG PICTURE

California: Curry has the longest active streak of any Pac-12 player for consecutive regular-season games with at least one 3 at 34, matching ex-Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu for the third-longest in conference since 1999-2000. … Cal has lost 12 of 14 to Stanford overall and eight straight at Maples Pavilion since a win here on Feb. 22, 2015. … The Bears made their final three field goals of the second quarter yet trailed 47-29 at halftime. … Former Cal and Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour was again here at Maples today. She retired this year.Stanford: Brink has 43 blocks through the first 14 games. … Stanford has held 77 of its last 83 opponents to 41.8% shooting or below, with Cal finishing at 39%. … The Cardinal held a 25-10 rebounding advantage in the first half and 48-25 overall. … Stanford is 37-8 vs. Cal on its home floor. The Cardinal are 8-1 at home this season. … Stanford was 2 of 9 from 3-point range in the opening half then wound up 7 for 24 to just reach 30% — the Cardinal’s fourth-lowest percentage this season.

UP NEXT

California: Hosts No. 18 Arizona on Dec. 31.Stanford: Hosts Arizona State on Dec. 31.