BERKELEY – The California men's basketball team will make the short trip to the peninsula to face rival Stanford on Saturday night inside Maples Pavilion. The rivalry rematch – the ACC's two Bay Area counterparts first battled Dec. 7 in Berkeley – will tip off at 7 p.m. PT and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2 as well as 810 AM.
 
GAME INFORMATION

• Date & Time: Saturday, Feb. 22 | 7 p.m. PT
• Location: Stanford, California | Maples Pavilion
• Watch: ESPN2 | Roxy Bernstein (PxP) & Scott 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, 154-132
• Cal (12-14, 5-10 ACC) and Stanford (16-10, 8-7) are 13th and seventh, respectively, in the ACC standings entering Saturday.
• The Cardinal is 13-2 at home this season. Cal has not won at Maples since March 7, 2019, losing in five straight visits since.
• Mark Madsen will face his alma mater for the fifth time (1-3) – and second time in Maples – since taking over the Cal program in 2023-24. Madsen, a 2019 Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, earned All-America honors twice while leading the Cardinal to four NCAA Tournaments between 1996-2000.
• Stanford bested Cal 89-81 on Dec. 7 in the teams' inaugural ACC contest and their earliest meeting on record. Cal sophomore Andrej Stojakovic – who played his freshman season at Stanford – scored a game-high 25 points in the Bears' loss.
• Mike Montgomery, a 2016 College Basketball Hall of Fame inductee who coached at both Stanford and Cal, as well as the Golden State Warriors, will be honored at Saturday's game. Montgomery directed Cal to postseason appearances in each of his six seasons overseeing the Golden Bears' program and led the team to the 2010 Pac-10 regular-season title – its first conference title in 50 years. Cal's 130 victories under Montgomery stand as the winningest six-year stretch in school history.

 
STARTING FIVE
1. Jeremiah's Ascent
Jeremiah Wilkinson continues to establish himself as one of the most dynamic freshmen to put on a Golden Bear uniform. The left-hander from Powder Springs, Georgia, is second among ACC freshmen in scoring (14.5 points per game) and has taken it up a notch since being inserted into the starting lineup eight games ago on Jan. 22, averaging 20.6 PPG in that span. The three-time ACC Rookie of the Week has scored 20-plus points eight times, the most by a Cal freshman since Shareef Abdur-Rahim – a fellow native of the greater Atlanta area – did so 16 times in 1995-96. Wilkinson most recently put up 25 points in a homecoming game at Georgia Tech as well as 21 points at No. 3 Duke, the most points by a visiting freshman at Cameron Indoor Stadium in more than four years.
 
2. Golden Bears vs. Cardinal, Part 2
It's been more than two months since Cal and Stanford clashed in their inaugural ACC game on Dec. 7 in Berkeley, with the Cardinal coming out on top 89-81. Cal got a game-high 25 points from sophomore Andrej Stojakovic – who was playing against his former school for the first time – but the Bears never led and trailed by as many as 20 points with less than six minutes to play before rallying to cut their deficit to 83-77 with 1:21 on the clock.
 
3. Back In The Saddle
Andrej Stojakovic looked the part of Cal's leading scorer (17.5 PPG) with a 22-point effort last Saturday at Georgia Tech, knocking down 8 of 13 shots from the floor and 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Stojakovic – who returns to Maples Pavilion for the first time Saturday after playing for Stanford as a freshman in 2023-24 – had averaged just 8.6 PPG on 25.6% shooting in the five games played prior, in addition to missing four games between Jan. 22-Feb. 1 due to illness and injury. Stojakovic has scored 20-plus points 10 times this season and is one of only three major-conference players averaging at least 17.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 blocks per game (Cooper Flagg, Duke; Johni Broome, Auburn).
 
4. Attack The Rim
Cal has scored more than 65% of its points (48.9 PPG) either in the paint or at the free throw line this season.  The Bears lead the ACC with 16.9 free throws made per game and have shot 80% or better at the line in 10 games, including eight times in conference play. They're averaging 32.0 paint points per game as well, having most recently scored 34 in an overtime loss at Georgia Tech last Saturday.
 
5. No Quit
The Bears also lead the ACC with 13.2 offensive rebounds per game, a number fueled by the trio of Mady Sissoko (2.92 ORPG, fifth in ACC), Rytis Petraitis (2.42 ORPG) and Lee Dort (2.08 ORPG). Cal has grabbed double-figure offensive rebounds in 22 of 26 games this season – including an ACC single-game best 24 vs. Florida State. Petraitis has ramped up his effort on the offensive glass during ACC play with 2.9 boards per game (team-high 44 total in 15 games).
 
UP NEXT
Cal opens its final home stand against SMU on Wednesday. Tipoff at Haas Pavilion is set for 8 p.m. PT.
 
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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