By Stephen Vilardo, SuperWest Sports
When Cal and Stanford meet for the second time this season in Maples Pavilion on Saturday both teams will be looking to get back in the win column after a rough stretch.
The Cardinal have lost four of their last five with the lone win being a one-point win over NC State. The Golden Bears have dropped five of their last six with again the lone win coming at the expense of the now 3-12 Wolfpack.
Stanford is 13-2 at home this season and will look to extend a five-game home-court winning streak over their rivals. The last time Cal left Palo Alto with a win was in 2019.
Overall, the Cardinal have taken seven of the last 11 meetings in the rivalry.
Despite the slumps on both sides of the bay, each team has some firepower on display.
Two of the top seven scorers in the ACC will be showcased in this one as Maxime Raynaud and his 19.9 points per game will look to make it four in a row against Cal with at least 20 points. Andrej Stojakovic is averaging 17.7 per game this season and scored 25 in the first meeting with his former team.
Stanford also has a healthy Jaylen Blakes back to help with some of the scoring load. He was good against the Bears at Haas earlier in the year, going for 20 points on 53.8% shooting.
For Cal, Jeremiah Wilkinson has emerged as a scoring option and the freshman is coming off a hot week averaging 23 points last week in losses at Duke and Georgia Tech.
His 21 against the Blue Devils were the most points by a visiting freshman at Cameron Indoor Stadium in more than four years.
For Stanford, it is not just the scoring of Raynaud, but also his rebounding, that makes him vital to their success.
The big man is averaging 11.3 rebounds per game and his 20 double-doubles are the most in the nation and currently tied for the most in a single season in Stanford history.
Getting that 21st double-double against Cal could be difficult. The Golden Bears lead the ACC with 13.2 offensive rebounds per game, their offensive rebound rate of 32.8% is tied for 48th in the nation.
The mid-week game will be another tough one for the Bears as they will welcome SMU to Berkeley on Wednesday.
The Mustangs enter this weekend’s game with Clemson forth place in conference at 11-4. SMU currently leads the ACC scoring 82.7 points per game while Cal is 15th out of the 18 conference teams allowing 75.7 points per outing.
The homestand continues for the Cardinal with Boston College coming to the Bay Area. The Eagles have yet to win a game on an opponent’s home court this season, going 0-7 in true road games.
BC struggles offensively and the Eagles are 322nd in the nation shooting just 51.5% this season on non-blocked two-point field goals.
writes about various topics for SuperWest sports, including stats and records, college sports, and motorsports. He also founded and runs the Sports and Entertainment Research Center (SERC).
