Two teams hoping to be the Oregon State of this year’s Pacific-12 Conference Tournament will try to build some momentum when rivals Stanford and Cal meet Saturday night in Berkeley, Calif.
Neither team looks to be at the level Oregon State displayed when it shocked the Pac-12 Tournament field as a No. 5 seed last year, with Stanford (15-12, 8-9 Pac-12) having lost two straight and four of five, and Cal (11-17, 4-13) having dropped two in a row and 12 of 14.
The programs met Feb. 1 at Stanford, with the Cardinal getting 12 points apiece from Jaiden Delaire and Harrison Ingram in a 57-50 win.
The Cardinal, who would enter the Pac-12 Tournament as the No. 8 seed had the event been held this weekend, failed to build upon a 76-65 win at Oregon State on Feb. 12 with consecutive losses at home to Utah and Colorado last week.
Stanford has three games remaining in the regular season, all on the road. They wrap up with a two-game trip at No. 2 Arizona and Arizona State next week.
Cardinal coach Jerod Haase started all juniors and seniors when his club played its final home game last Saturday against Colorado. The group, led by Delaire, a senior, jumped out to a 6-0 lead, an advantage their younger teammates couldn’t hold in a 70-53 defeat.
After reviewing the tape, Haase is hopeful something was learned from the veterans’ performance.
“It was exciting to watch them for the first four minutes,” he boasted. “They were really effective in sharing the basketball and trying to do the things we do.”
Cal coach Mark Fox hasn’t announced if he will honor his seniors in such a way when the Golden Bears play their final home game Saturday. Cal enters the contest in 10th place in the Pac-12.
Whether he starts or not, fifth-year senior Grant Anticevich will break the school record for games played as soon as he steps onto the court for a 136th time.
He and Lars Thiemann have taken on bigger roles since the Golden Bears lost top big man Andre Kelly to a season-ending ankle injury last month.
Thiemann has started the past seven games in Kelly’s absence. He had a career-high 16 points and a season-high eight rebounds in a 60-58 home loss to Utah in Cal’s most recent outing last Saturday.
“Lars has really played sound basketball,” Fox noted. “The issue for us: When Lars goes out, we get small really fast.”
–Field Level Media
