Cal Basketball Preview Box: Bears Host Dangerous Dartmouth Sunday

Ivy League team took Stanford to overtime this week and has an outstanding three-point shooter in Brendan Barry

Cal coach Mark Fox said Saturday several Golden Bears players missed practice this week because of illness that was not COVID-19-related, but he expects all key players to be available for Sunday’s game against Dartmouth, which nearly beat Stanford on Thursday.

He said he expects sophomore Monty Bowser and junior D.J. Thorpe to redshirt the season because they are not recovering quickly enough from their injuries.

Here are the facts for Sunday’s game:

DARTMOUTH (3-6) at CAL (6-5)

WHERE: Haas Pavilion, Berkeley

WHEN: Sunday, 1 p.m.

TV: Pac-12 Networks -- Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play) & Ben Braun (Analyst)

RADIO: 810-AM

CAL-DARTMOUTH HISTORY: Cal leads the all-time series 6-0. The most recent meeting was on Dec. 27, 2008, when Cal defeated Dartmouth 98-62 in Berkeley. The last five matchups were played in Berkeley, and the Bears played Dartmouth on consecutive days in January 1947, winning 48-35 and 55-46. The latter was the only time Cal’s margin of victory was not by double digits. The first meeting between the two teams was on Jn. 1, 1940, in White Plains, N.Y. when Cal won 42-30.

CAL STORYLINES: Cal has not played since its 72-60 victory on Dec. 11 because finals were this week. The Bears’ second-half performance against Santa Clara was probably their best 20 minutes of basketball this season . . . The Bears have won six straight home games since its season-opening loss to UC San Diego. . . . Cal has a NET ranking of 134th as of Saturday, which puts the Bears eighth in the Pac-12, ahead of Stanford, Arizona State, Washington and Oregon State. The NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) rankings are used in determining berths and seedings in the NCAA tournament . . . Andre Kelly leads Cal in both scoring (15.2 points per game) and rebounding (9.1 boards per contest). He ranks sixth in the Pac-12 in scoring, second in rebounding and sixth in free-throw percentage (85.7%). His field-goal percentage of 64.76% ranks ninth in the nation . . . Jordan Shepherd ranks ninth in the Pac-12 in scoring, at 14.27 points per contest. Coach Mark Fox said Shepherd may be able to play Sunday’s game without the splint that he has been wearing the past several games on his thumb to protect an injury. . .Cal ranks 10th in the Pac-12 in scoring offense (66.18 points per game) and third in scoring defense (64.09 points per game allowed).

DARTMOUTH STORYLINES: Dartmouth took Stanford to overtime on Thursday, but the Big Green suffered 78-69 defeat for its fifth straight loss. Dartmouth led that game by seven points with 1:16 left in regulation, but the Cardinal rallied and scored the tying basket at the second-half buzzer . . . . That was the first of Dartmouth’s two-game trip to California. . . . Dartmouth upset Georgetown 69-60 on the Hoyas’ home court back on Nov. 13 . . . Dartmouth’s top scorer is Brendan Barry, who is averaging 15.0 points per game while hitting 43.9% of his three-points shots. His 4.0 three-point shots made per game rank fifth in the country. Cal coach Mark Fox calls him an “elite” shooter in the video below . . . Dartmouth was picked to finish sixth in eight-team Ivy League in a preseason poll……Dartmouth forward Aaryn Rai is averaging 12.4 points and 7.6 rebounds, and he averaged 19.8 points over the four games preceding the Stanford game, but he had just four points against the Cardinal . . . The Stanford-Dartmouth game was billed as a rematch of the 1942 NCAA championship game won by Stanford . . . The Ivy League did not have a basketball season in 2020-21, canceling play because of the pandemic.

CAL GAME NOTES: Click here

DARTMOUTH STATISTICS: Click here

Cover photo of Dartmouth's Brendan Barry is by Timothy J. Ludwig, USA TODAY Sports

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