Bay Area college basketball roundup: Teams return to hardwood amid COVID pandemic
The Bay Area’s college basketball teams played their first games in more than eight months Wednesday, after the coronavirus ended their 2019-20 seasons during conference tournaments.
The Stanford men had their game with Utah Valley canceled, while Cal switched opponents from Colorado State to Oregon State.
Here is a roundup of the games that were played Wednesday:
MEN’S HOOPS
Memphis 73, Saint Mary’s 56 >> Junior center Matthias Tass scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds to pace the Gaels in their season-opening loss at the Crossover Classic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Boogie Ellis led all scorers with a career-high 24 points, including 20 in the first half, to lead the Tigers. Ellis made a career-high-tying six 3-pointers.
After Saint Mary’s scored the game’s first eight points, Memphis outscored the Gaels 43-18 the rest of the half. Memphis, which missed its first six shots from the field, didn’t score until Ellis split a pair of free throws just under four minutes in. The Tigers didn’t make a field goal until Ellis’ bucket at the 15:25 mark.
Oregon State 71, Cal 63 >> Warith Alatishe scored 16 points, Ethan Thompson added 15, and the Beavers opened the season with a win over the Pac-12 rival Bears in what counts as a nonconference road game.
The matchup materialized because of the COVID-19 scramble when Colorado State was unable to play in the four-team pod. Northwest University is the fourth team and will play the Pac-12 teams over the next two days in Corvallis.
Matt Bradley led the Golden Bears with 21 points.
Cal and Oregon State will clash twice more this season, Jan. 2 in Corvallis and Feb. 25 in Berkeley.
UMass Lowell 76, USF 68 >> The Dons got a combined 46 points from guards Khalil Shabazz and Jamaree Bouyea in their season-opening loss at the Bubbleville Tournament in Uncasville, Connecticut, at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
Shabazz scored 31 points, one shy of his career-high, while Bouyea finished with 15 points and four assists.
USF returns to action Thursday against Towson.
Santa Clara 62, Idaho State 49 >> The Broncos, fresh off a 20-13 mark last season, their first 20-win season in seven years, opened with a win in their Bronco Invitational at Leavey Center.
Josip Vrankic, a three-year starter and the team’s returning leading scorer, paced the Broncos with 24 points. Jalen Williams added 13.
San Jose State-Simpson canceled >> The Spartans’ game against the Redhawks originally scheduled for Wednesday was canceled. There are currently no plans to reschedule. The cancelation came due to an issue preventing Simpson from adhering to Mountain West COVID-19 testing protocols.
The Spartans will now look to begin the season on Dec. 2 at Pepperdine.
WOMEN’S HOOPS
No. 2 Stanford 108, Cal Poly 40 >> Haley Jones scored on a layup 14 seconds into the game and wound up with 16 points and 10 rebounds playing for the first time in more than 10 months since a knee injury ended her freshman season early, leading the second-ranked Cardinal over the visiting Mustangs in the teams’ season opener.
Hall of Fame Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer began her 35th season on The Farm by moving to 1,095 career wins — four from passing the late Pat Summitt’s 1,098 victories to become the all-time winningest NCAA Division-I women’s basketball coach.
Stanford (1-0), one of four Pac-12 teams in the preseason Top-10 rankings and five among the top 18, used a 26-2 run to end the first half and build a 51-18 lead then kept pushing as the entire roster gained valuable minutes.
Stanford senior and returning leading scorer Kiana Williams scored 13 points after she averaged 15 points per game as a junior before the Cardinal missed out on the NCAA Tournament because of the coronavirus pandemic. Cameron Brink, a 6-foot-4 freshman, contributed 17 points and nine rebounds in her collegiate debut while Lexie Hull had 21 points with four 3-pointers.
Stanford’s scheduled game Sunday with Pacific has been canceled. Pacific suspended team activity following a positive COVID-19 test.
Davis 82, USF 75 >> The Dons (0-1) were led by freshman guard Ioanna Krimili, who scored a game-high 22 points in the loss on the road. Amalie Langer added a career-high 17 points.
The Aggies (1-0) balanced attack was led by Evanne Turner’s team-high 19.
San Jose State 56, Cal 48 >> Tyra Whitehead scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Spartans in their opener at Haas Pavilion. Leilani McIntosh, Dalayah Daniels and ,Evelien Lutje Schipholt all scored 10 for the host Bears.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.