Cal Basketball: Bears Head to Stanford Still Able to Climb to Fifth in the Pac-12

In what promises to be an emotional return for coach Mark Madsen, Cal seeks its first sweep of the Cardinal since 2010.

Cal can still finish as high as fifth place in the final Pac-12 basketball standings, but getting there first requires the Bears to do something they haven’t accomplished in 14 years.

The Bears (13-17, 9-10) close out coach Mark Madsen’s inaugural regular season with a visit on Thursday night to his alma mater, Stanford (12-17, 7-12). Tipoff is 8 p.m. and the game will be aired on ESPN2.

Cal, which beat Stanford 73-71 in Berkeley back on Jan. 26, hasn’t swept the regular-season series against the Cardinal since the 2009-10 season, when the Bears won their first conference title in 50 years.

*** In the video atop this story, taken after Cal's home victory vs. the Cardinal, Madsen talks about the emotions involved when facing his old school and suggests they might be more profound in his return to Maples.

In 2010, the Bears won 92-66 at home, powered by 24 points from Jerome Randle and a career-high 13 from Max Zhang, the fan-favorite 7-foot-3 native of China. Patrick Christopher had 23 points to key the victory at Maples.

Since then, Cal is 3-10 in games played at Maples Pavilion, without a win since the 2018-19 campaign.

The Bears will arrive at Maples coming off road losses against Colorado and Utah. Stanford hasn’t won in its past six games, the longest current losing streak in the Pac-12.

A win would boost Cal to 10-10 in the standings, which would add to their best conference ledger since going 10-8 in 2016-17.

It could also elevate them as high as sole possession of fifth place, depending on how others fare this weekend.

But there are a lot of variables involving four other teams:

— Utah (9-9), which sits a half-game above the Bears, plays Thursday at Oregon State and Saturday at Oregon

— UCLA (9-9), tied with the Utes for fifth, is home for games Thursday against Pac-12 leader Arizona and Saturday against Arizona State

— Arizona State (8-10) has road games against USC on Thursday and UCLA on Sunday

— Washington (8-11) closes on the road Thursday against No. 18 Washington State, still hoping to secure at least a share of the regular-season crown.

If Can wins and the Utes and Bruins both get swept, the Bears -- picked to finish 11th this season -- would sit alone in fifth. More likely, a split by both Utah and UCLA and a Cal victory creates a three-way tie for fifth.

The flip side is the Bears, with a loss Thursday, could wind up in a tie for eighth place, but only the Huskies beat the Cougars on Thursday. That would leave the Bears as a No. 9 seed at the Pac-12 tournament at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

In any scenario, Cal cannot climb high enough to secure one of the four first-round byes into the event. Teams seeded from No. 5 through No. 12 begin tournament play next Wednesday, with games at noon, 2:30 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

* NOTE: Junior guard Jaylon Tyson has scored 574 points to rank 13th on Cal's single-season. Tyson, averaging 19.8 points, needs 12 points to move past Kevin Johnson (585 points in 1987) into 12th, and with 20 points can climb to No. 10, ahead of Mark McNamara (593 in 1982).

Cover photo of Jaylon Tyson by Darren Yamashita, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo