On Sunday at 3:00 PM PST on ESPNU, Cal men’s basketball will welcome Stanford to Haas Pavilion. Cal comes in at 8-10 overall and 2-3 in the Pac-12 while Stanford comes in at 15-3 overall and 4-1 in the Pac-12.

By the Numbers: Cal MBB vs. Stanford

Last time out: Last Sunday, Cal lost to UCLA by a final score of 50-40.

RECAP: Ice cold shooting does Cal in at UCLA

On Stanford: The Cardinal are led by junior forward Oscar da Silva (16.2 points & 5.7 rebounds) and freshman guard Tyrell Terry (15.8 points & 5.2 rebounds). Both players really carry the load for this Cardinal team and so far have done a fantastic job at doing so. Freshman forward Spencer Jones (10.2 points) and junior guard Daejon Davis (8.6 points) are the third and fourth leading scorers, doing a sound job at giving da Silva and Terry the support that they need.

As a team, the Cardinal average 72.7 points per game on 48.9% shooting from the field, 39.6% shooting from 3-point range, and 67.5% shooting from the foul line. They average a -0.1 rebounding margin, 14.3 assists, 7.8 steals, 4.1 blocks, and 14.8 turnovers per game. Their opponents average 59.7 points per game on 38.7% shooting from the field, 30.3% shooting from 3-point range, and 62.1% shooting from the foul line.

While playing a relatively soft schedule thus far, the Cardinal have done a good job of winning the games they’re supposed to and handling their business. After looking like his job might be on the line at the beginning of the season Jerod Haase has the Cardinal playing good basketball and currently sitting atop the Pac-12 standings.

Keys to the game: If Cal wants to win this game, the first thing they need to do is put the ball in the basket. It sounds really simple and ridiculously obvious, but after watching them have an 11 minute scoring drought against UCLA, it’s clear that scoring doesn’t always come easy for this Cal team. They’re going to have to find ways to get Matt Bradley the help he needs when it comes to scoring because he can’t be the only one putting the ball through the hoop. In their first game of the year against Stanford, Cal shot 17-56 (30.4%) from the field and 4-15 (26.7%) from 3-point range. If they have a similar shooting night, I don’t see them winning this game.

Secondly, Cal needs to defend the perimeter. Stanford shot 9-23 (39.1%) from 3-point range when the faced off at Maples Pavilion and will look to find similar success from beyond the arc at Haas. Stanford has a lot of guys who can hit threes in Jones, Davis, Terry, and even da Silva, so it will be no easy task for Cal to defend the perimeter. Still, it has to be done if Cal is to have any hope of winning.

Finally, Cal needs to take advantage of their size. Cal has a bigger front court than Stanford and it showed in their 41-30 victory on the boards at Maples. If Andre Kelly, Grant Anticevich, Lars Thiemann, and D.J. Thorpe control the paint and get going inside, Cal should put themselves in a good position to get the win.