BERKELEY – The California men's basketball team will play its inaugural Atlantic Coast Conference game when it hosts rival Stanford on Saturday afternoon in Haas Pavilion. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. PT on the ACC Network.
 
The Golden Bears (6-2) are off to their best start since the 2016-17 season and have posted a 5-0 record at home, while Stanford enters the contest at 7-2 overall. Saturday's meeting between Cal and Stanford is the first pre-Christmas matchup between the two programs in an extensive series that dates back more than 100 years.
 
GAME INFORMATION

• Date & Time: Saturday, Dec. 7 | 1 p.m. PT
• Location: Berkeley, California | Haas Pavilion
• Watch: ACC Network | Dave Feldman (PxP) & Corey Williams (Analyst)
• Listen: 810 AM & Varsity Network App | Justin Allegri (PxP) & Theo Robertson (Analyst)
• Live Stats: Statbroadcast

 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP – CAL vs. STANFORD

• Series record: Cal leads, 154-131
• Saturday's meeting between Cal and Stanford is the first pre-Christmas matchup between the two programs in history.
• Cal has won three straight home games against Stanford, most recently a 73-71 thriller on Jan. 26, 2024, in front of a near-capacity crowd of 8,710. The previous two home wins were a 92-70 romping – Cal tied a school record with 16 made 3-pointers – on Jan. 6, 2023, and a 53-39 battle on Senior Day, Feb. 26, 2022.
• The Cardinal won the most recent two meetings in a seven-day span at the end of last season, including an 86-76 overtime contest in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.
• Mark Madsen will face his alma mater for the fourth time since taking over the Cal program in 2023-24. Madsen – a Stanford alumnus and 2019 Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame inductee – earned All-America honors twice while leading the Cardinal to four NCAA Tournaments between 1996-2000.
• Cal's standout sophomore guard Andrej Stojakovic played his freshman year at Stanford.

 
FAN HIGHLIGHTS

• The first 3,000 fans in attendance will receive a commemorative Cal/ACC coin.
• It's a Rave In Haas. Glow sticks will be distributed to the first 2,000 fans in attendance to participate in a halftime light show.
• Fans can enjoy a pregame Beer Garden, sponsored by The Bear's Lair Tavern, on Spieker Plaza.
• Bay Area rapper P-Lo will make an appearance during halftime.

 
STARTING FIVE
1. Strength In Numbers
Cal has flexed its roster depth in different ways early this season on the way to a 6-2 overall start and 5-0 record on its home court. After deploying a 10-man rotation through the first four games of the season, Cal has been able to withstand injuries to starters Jovan Blacksher Jr., DJ Campbell and BJ Omot – the latter two of whom have not played since Nov. 17 at USC – the past four games, with different Bears stepping up to provide key minutes.
 
Ten Bears average 15-plus minutes per game this season and eight players have at least two double-figure scoring performances through the first fourth of the season. Freshman Jeremiah Wilkinson has been a spark plug off the bench with 20.8 points per game in the past four games while Rytis Petraitis (11.0 PPG, 3.8 rebounds per game, 3.5 assists per game, 2.8 steals per game) and Joshua Ola-Joseph (9.25 PPG, 52.0 FG% & 5.3 RPG) have stepped up as parts of the starting rotation in place of Campbell and Omot.
 
2. Hello, ACC
Cal and Stanford will bring their illustrious rivalry to the Atlantic Coast Conference on Saturday when the two Bay Area foes play their inaugural game as new members of the league. The Golden Bears and Cardinal have gone head-to-head more than 280 times on the hardwood and will look to get off on the right foot in ACC play Saturday. The Bears will play three more nonconference games over the next two weeks before returning to its ACC slate for good, starting on Jan. 1 at Pitt.
 
3. Right Side Of The Bay
Sophomore guard Andrej Stojakovic has flourished in his first season as Golden Bear, following an offseason transfer from rival Stanford. He'll take a team-leading 18.8 points per game into Saturday's matchup with his former school. Stojakovic, a former McDonald's All-American and five-star recruit for Stanford out of Carmichael, has been an offensive focal point for the Bears with 15-plus points scored in all eight games and 20-plus in four contests, most recently including a career-high 26 points at Missouri on Tuesday.
 
Stojakovic has added to his game in Berkeley with 5.1 rebounds per game and a team-best 1.1 blocks per game. With an increased aggressiveness in the paint, Stojakovic has cashed in at the free throw line, making 80.4% (45 of 56). As a freshman at Stanford, he was just a 52.8% free-throw shooter, making 19 of 36 attempts on the season.
 
4. Agent Zero
Freshman guard Jeremiah Wilkinson has made the most of an increased role in Cal's rotation over the past four games, averaging 20.8 points per game on shooting splits of .608/.545/.714. His 25-point performance against Mercyhurst on Nov. 27 earned him ACC Co-Rookie of the Week honors and made him the first Cal freshman with 25 points or more in a game since Justice Sueing had 25 against Washington State on Feb. 22, 2018.
 
5. Jovan Returns
Cal's floor general Jovan Blacksher Jr. returned from a three-game absence due to injury at Missouri on Tuesday and made an instant impact with 13 points and season highs of eight assists and five steals, despite an off night shooting the ball (3 of 12 from the floor). Blacksher leads Cal in minutes played (32.0 MPG), assists (4.0 APG) and has scored double figures in all five games played, including a season-high 19 at USC.
 
UP NEXT
The Bears host Cornell on Tuesday in their first of three remaining nonconference games. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. PT at Haas Pavilion.
 
SUPPORT THE BEARS
Tickets for the 2024-25 campaign can be purchased by visiting CalBears.com/Tickets, calling 800-GO-BEARS (462-3277) or emailing goldstandard@berkeley.edu. Fans can support the Golden Bears through the Cal Men's Basketball Excellence Initiative or the California Legends Collective.
 
STAY POSTED
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