Change has been good for Cal, Stanford men’s basketball teams heading into first meeting as ACC rivals
A lot has changed for Cal and Stanford basketball since their most recent meeting last March 7.
First of all, when they collide for the 286th time on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Berkeley’s Haas Pavilion, it will be as Atlantic Coast Conference opponents.
Another big change: Both are winning. Stanford (7-2) was 5-4 through nine games a year ago while Cal (6-2) was 3-5 through eight.
The Bears are led by sophomore Andrej Stojakovic (18.8 points), who played his freshman season at Stanford. He will face the same emotional test Saturday that coach Mark Madsen, a former Stanford All-American, experienced in his first season as Bears’ coach last year.
“We talk a lot about the process. Don’t get caught up in emotion,” Madsen said. “Play with emotion for every game but don’t get emotional. Andrej’s mature beyond his years. So Andrej’s going to handle this extremely well.”
Cal is basically an entirely new team in its second season under Madsen. Freshman guard Jeremiah Wilkinson been an effective counterpoint to Stojakovic, averaging 20.7 points off the bench over the past four games.
Stanford has two key newcomers: Duke graduate transfer Jaylen Blakes (15.9 points, 5.4 assists, 2.3 steals) and USC transfer, junior guard Oziyah (14.1 points) from Hayward.
But the Cardinal headliner has been senior center and Paris native Maxime Reynaud. In the conference that gave us Michael Jordan and Grant Hill, Raynaud leads the ACC in scoring (22.3 points and is second in rebounding (12.2).
“He scores it inside, he stretches it out to 3, he drives lane and finishes hard at the rim,” Madsen said Reynaud. “He’s a veteran and he demands attention.”
FROM BERKELEY TO BATON ROUGE
The Cal and Stanford women played unbeaten, top-25 opponents 2,200 miles apart Thursday in the SEC/ACC Challenge, and it was Bears who made the most of it.
Cal (8-1) knocked off No. 19 Alabama (9-1) 69-65, led by 21 points from Kayla Williams, 19 from Ioanna Krimili and 16 points and six assists from Marta Suarez. Krimili hit a 3-pointer and free throw with 6:55 left to give the Bears a 58-56 lead they never surrendered and made a free throw with 5 seconds left to ice it.
“This is a huge win for our program and what we have been fighting for,” said coach Charmin Smith, whose team is off to its best start during her five seasons. At No. 19, ‘Bama was the highest-ranked team Cal has beaten since he 2019-20 season. ”To have this opportunity in the SEC/ACC Challenge means a lot.”
It certainly will benefit Cal’s NCAA tournament resume. The Bears were projected as a No. 10 seed easier this week by ESPN’s Charlie Creme and they should climb after beating an Alabama team he had at No. 5.
Stanford, meanwhile, came close to giving first-year coach Kate Paye a signature victory on the road against No. 5 LSU. The Cardinal (7-2), the nation’s most efficient 3-point shooting team, five of its first seven from deep, helping to forge a 30-15 lead moments into the second quarter.
But they made just 4 of 23 the rest of the night and they Tigers (10-0) gradually fought back to claim a 94-88 overtime victory. A Stanford turnover let LSU tie the game with 4 seconds left in regulation and the Tigers controlled the overtime period.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed with the outcome,” said Paye. whose team led for more than 38 minutes. “But I’m extremely proud of our team, the way we competed. Our team was right there. We came in and played with confidence that we can compete with any team in the country.”
Sophomore forward Nunu Agara had career highs of 29 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out.
SMC HEADS TO SLC
The Saint Mary’s men (8-1) trek to Utah (6-1) on Saturday with hopes of avenging a 78-71 loss to the Utes in Moraga last year. The good news for Saint Mary’s is senior All-WCC center Mitchell Saxen, who has gotten off to a slow start offensively this season, had 15 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, four steals and four blocks in the Gaels’ 82-74 overtime win over UTSA on Tuesday.
AIDEN MAHANEY’S UCONN STRUGGLES
Moraga native and two-time All-WCC guard Aiden Mahaney made the high-profile jump this offseason from Saint Mary’s to two-time defending national champion UConn.
It’s been a rough road so far. Mahaney is averaging 5.4 points on 35-percent shooting for the Huskies (6-3), who lost all three games at the Maui Invitational. The Huskies play Sunday at Texas.
SJSU WOMEN ON A ROLL
With wins in four of their past five games, third-year coach April Phillips’ San Jose State women are 6-3. A win over visiting LMU (5-1) on Saturday would match the Spartans’ highest total for a full season since 2019-20. Over the past three seasons, SJSU was 18-74.