GAME INFO
Who: Cal (12-15, 5-11 ACC; last game: 66-61 loss to Stanford) vs. SMU (20-7, 11-5; last game: 79-69 loss to Clemson)
When: 8:00 p.m. PT
Where: Berkeley, California | Haas Pavilion
TV/streaming: ESPNU | Eric Rothman (PxP) & Corey Williams (Analyst)
Radio: 810 AM | Justin Allegri (PxP) & Theo Robertson (Analyst)
All-time series: SMU leads 2-0; last meeting: SMU win, 76-65 (Jan. 29)
Odds: SMU (-3.5), O/U (153.5) – via BetMGM
Cal and SMU will link up for the first time in Berkeley Wednesday evening when the Bears look to get back on track following four consecutive losses. The Bears are currently sitting in a tie with Syracuse for 14th place in the ACC standings and need to avoid falling below 15th to secure a spot in the postseason conference tournament.
The last four games of the season feature two teams (SMU, Louisville) in the top half of the standings and two teams (Boston College, Notre Dame) in the bottom half, so it is not an impossible task for Mark Madsen's team to remain in position to snag a spot in the ACC Tournament. A win over the Mustangs would certainly go a long way towards helping do that Wednesday night.
Cal was competitive early in the last meeting with the Mustangs but a 22-8 run ultimately put the Bears in too big of a hole to climb out of without leading scorer Andrej Stojakovic who was working through a hip injury at the time. Since then, Stojakovic has returned to the lineup, but the Bears are struggling to string together wins right now with some lackluster play on the offensive end of the floor at times and continued issues defensively.
The Bears were able to find some success on defense by utilizing a press defense against the Cardinal giving Madsen some optimism that his team can regroup and break out of its funk that has resulted in a four-game losing streak.
Cal has lost five of its last six games following the defeat in Dallas to Andy Enfield's squad.
"This week is going to be absolutely huge," Madsen said this week about the pivotal stretch for the Bears. "SMU, who we've already played and so we have some familiarity with them. We've studied the film since we've played them, and they're a strong team. They're a very, very talented team. They've got good size up front, they've got shooting on the perimeter and they change their defenses. They play fast, they could play slow. So, that's gonna be a huge game."
Wednesday's game will mark the first home game for the Bears since a matchup against Wake Forest on Feb. 8. It will be the start of the final home stand of the season for Cal before it heads on the road to close out the regular season against Louisville and Notre Dame. Madsen's squad is 10-5 at home this season while SMU has been a solid road team with six wins and two losses.
"Right now, we're focused very much on every game being a one-game series," Madsen said. "I thought at Georgia Tech, we played them very tough on the road and they made the plays late — we lost in overtime. At Stanford, it was a tie game with 35 seconds left. We put them on the free-throw line and they knocked down their free throws. Our competitive spirit right now, and our competitive nature is all there. We've gotta correct some execution things, and we're gonna do that.
"We're gonna correct those execution things, and we're gonna take every single game as a one-game series. And, we're gonna go with that mentality again with our goal of having a deep run in March."
Who: Cal (12-15, 5-11 ACC; last game: 66-61 loss to Stanford) vs. SMU (20-7, 11-5; last game: 79-69 loss to Clemson)
When: 8:00 p.m. PT
Where: Berkeley, California | Haas Pavilion
TV/streaming: ESPNU | Eric Rothman (PxP) & Corey Williams (Analyst)
Radio: 810 AM | Justin Allegri (PxP) & Theo Robertson (Analyst)
All-time series: SMU leads 2-0; last meeting: SMU win, 76-65 (Jan. 29)
Odds: SMU (-3.5), O/U (153.5) – via BetMGM
Cal and SMU will link up for the first time in Berkeley Wednesday evening when the Bears look to get back on track following four consecutive losses. The Bears are currently sitting in a tie with Syracuse for 14th place in the ACC standings and need to avoid falling below 15th to secure a spot in the postseason conference tournament.
The last four games of the season feature two teams (SMU, Louisville) in the top half of the standings and two teams (Boston College, Notre Dame) in the bottom half, so it is not an impossible task for Mark Madsen's team to remain in position to snag a spot in the ACC Tournament. A win over the Mustangs would certainly go a long way towards helping do that Wednesday night.
Cal was competitive early in the last meeting with the Mustangs but a 22-8 run ultimately put the Bears in too big of a hole to climb out of without leading scorer Andrej Stojakovic who was working through a hip injury at the time. Since then, Stojakovic has returned to the lineup, but the Bears are struggling to string together wins right now with some lackluster play on the offensive end of the floor at times and continued issues defensively.
The Bears were able to find some success on defense by utilizing a press defense against the Cardinal giving Madsen some optimism that his team can regroup and break out of its funk that has resulted in a four-game losing streak.
Cal has lost five of its last six games following the defeat in Dallas to Andy Enfield's squad.
"This week is going to be absolutely huge," Madsen said this week about the pivotal stretch for the Bears. "SMU, who we've already played and so we have some familiarity with them. We've studied the film since we've played them, and they're a strong team. They're a very, very talented team. They've got good size up front, they've got shooting on the perimeter and they change their defenses. They play fast, they could play slow. So, that's gonna be a huge game."
Wednesday's game will mark the first home game for the Bears since a matchup against Wake Forest on Feb. 8. It will be the start of the final home stand of the season for Cal before it heads on the road to close out the regular season against Louisville and Notre Dame. Madsen's squad is 10-5 at home this season while SMU has been a solid road team with six wins and two losses.
"Right now, we're focused very much on every game being a one-game series," Madsen said. "I thought at Georgia Tech, we played them very tough on the road and they made the plays late — we lost in overtime. At Stanford, it was a tie game with 35 seconds left. We put them on the free-throw line and they knocked down their free throws. Our competitive spirit right now, and our competitive nature is all there. We've gotta correct some execution things, and we're gonna do that.
"We're gonna correct those execution things, and we're gonna take every single game as a one-game series. And, we're gonna go with that mentality again with our goal of having a deep run in March."
