No matter what happens in the next few weeks, California has reason to celebrate. The Golden Bears are in the midst of their first winning season since 2016-17 and squarely on the bubble for an NCAA Tournament at-large berth.
The Golden Bears (18-8, 6-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) aim to strengthen their case when they face visiting Stanford (16-10, 5-8) on Saturday.
Cal is seeking its second straight win over Stanford after snapping a five-game losing skid to the Cardinal with a 78-66 victory at Maples Pavilion on Jan. 24.
The Bears bounced back from a double-overtime loss to host Syracuse on Feb. 11 with an 86-75 road win over Boston College last Saturday.
Chris Bell made six 3-pointers and scored 22 points to lead Cal, which never trailed. John Camden and Dai Dai Ames added 15 points apiece.
The Bears shot 56% from the field and 48% (14 of 29) from 3-point range to move into a two-way tie for ninth place in the 18-team ACC.
Ames leads Cal with 17.1 points per game, aided by a 85.6% efficiency (77 of 90) from the free-throw line.
“We’re in the chase to do something special,” Bears coach Mark Madsen said. “We’re not definitively where we want to be, but we’re in the chase. That’s a great thing. It’s a step forward from where we were last year.”
The Bears’ primary focus on Saturday will be Stanford freshman guard Ebuka Okorie, who ranks sixth nationally in scoring at 22.5 points per game.
Okorie scored 26 points in a 68-63 road loss to Wake Forest last Saturday. Benny Gealer added 11 points for the Cardinal and Aidan Cammann recorded his first-career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Okorie broke the Stanford single-season scoring record by a freshman in the loss and ranks 17th on the school’s single-season scoring list for all players.
“I don’t think many people have had a freshman like him,” Cardinal coach Kyle Smith said. “He’s really special. He’s made of the right stuff, he’s got an awesome attitude and he gives you great effort. He’s only going to get better.”
Okorie has scored 541 points while shooting 44% from the field and 32.6% from beyond the arc for Stanford, which is 3-7 over its last 10 games.
