Freshmen play key role as Stanford men top Cal

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Stanford has ridden its big three of Chasson Randle, Anthony Brown and Stefan Nastic all season. Now some of the younger players are ready to shoulder more of the load.

With Nastic limited to 22 minutes because of foul trouble, a couple of freshmen — forward-center Michael Humphrey and forward Reid Travis — stepped up in a big way Saturday as the Cardinal kept their NCAA Tournament chances alive with a 72-61 win over Cal at Maples Pavilion.

“We talk about our freshmen not being freshmen anymore,” said coach Johnny Dawkins, whose team badly needed a win after losing four of its previous five games.

Humphrey, starting in place of injured Rosco Allen, had career highs of 14 points and 11 rebounds. Travis, rounding into shape from a thigh injury, had eight points and six rebounds off the bench.

Before a crowd of 6,177, Stanford (17-9, 8-6 Pac-12) never trailed despite a career-high 23 points by Bears senior forward David Kravish. The only other Cal player in double figures was Tyrone Wallace, who had 11. He had trouble getting his shots off against Brown, Stanford’s ace defender.

“To me he’s one of the best defensive players in our conference,” Dawkins said. “I hope he gets some recognition for that.”

Randle had 19 points and a career-high eight assists, and Brown had 16 points and 11 rebounds as Stanford completed its second sweep of Cal (16-11, 6-8) in three years.

Cal guard Jabari Bird falls onto Stanford center Stefan Nastic while going to the basket during the second half of the Cardinal’s 72-61 victory at Maples Pavilion. Cal guard Jabari Bird falls onto Stanford center Stefan Nastic while going to the basket during the second half of the Cardinal’s 72-61 victory at Maples Pavilion. Photo: Eric Risberg / Associated Press Photo: Eric Risberg / Associated Press Image 1 of / 13 Caption Close Freshmen play key role as Stanford men top Cal 1 / 13 Back to Gallery

Knowing one more home loss probably would sound the death knell for his team’s chances of returning to the NCAA Tournament, Dawkins pulled out all the stops. He brought in his former Duke teammate David Henderson, 49ers great Ronnie Lott and former Cardinal star Adam Keefe to address his players before the game.

Their message was “to go out there and lay it all on the line,” Dawkins said. “I thought our guys took it to heart.”

Lott was especially fiery, according to Humphrey. “When he came in, he brought a different intensity to the room,” he said.

Humphrey added, “I think that’s something we almost lost in the last few games. People were coming in saying, 'Stanford, oh, they’re soft. We’ll be able to beat them.’ I think we showed today we’re a tough team. We’ll be able to compete against anybody.”

The Cardinal will need to keep the intensity for two more home games this week, against Oregon State on Thursday and Oregon on Sunday.

Stanford led 35-23 at the half after making five three-pointers to none for Cal. The lead reached 58-43 and 60-45 before a brief Cal run chopped it to 63-55 with 4:40 left. But Randle sank two free throws and Nastic hit a jumper just before the shot clock expired to put Stanford safely in front.

Nastic fouled out with 2:35 left. He scored seven points in his 22 minutes.

Jordan Mathews, Cal’s second-leading scorer, didn’t start because of a sprained ankle. He was limited to seven points.

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald