Andrej Stojakovic had a game-high 23 points, including seven in a game-breaking spurt to start the second half, and Cal won for the first time in Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball with an 75-61 triumph over Virginia on Wednesday in Berkeley, Calif.
DJ Campbell chipped in with 11 points and Mady Sissoko complemented a game-high 11 rebounds with nine points and four blocks for the Golden Bears (8-7, 1-3 ACC), who had lost six of their past seven games.
Andrew Rohde had 14 points, Jacob Cofie 12 and Elijah Saunders 11 as part of a double-double with a career-high 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers (8-7, 1-3), who were tipping off their first Western trip in the new-look ACC.
Cal led just 35-32 before Stojakovic got the ball rolling in the hosts’ direction with a three-point play 11 seconds into the second half.
Sissoko (four points), Campbell (two), Jeremiah Wilkinson (two), Joshua Ola-Joseph (two) and Jovan Blacksher Jr. (one) also contributed to an 18-5 run that opened a 53-37 advantage a little more than seven minutes into the second period.
Virginia got no closer than nine the rest of the way en route to its second straight defeat.
The Golden Bears recorded the relatively easy win despite shooting just 43.1 percent from the field. The Cavaliers connected on just 32.8 percent of their shots.
Stojakovic’s 23 points came largely on the strength of 11-for-13 shooting at the free-throw line. Cal was awarded 33 foul shots in the game, while Virginia got just 18. The Golden Bears had a 27-16 advantage in free-throw points.
The 20-point game was the eighth of the season for Stojakovic, a transfer who played his freshman season at Stanford. He had 30 points, one off his season high, in Cal’s previous game at Clemson.
Ola-Joseph (10 points, seven rebounds) and Wilkinson (10 points) also scored in double figures for Cal. Stojakovic and Campbell equally split the team’s six assists.
Saunders recorded the first double-double of his collegiate career, which began at San Diego State. Rohde had a team-high six assists.
–Field Level Media
