Cal Basketball Preview: Bears Prepare for Two Games Against Stanford
Thursday’s game will be the first of consecutive Cal games against Stanford. The Bears face Stanford again on Sunday night at Maples Pavilion.
CAL (7-12, 2-10 Pac-12) vs. STANFORD (10-7, 6-5 Pac-12)
WHERE: Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, Calif.
WHEN: Thursday, 6 p.m. Pacific time
TV/RADIO: ESPN2/810-AM
Cal coach Mark Fox talks about Stanford's key players in the video above and what the Bears need to do to win in the video below
CAL-STANFORD HISTORY: Cal leads the alltime series 152-126 and has won the past two games against Stanford. The last time Cal won three straight against the Cardinal was 2008-09 to 2009-10 . . . Cal went 2-1 against the Cardinal last season, with the Bears losing at Stanford 68-52 before beating the Cardinal in Berkeley 52-50 and beating Stanford again in the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas 63-51. That turned out to be the last game of the 2019-20 season for both teams. Matt Bradley averaged 15 points over the three games last season while Daejon Davis averaged 16 points and Oscar da Silva averaged 8.3.
CAL STORYLINES: Cal is in last place in the Pac-12 and has lost four straight games, which is the Bears’ longest losing streak of the season. If Cal loses a fifth consecutive game it would be Cal’s longest losing streak since Mark Fox became head coach prior to the 2019-20 season. . . . The Bears are coming off Saturday’s 71-50 road loss against Arizona, and Cal was never in the game . . . Cal coach Mark Fox has been disappointed in his team’s defense and rebounding this season. The Bears rank last in the Pac-12 in both field-goal percentage defense (45.9) and three-point field-goal percentage defense (39.2). Cal is ninth in rebounding margin at -1.58 per game . . . . Cal is the only Pac-12 team that has not had any conference games postponed this season . . . Matt Bradley is fourth in the Pac-12 in scoring at 18.2 points per game, and he has scored 20 points or more in two of the three games he has played since returning from an ankle injury. Cal lost all three of those games . . . Cal leads the Pac-12 in three-pointers attempted (420 in 19 games), and is seventh in three-point percentage (33.8). Last season, the Bears were last by a wide margin in three-pointers attempted (447 in 32 games), but the percentage (33.5) was nearly the same as this season . . . Makale Foreman and Ryan Betley rank fifth and sixth in the conference in three-pointers made per game, Foreman averaging 2.1 made threes per game and Betley making 2.0. Neither is among the top 20 in three-point percentage.
STANFORD STORYLINES: The Cardinal is coming off a 72-66 loss to USC on Tuesday in Stanford’s first game of the season at Maples Pavilion. Stanford had been playing home games in Santa Cruz because of Santa Clara County’s restrictions due to COVID-19 . . . Stanford played the past four games without three starters (Daejon Davis, Bryce Wills and Ziaire Williams). Stanford won the first two games without them, beating UCLA and Arizona, and lost the last two, against Arizona State and USC. Stanford was tied or ahead with less than two minutes left in those last two losses. It is unlikely those three players will be back for Thursday's game . . . Oscar da Silva leads the Pac-12 in scoring, averaging 18.9 points, although he was limited to a season-low nine points in the loss to USC. . . . Jaiden Delaire is averaging 13.3 points, but has picked up his scoring in the absence of the three starting, scoring 19, 21, 21 and 22 points in those four games . . . Freshman point guard Michael O’Connell scored a career-high 20 points in the loss to USC . . Stanford is the worst three-point-shooting team in conference, making just 31.3 percent of its attempts from long range. The Cardinal is also last in three-pointers attempted and made per game. . . . Stanford ranks third in the Pac-12 in defensive field-goal percentage, allowing opponent to make 40.5 percent of their shots.
SCHEDULING NOTE: The Pac-12 Conference announced game times for three future Cal games from Feb. 18-25. The Golden Bears will face Washington State in Pullman at 7:30 p.m. PT Thursday, Feb. 18, on the Pac-12 Network and Washington in Seattle at 7 p.m. PT Saturday, Feb. 20, on ESPNU. The following week, Cal will host Oregon State at 7 p.m. PT Thursday, Feb. 25 on the Pac-12 Network. on Wednesday afternoon.
CAL GAME NOTES: Click here
STANFORD STATISTICS: Click here
Cover photo of Oscar da Silva by Stan Szeto, USA TODAY Sports
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