Cal Enters Pivotal Stanford Rematch 'Hopeful' For Lee Dort's Return

Cal (18-8, 6-7 ACC) enters its pivotal home matchup against Stanford (16-10, 5-8 ACC) on Saturday at 3 p.m., hoping to keep its NCAA Tournament odds alive while sweeping its archrival in a regular season for the first time since 2009-10.

“Stanford is really, really good,” Bears coach Mark Madsen said Monday, praising Cardinal coach Kyle Smith and guards Jeremy Dent-Smith, Ryan Agarwal and Ebuka Okorie. “It'll be a great game.”

“To be honest, it’s glorious,” added Smith. “I don’t have to replicate a scout … and honestly, I love playing over (at Haas Pavilion). It’s just a good environment, loud, good band. It’s nice to have those kinds of rivalries. I think it’s good for the Bay Area.”

The Bears won the thrilling first meeting, 78-66, in a comeback on Jan. 24 at Maples Pavilion.

But in that victory, Cal lost starting center Lee Dort in the second half to a leg injury after an awkward landing, forcing him to miss the Bears’ last six games.

Fortunately for Cal, though, Madsen said there is a chance the 6-foot-10 big man can return to action against the Cardinal.

“We talked about this in our morning meeting … it's 50-50 that he'll play against Stanford,” Madsen said. “This is an injury that I don't have a whole lot of expertise in. It's kind of an unusual lower-extremity injury. Lee was on the court doing stuff on the road trip towards the end … And it's a major ramp-up for what he's going to do today and practice. And so, I'm hopeful Lee plays Saturday.

“I don't know … Hopefully, we have a full week of progression with no setbacks, and hopefully at the end of the week, we're sitting here saying it’s 80-20 he’s going to play.”

Dort, who has averaged 8.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists through 20 games, would give Cal a major boost if available.

The Bears have gone 3-3 without Dort while losing on the glass in five of the six games, as reserves Miloš Ilić, Mantas Kocanas and Dhiaukuei Manyiel Dut have struggled in larger roles. Fellow center Sammie Yeanay, too, remains unproven after his three-minute debut in the Bears’ win over Boston College on Saturday at Conte Forum.

“Sammie’s been awesome,” Madsen said. “Sammie Yeanay, he plays with the personality, he plays with physicality, he can shoot the ball … Sammy's already in the process of re-establishing his rhythm … Sammie’s going to really help us, because of the versatility …”

Yeanay living up to Madsen’s vision would be great, but getting Dort back — and allowing backups to be backups — would be ideal, especially ahead of a Big Game.

Regardless of Dort’s status, though, Cal must be locked in against Stanford from the jump. 

As bracketologists continue to evaluate whether the Bears are worthy of an NCAA Tournament bid, Cal can’t bank on Stanford blowing a double-digit lead again or Okorie shooting 1-for-16 again — in other words, the Bears must play soundly.

“We have to just focus on blocking and tackling … on the defensive side of the ball and also on the offensive side of the ball,” Madsen said. “We had a recent game where we looked at the offense and we had five or six plays where guys were just in the wrong spots; a couple of them, guys had forgotten the plays, and so I take responsibility for that.

“At Syracuse and at Boston College, offensively, guys were pretty much where they were supposed to be. We also have to do that defensively. We have to pick up our defense. We can't miss box outs. All those things. So we have to do the little things to be able to have a chance in any of these games.”

Five regular-season games remain for the Bears. Every moment, good or bad, weighs more now.

And for what it’s worth, Cal is currently carrying the highest expectations and hearing the loudest buzz since the Jaylen Brown-led Bears finished 23-11 in 2015-16 and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Madsen understands the stakes. 

Nearing the end of his third season at the helm in Berkeley, Madsen detailed his year-long approach to ACC play and acknowledged the support his program receives.

“We've tried to just take a very detailed approach in the offseason to everything that we do. The ACC is one of the best conferences in the country. To be competitive in this conference, you have to be incredibly detail-oriented, you have to have great players, and you have to constantly improve. The game is changing … And so, we have to really put the hours in. We have to put the work in.

“It helps to have an extremely supportive administration, great alumni, great boosters, all these things help immensely. And, look, we're going into a stretch of conference play that's going to be very challenging. Stanford's a great team … Then we got Pitt … and you got SMU. So yes, we have three home games, but we have three home games against very tough, well-coached teams.

The Bears finished with a 3-29 record just three seasons ago. Now, Cal can finish with 23 regular season wins if it runs the table, starting with the matinee against Stanford.