Two teams looking to rebound from disappointing losses meet when Virginia Tech faces visiting Cal on Saturday in Blacksburg, Va.
Cal (13-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) began its first conference road trip of the season with an 84-60 loss to No. 23 Virginia on Wednesday.
The Golden Bears are making their first-ever trip to Blacksburg to face Virginia Tech (12-4, 1-2), which lost 69-68 to visiting Stanford on Wednesday.
The Hokies led by 12 with 2:18 remaining before Stanford escaped with the victory after closing on a 14-1 run.
Neoklis Avdalas scored 21 points to lead Virginia Tech, while Amani Hansberry recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Hokies welcomed back forward Tobi Lawal, who had five points, three rebounds and two blocks in 18 minutes in his first action since Nov. 26.
Virginia Tech has dropped two straight following a six-game winning streak, but coach Mike Young remains confident in his squad.
“We’ve got a really good team coming in on Saturday. Really good,” Young said. “So, don’t let this cost us another one. Let’s get back in the gym and get better and be ready to play. Two losses is not going to break our back. We’ve got a lot more to look forward to and it’ll be a lot of fun.”
The Golden Bears are hoping for a more enjoyable experience on Saturday after being outrebounded 45-26 in Wednesday’s loss to Virginia.
“We did a poor job rebounding the ball and because of that, they were able to rack up almost 35 points in the paint,” Cal coach Mark Madsen said. “Then they started scoring off our turnovers. We didn’t rebound and we didn’t take care of the ball. I take responsibility for that. I didn’t have the guys ready to compete at a high enough level.”
Dai Dai Ames led the Golden Bears with 18 points, while Justin Pippen added 17 and John Camden had 15. Cal was held to a season-low point total and shot 15.8% (3 of 19) from 3-point range.
Camden played two seasons for Virginia Tech before transferring to Delaware. The 6-foot-8 forward is averaging 13.9 points and 4.9 rebounds for the Golden Bears.
