Two teams on opposite ends of the emotional spectrum go head-to-head Saturday afternoon when California hosts Virginia Tech in Atlantic Coast Conference play in Berkeley, Calif.
While Cal coach Mark Madsen was impressed with his team’s defensive effort in a 75-61 home win over Virginia on Wednesday, Virginia Tech’s Mike Young was disappointed his guys couldn’t bottle the momentum of an 86-85 win over Miami for its cross-country trip to California.
The Hokies (6-9, 1-3 ACC) were thumped 70-59 at Stanford on Wednesday.
“There’s got to be a greater level of toughness and a greater level of urgency,” Young said. “The team that plays the hardest typically gets fouled more, the team that plays hardest typically rebounds more, and that has got to get better. We’ve been on the road now at Duke (an 88-65 drubbing) and (at Stanford). Let’s go to Cal and put some things together and win.”
Young was particularly disappointed in his team’s 36-25 rebounding deficit at Stanford. Toibu Lawal led the team with five boards to go with 15 points.
Virginia Tech will face a Cal team that dominated the boards in its win over Virginia. The Golden Bears (8-7, 1-3) not only enjoyed a 40-33 advantage on the boards, but harassed the visitors into just 32.8-percent shooting from the floor.
The defensive effort was a vast improvement over the 50-percent shooting Cal had allowed at Pittsburgh and 62 percent at Clemson in road losses the previous week in which the opposition averaged 83.0 points.
“We made some serious adjustments,” Madsen said. “The defense at Clemson was atrocious. It was horrible. And you know that these were painful film sessions. We did a bad job. We got back on track (against Virginia).”
The greatest source of Cal’s offense was no surprise. Andrej Stojakovic, who had totaled 49 points in the losses to Pittsburgh and Clemson, burned the Cavaliers for 23. He leads team with 20.1 ppg.
The win was the first as an ACC team for Cal. The first of many to come, Madsen claimed.
“This is the opening of a new chapter,” he said. “We are going to be a powerhouse in the ACC. To start out with a home win against a team from the old ACC, this will be a historic night as we look back on it.”
–Field Level Media
