Cal Will Face Stanford in Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament
Cal will have 11 days off between its final regular-season game until its opener in the Pac-12 tournament, but the Bears know who their first-round opponent will be.
The Bears will face archrival Stanford in Wednesday’s opening-round game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
That’s the same team Cal played in the opening round of the 2020 Pac-12 tournament. The 10th-seeded Bears upset Stanford 63-51 in that game last season, ruining the Cardinal’s hopes of getting a berth in the NCAA tournament. As it turned out, it did not matter, because the Pac-12 tournament was canceled the next day, ending Cal’s season, and the NCAA tournament was canceled soon thereafter because of COVID-19.
The Bears (8-19 overall, 3-17 Pac-12) finished last in the Pac-12 standings this season and have the No. 11 seed in the conference tournament. (Arizona is ineligible for the postseason and is not participating in the Pac-12 tournament, leaving 11 teams in the event.) Cal will be paired against the sixth-seeded team, which is Stanford, and the Cardinal has lost four in row, the last three without the services of injured Oscar da Silva.
It is unclear whether da Silva will play against Cal, but he was a major factor in both of the Cardinal’s wins over Cal during the regular season. He had 24 points and 11 rebounds in the Cardinal's 70-55 victory over Cal on Feb. 4, and 23 points and six boards in the Cardinal's 76-70 win over Cal three days later.
Arizona State’s loss to Colorado earlier this week ensured that Stanford would be the sixth seed and face Cal.
Oregon State plays Oregon on Sunday, and the Beavers would drop into a sixth-place tie with Stanford if they lose that game. However, Oregon State would still earn the No. 5 seed and get a first-round bye because it would win a tiebreaker with Stanford. Oregon State and Stanford split their two regular-season games against each other, but Oregon State would be 1-1 against Oregon, which would finish first in this scenario, while Stanford went 0-2 against the Ducks.
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Cover photo of Oscar da Silva by Darren Yamashita, USA TODAY Sports
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