Give Cal basketball credit for clawing tooth and nail with Stanford the past few seasons. The Cardinal has been the stronger program over the last decade, is far-better known outside the Bay Area, and — as many Cal fans would say — has a better coach, as Bear head coach Ben Braun is none too popular in Berkeley.

Enlarge
#gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/8613
Alex Oppenheimer

Cal always puts up a fight against their Bay-area rivals, and this weekend’s competition will likely be decided by the teams’ post players.

But, if recent history is any guide, none of that will matter much when these two rivals tip-off Sunday at 6 p.m. at Maples Pavilion. Last year, No. 9 Stanford (21-4, 10-3) handled Cal (15-9, 6-7) 90-71 in Berkeley, but lost 67-63 at home. The year before, each team won at home, Stanford by 14 and Cal by three. The season before that, 2004-05, Stanford won both games, but lost guard Dan Grunfeld for the season on an ACL tear, as he fouled from behind on a fast break in the home game. He was never the same player in his remaining 16 months at Stanford.

“With Cal, they always play us tough and we had to really pull through last year in the stretch,” junior forward Lawrence Hill said.

The teams’ last contest also came down to the final minutes four weeks ago in Berkeley. Stanford came out on top, 82-77, with sophomore centers Brook and Robin Lopez leading the way with 23 points and 14 rebounds, respectively.

Cal outplayed the Cardinal on the perimeter. Five Bears reached double figures, many on outside shooting and quick drives to the hoop, and the Bears outshot Stanford 47 percent to 41 percent. But Stanford was too much down low, with 21 offensive rebounds, 24 made free throws and 24 points in the paint.

Expect Stanford to pound it inside and attempt to exploit its advantage in the post once again. The key match-ups then involve four players with bright futures at the next level: the Lopez twins against Cal’s Ryan Anderson (22 points, 10 rebounds per game) and DeVon Hardin (10 points, 8 rebounds per game). Head coach Trent Johnson won’t say it, but again, if recent history’s any judge, Stanford’s duo should have the upper hand.

“The biggest thing with [Anderson] is our matchup ability to be tall and quick, with the twins and other guys that can guard him,” said Hill of the player he and Johnson called Cal’s best. “He’s really good at taking it to a big, slower guy: he just uses his athleticism and feel for the game. And then out on the wing, Robin’s done a really good job of staying with him as opposed to falling asleep because he’s only used to only guarding guys to the free throw line.”

Cal, meanwhile, will look to run it with forward Patrick Christopher and guards Jerome Randle and Jamal Boykin, who combined for 42 points on 50 percent shooting in the Jan. 26 matchup. Stanford’s difficulties stopping dribble penetration were all too evident in last weekend’s split in Arizona, with Arizona State’s James Harden (23 points) and Arizona’s Jerryd Bayless (31 points, 16-of-16 free throws) treating Stanford guards more like green lights than red.

“They’re explosive, they’re quick, and it’s no secret with our basketball team that teams like that have caused us problems,” Johnson said. “We’re not going to get quicker guys anytime soon. If they hurt us, we’ll go to a zone or man-miss: when they miss, we’ll go in a man, and if they score, we’ll get back in a zone.”

Johnson used Fred Washington — the one Stanford defender who’s shown the ability to stay in front of players that athletic — very sparingly on the weekend. The senior logged just two points and 32 minutes over the two games. His poor shooting is an offensive liability (just 5 points per game and 51 percent free throw shooting this season), but Johnson said his hand was all-but-forced: Washington has a hip flexor, and wasn’t able to go when the other team’s star heated up in crunch time.

“We got the best we could possibly get out of Fred,” Johnson said at a Tuesday press conference. “I would have liked to have put him in late, but I don’t believe putting him in injured like that. He’s had two days off and I don’t anticipate him being anywhere near 80 percent, no matter what Fred tells you.”

The one-game weekend couldn’t come at a better time for Stanford, with Washington and his teammates afforded the only such opportunity to heal up and rest in weeks. This weekend is Stanford’s first in four weeks with just one game, and, barring an opening-round upset in the Pac-10 tournament, their last such weekend until their season ends at least four weeks from now.

Stanford puts a 13-1 home record on the line Sunday, with a 76-67 loss to UCLA (22-3, 10-2) being the sole blemish. The Bruins lead the Cardinal by a half-game in the Pac-10, with 13 days before the teams’ Mar. 6 battle in LA. With third-place Washington State (20-5, 8-5) two games behind the Cardinal in the league, that game is all that could keep the Bruins from their third-straight Pac-10 regular season title.

“I’m so happy to have four losses right now,” Hill said. “That’s a two-week stretch of last year. That’s all year now. We could have three or two if you took away Oregon, or one if you took away Siena, but we’re still in it.”

As of this moment, Stanford — with an RPI of 20 — is a projected two, three or four seed in the NCAA Tournament, which starts on Mar. 20.