Charlotte, NC – Cal gets lots of action late in her first season in the Atlantic Conference.
Now the bears are entering the second round of the ACC tournament, and there is something familiar waiting – Stanford Cardinal.
Cal (14-18), No. 15 seed, will hit seventh seed Stanford (19-12) on Wednesday evening.
The bears needed two overtime to overcome No. 10 Frö Virginia Tech 82-73 in Tuesday’s first round.
Combined with Saturday’s four-overtime loss at Notre Dame in the final in the regular season, it is very basketball in a short time.
“There are six overtime in the last two games, and our guys, they just never stopped fighting,” said Cal coach Mark Madsen.
It can be an advantage for the bears – at least that’s what Madsen frames it.
“Our guys are in rhythm. They can be a little tired, but our guys are in baskets,” he said. “So we’re in a good place to continue to do everything to have a great speed in the future.”
The bears have a challenge ahead of them. Stanford swept Cal in two matches during the regular season, with lots of 89-81 in December and 66-61 in February.
Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud is an All-ACC first team choice with averages of 20.1 points and 10.9 returns per match. His 23 double doubles lead the country.
So this is another chance for Raynaud to show off their talents and for Cardinal to show why they were undervalued to enter the season. They were called 17th 18 teams in the ACC supplies survey.
“We just talked about the process and just (do) your best every day,” coach Kyle Smith told Stanford Daily. “They did a really good job of staying present and trying to improve.”
Stanford’s Jaylen Blakes has been in the ACC tournament in the past as a duke player.
Cal players said they feel combat tested after the last stretch. Andrej Stojakovic scored 29 points in the Virginia Tech game and marked his third highest score of the season.
“We’ve been going for ten days, and I wouldn’t change it for anything else,” Stojakovic said. “We get to play basketball. It’s a win-or-go-home scenario. Just have to be out there and remain aggressive and have fun with the guys.”
Stojakovic made three 3-point shots against hokies and marked just the second time he reached that number in a game since mid-December.
-Bob Sutton, Field Level Media
