Cal Basketball: Bears Resume Pac-12 Play Sunday at Home vs. Arizona State

What was supposed to be a road game against Stanford has become a home game vs. Arizona State for the Cal men’s basketball team on Sunday afternoon.

The switch became necessary mid-week because of a COVID-19 outbreak on the Stanford team.

Coach Mark Fox isn’t concerned with the change in opponent, calling it “par for the course” at this point in the video at the top of this story.

“After as many disruptions as we’ve had for really two seasons now, I don’t think the change in opponents is as unsettling as it could be in a normal routine because we haven’t had a normal routine forever,” he said.

He also said he’s disappointed the Bears will be playing a home game that no fans had planned to attend and without students on campus to provide support at Haas Pavilion.

Fox said coach Bobby Hurley’s squad has great speed, praised the Sun Devils’ defense and said they “have played unbelievable schedule” that has contributed to a 5-7 record.

“We’re going to have to play really, really well,” he said.

In the video below, Fox talks about how the Bears have started to play with greater consistency when they are generally healthy.

ARIZONA STATE (5-7, 1-1) at CAL (8-5, 1-1)

WHERE: Haas Pavilion, Berkeley

WHEN: Sunday, 4 p.m.

TV/RADIO: Pac-12 Networks/810-AM

CAL-ARIZONA STATE HISTORY: Arizona State leads the all-time series 48-40 and has won the past seven meetings. The Bears’ most recent victory over ASU was a 68-43 road win February 8, 2017 as Grant Mullins scored 18 points and Ivan Rabb had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

CAL STORYLINES: The Bears’ scheduled game Sunday at Stanford was postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Cardinal program. Instead, Cal welcomes Arizona State. The Bears and Sun Devils were originally slated to play at Berkeley on Thursday, Jan 20 . . . Cal has won four in a row for the first time since an eight-game win streak that spanned the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. The Bears are 8-0 at home this season . . . Andre Kelly (14.8 points, 8.9 rebounds), Jordan Shepherd (14.3 points) and Grant Anticevich (12.2 points, 7.6 rebounds) have each scored double digits 10 times in 13 games. When all three go for 10 points or more, the Bears are 6-0 . . . Anticevich is coming off a career-high 25-point performance against Pacific, a game in which he made seven 3-point baskets, most by any Pac-12 player this season. . . . Cal is ranked 118th in the NCAA’s NET computer rankings.

ARIZONA STATE STORYLINES: The Sun Devils became available to visit Cal after their scheduled game this weekend in Los Angeles were postponed because of COVID issues within both the USC and UCLA programs . . . ASU will play for the first time since a 66-65 home loss to San Francisco on Dec. 19. The Sun Devils had beaten Oregon, Grand Canyon and Creighton in their previous three games after a five-game losing streak that included games against San Diego State, Baylor and Syracuse. . . . Three transfers give the Sun Devils a strong backcourt. Sophomore DJ Horne (13.3 points), who came from Illinois State, reportedly has a vertical leap of 41.5 inches. Sophomore Jay Heath (9.7 points) of Boston College has scored double digits in six of his past seven games while coming off the bench. And graduate transfer point guard Marreon Jackson (7.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 92% FT) arrived from Toledo, where he was the Mid American Conference Player of the Year in 2020-21, averaging 18.1 points and 5.9 assists. Jackson scored more than 1,800 points in his Toledo career . . . Graduate forward Kimani Lawrence (11.3 points, 8.2 rebounds) has six double-doubles and is posting the best numbers of his five seasons at ASU. . . . The Sun Devils are No. 128 in the NET rankings.

CAL GAME NOTES: Click here

ARIZONA STATE GAME NOTES: Click here

Cover photo of Cal guard Jordan Shepherd by Robert Edwards, KLC fotos

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo