Stanford Cardinal

Record: 15-14 (8-9)

Points/Game: 73.2

Points Allowed/Game: 71.9

Last 5 Games

L vs. Washington, 62-61

W vs. Washington State, 98-50

L @ Arizona, 70-54

L @ Arizona State, 80-62

W vs. UCLA, 104-80

Projected Starters

FR G Cormac Ryan - 9.1PPG/3.5RPG/1.7APG/1.0SPG

FR G Bryce Wills - 6.0PPG/3.4RPG/2.0APG

SO F KZ Okpala - 17.0PPG/5.7RPG/2.1APG/1.0SPG

SO F Oscar da Silva - 9.8PPG/5.9RPG/1.9APG/1.2BPG

SR C Josh Sharma - 9.9PPG/6.7RPG/0.3APG/1.3BPG

Top Reserves

JR G Marcus Sheffield - 5.1PPG/1.1RPG/0.6APG

FR F Jaiden Delaire - 3.9PPG/2.0RPG/0.4APG

FR F Lukas Kisunas - 1.5PPG/1.7RPG/0.1APG

Preview

Coming off of our first win of the season against Washington, Cal made it two in a row against a struggling Washington State team. Now, they close conference play against the rival Stanford Cardinal with a chance to build momentum going into the conference tournament with potential to make a bit of noise.

The first aspects that stand out about this Stanford team is their youth and size. Out of their 8 rotation players, there are just two upperclassmen. Additionally, every one of those players are either 6’5” or above. They do have 6’3” sophomore guard Daejon Davis (11.8PPG/3.0RPG/4.6APG/1.6SPG), but he missed their most recent game against Washington with an injury. If he plays, he would likely start over either Cormac Ryan or Bryce Willis with Stanford going nine deep in their rotation. Nonetheless, a very short Cal team will have their hands full with the height of the Cardinal.

Stanford does is pretty average shooting from the field (46%) but struggle from three (32%) and the line (67%). Cal will have the advantage in the latter two categories, but Stanford has a good defense that Cal will definitely be tested by, whereas Stanford should perform above their usual averages against a poor Cal defense. As usual, Cal will hold the turnover advantage (11.3-15.2) while their opponent will hold the assist advantage (12.8-11.0).

If we look at each of their last two games, we see that Cal and Stanford each hold a win over Washington State, with Stanford’s being much more convincing. However, Cal came out on the right side of a close game vs. Washington whereas Stanford suffered a one-point loss.

Cal certainly has a chance to win this game. Our young team is extremely motivated, has momentum, and are playing their best basketball of the season. It should hopefully be a close game, and let’s hope that our Bears can come out on top once again.

What do you think Cal fans? Can we win three in a row?