California @ Stanford preview
Kaiser Permanente Arena
Last Meeting ( Feb 4, 2021 ) Stanford 70, California 55
California basketball coach Mark Fox suggested his team might have to take a new approach when the Golden Bears visit Stanford in a Pac-12 rematch on Sunday night.
After Cal (7-13, 2-11 Pac-12) was held to its second-lowest point total of the season in a 70-55 home loss to Stanford (11-7, 7-5) on Thursday, Fox admitted the Golden Bears might have to slow the pace even further in order to compete with a strong team like the Cardinal.
It was an approach Cal took late last season with limited success. It did result in a 63-51 upset of Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament before the event was shut down because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Fox had hoped such tactics wouldn't be necessary this season with the addition of three proven transfers, but Ryan Betley (seven points), Makale Foreman (two) and Jarred Hyder (scoreless) combined for just nine points on 4-for-20 shooting in Thursday's loss.
Cal was outshot 54.2 percent to 36.0 percent by a Stanford team missing some big-time firepower, including star freshman Ziaire Williams, out for COVID-19-related reasons.
"Even though we're better in some areas than we were last year, we still have a talent deficiency, and we have to accept that and play a certain way," Fox admitted afterward. "And that's a hard pill to swallow.
"Last year, guys were able to say, ‘OK, we know we're going to have to play ugly to win.' This team can be maybe a little prettier, but it's still going to have to be really ugly for this group to win."
Matt Bradley had 24 points and Andre Kelly 15 in Thursday's loss. The rest of the roster combined for just 16 points.
Cal had a similar problem in its previous game as well, when Bradley had 21 points, but his teammates combined for just 29 in a 71-50 blowout loss at Arizona. The point total was the Golden Bears' lowest of the season.
If Cal has any advantage in the rematch with Stanford, it's that the Cardinal has lost a primary incentive it enjoyed Thursday -- getting revenge for the season-ending loss last year.
"I had that game in my mind before we stepped onto the court, and I think everybody else did, too," noted Oscar da Silva, who matched Cal's Bradley for game-high scoring honors with 24. "We didn't play as well as we should've last year, and if that happens against Cal, that always kind of sits deep. We played with that on our mind and we played hard."
Stanford will be looking to build another winning streak when it begins a three-game homestand. The Cardinal has had four-, three- and two-game runs already this season.
--Field Level Media