On Thursday night at 8:00 PM PST on ESPN 2 and KGO 810 AM, Cal men’s basketball will open up Pac-12 play at rival Stanford. Cal comes in at 6-7 overall while Stanford comes in at 11-2 as 11.5 point favorites. This will be the first Pac-12 game of the season for both teams.

Last time out: Cal suffered an eight point loss at home to Harvard on Sunday. Sophomore guard Matt Bradley was the top performer for Cal with 15 points and 6 rebounds.

RECAP: Cal gets popped in the mouth by Harvard

Takeaways from Haas: Bears End 2019 In a Loss to Harvard

On Stanford: The Cardinal are led by junior forward Oscar da Silva (17.7 points & 5.8 rebounds) and freshman point guard Tyrell Terry (15.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, & 2.0 steals per game), who both have been excellent this season. The Cardinal are coming off a double-digit loss to Kansas on Sunday, so they too will be looking to get back in the win column.

As a team, the Cardinal average 72.3 points per game on 48.8% shooting from the field, 38.7% shooting from 3-point range, and 69.7% shooting from the foul line. They average a +2.5 rebound margin per game, 13.2 assists per game, 8.2 steals, 3.8 blocks, and 15.5 turnovers per game. Their opponents average 58.8 points per game on 39.1% shooting from the field, 30.1% shooting from 3-point range, and 59.2% shooting from the foul line.

Overall, the Cardinal are off to a really good start and are knocking on the door of the AP Top 25 Poll. After having some up and down seasons over the past few years, they appear to be a real force this year.

Via Stanford Rivals: Cardinal in best position of Haase era to begin Pac-12 play

Keys to the game: If Cal is to pull off the upset, the first thing they need to do is win the free throw battle. Cal is shooting a solid 72.2% from the foul line, which puts them at 106th in the country. Stanford in contrast shoots 69.7% and more importantly is used to playing teams with bad free throw shooting.

If Cal can get to the line more than Stanford and knock down their foul shots, that could go a long way towards making this game interesting. Towards the end of the Harvard game, Cal was able to claw back into the game a bit by getting to the line. They should look to do the same against Stanford.

Secondly, Cal needs to defend the perimeter. Cal is allowing teams to shoot 36.5% from 3-point range, which is 319th in the country. Stanford has some good perimeter shooters in Tyrell Terry (37.9%) and Spencer Jones (46.2%). If Stanford has a field day from beyond the arc and gets things rolling from deep, Cal will have a really tough time winning this game.

Conversely, Cal needs to get some threes to fall on their own. Cal is shooting 37.8% from 3-point range, which is 36th in the nation. When Cal does shoot threes, they knock them down at a very effective clip. Grant Anticevich (50.0%), Andre Kelly (42.9%), Kareem South (40.0%), and Matt Bradley (36.5%) have all proven to be really good 3-point shooters when given open looks. It’s just a matter of them getting those looks. While Cal’s 3-point percentage borders on elite level, they’ve shot just 180 threes all year, which is 348th in the country. They gotta find a way to shoot more threes, assuming they’re good looks.

Finally, Cal needs to come out with the right amount of energy. This is a rivalry game and they need to play like it. If they come with a lot of energy, knock down some threes early, and get into a nice rhythm, maybe they can pull off the upset similar to what they did in Wyking Jones’ first year. For what it’s worth, Cal has won their last two games at Maples Pavilion, so maybe that will give them a little extra boost.

Quotes: Cal head coach Mark Fox along with Grant Anticevich and Matt Bradley addressed the media on New Year’s Eve in advance of Thursday night’s tilt with the Cardinal. Below are transcriptions.

Mark Fox looks ahead to Stanford

Matt Bradley and Grant Anticevich look ahead to Stanford

History of the rivalry: Before the Big Game, I took a look back on the Cal-Stanford basketball rivalry from the past decade. Below is that article in case you missed it.

The Big Game needs to become more like the men’s basketball rivalry