Bears Look to Rebound From Tough Loss With ACC Opening Victory Over Stanford
The Bears have faced off with rival Stanford 280 times in their long and storied rivalry but this time it’s different - a kick-off to ACC Conference play for both programs on Saturday at Haas Pavilion at 1 in the first pre-Christmas matchup between the two programs in history.
Before they do battle, the Bears will have to shake off the disappointment of their narrow 98-93 loss to 7-1 Missouri in Columbia on Tuesday, a game that saw the Bears lead at halftime dissipate in a torrent of Tigers’ offense in their furious comeback win. The Bears lost despite shooting a solid 50% from the floor and 10-of-24 from the perimeter in the defeat.
“"I've reviewed the film multiple times, and it was really a combination of things in the second half. It was poor transition defense, it was poor defensive rebounding. It was bad pick-and-roll coverage,” Cal head coach Mark Madsen said yesterday. “It was missed assignments in the zone. It was them making a couple of tough shots, and it resulted in a dominant second half performance for Missouri and a very bad defensive performance by Cal in the second half.”
The Cardinal comes into the game with a 6-2 record and are led by center Reynaud Maxime, who’s having a stellar season so far, averaging 22.3 points and 12.2 rebounds per game for Stanford. The last time the Bears faced Stanford at home last season, Cal won a 73-71 thriller on Jan. 26, 2024 in front of a near-capacity crowd of 8,710.
Madsen will face his alma mater for the fourth time since taking over the Cal program and he’ll be joined by Cal soph Andrej Stojakovic in his flip across the bay to Cal after Stojakovic joined the Bears through the transfer portal in the off-season.
The talented soph will look to continue a strong run that has seen him increase his career-high scoring totals three times in the past two weeks, most recently a 2-point outing in the loss to Missouri where he shot 9-of-13 from the floor and 3-4 from 3.
“Stanford has good players at every position,” Madsen noted. “Obviously, everyone focuses on Maxime at the center position. He can see scores it inside, he stretches it out to three. He drives the lane and finishes hard at the rim. He's a veteran.
“Maxine is someone that can do a lot of different things on the court. He demands attention, so he's a big piece of their offense. But Stanford has a lot of talented players. I would say Jalen Blakes (15.9 points, 5.4 assists per game) has brought them. Not everyone talks about Jaylen Blake's defense, but he had a game-winner against Santa Clara on the road. He's got a great mid range pull up. He's got a good three-point shot. He's strong driver to the rim both ways and he's been well-coached. He's been well-coached at Stanford. He's been well-coached at Duke.
You look at Agarwal, a guy that really can stretch the defense out. He puts it down, you know, you can probably shoot the 3 from 5, 6, 7,feet behind the line, and you go down the list for Stanford, they've got a very good roster.”
The Bears were boosted by the return of veteran point guard Jovan Blacksher who missed the last several games with an injury. The senior PG kicked in 13 points and 8 assists in the loss and has averaged 15.6 points per game this season. They hope to also have starting shooting guard CJ Campbell back from injury Saturday after missing the last four games but Madsen noted he’s still day-to-day. Forward BJ Omot is not due back for the foreseeable future. Frosh point guard Jeremiah Wilkerson will look to continue his strong run after scoring at least 19 points in three straight games since seeing added minutes in Blacksher’s absence.
Tomorrow’s game will be broadcast on the ACC Network at 1 pm.
