No. 23 Aztecs face slew of familiar faces when they take on Cal in San Jose – elcajon newson Elcajon News only

No. 23 SDSU vs. Cal

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: SAP Center, San Jose

On the air: ACC Network; 760-AM

Records: SDSU is 7-2, Cal is 7-4

Series history: SDSU leads 8-6, most recently winning 76-67 in overtime last year in San Juan Capistrano. Cal won the last meeting in the Bay Area, beating the Aztecs 89-83 during a 2018 game in Berkeley.

Aztecs update: This is the nightcap of the San Jose Tip-off. Stanford and Oregon meet in the first game at 5 p.m. The Aztecs last played 10 days ago and used the break to focus on themselves instead of constantly prepping for an opponent. They went from playing six games in 16 days to just one in the ensuing 16 days. The big focus has been on the glass, particularly after their struggles in the 81-75 win against Cal Baptist on Dec. 11 and with Cal ranked 16th nationally in offensive rebounding rate (and winning the battle of the boards in all 11 games this season). SDSU’s first-shot defense has been excellent, however, with opposing teams shooting 35.9%, tops in the Mountain West and fifth in the nation. Offensive efficiency has climbed to 62nd, the same spot the Aztecs ended last season. SDSU’s nonconference schedule ranks 10th in Division I, according to the Kenpom metric. The next hardest schedule in the Mountain West is UNLV at 78th. The Aztecs are still without senior Reese Waters, who has been out since October with a stress fracture in his foot. A bone scan earlier this week showed the injury is healing but not enough to remove the protective boot he has worn for two months, raising the possibility that he won’t return this season. Kenpom projects a 78-71 Aztecs win.

Golden Bears update: The entire starting lineup consists of transfers, but four of them are familiar to the Aztecs. Last season, they faced guard Andrej Stojakovic (19.9 points per game, 48.1% on 3s) at Stanford and guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. (14.4 points per game) at Grand Canyon. Forward Rytis Petraitis (8.1 points per game) played at Air Force the previous two seasons, and his parents were Oregon State teammates with the parents of SDSU sophomore Miles Heide. Center Mady Sissoko (7.1 points, 6.5 rebounds per game), a Michigan State transfer, visited SDSU before the Aztecs opted to take Jared Coleman-Jones instead. The fifth starter, forward Joshua Ola-Joseph from Minnesota, is also a transfer. Freshman Jeremiah Wilkinson (11.6 points per game) gives them a double-figure scorer off an otherwise shallow bench. The Bears haven’t had problems scoring, topping 80 points in their last six games and shooting 42.7% behind the arc in the last five. The issues have come at the other end of the floor, where coach Mark Madsen’s squad ranks 224th in defensive efficiency. Their best win is 71-66 at USC, which is ranked No. 82 in Kenpom. The other six are against 200-plus Kenpom teams, and one of the losses was 88-80 at home against the Ivy League’s Cornell last week. They are 123 in Kenpom and 107 in NET.

Next up: Dec. 28 vs. Utah State (3 p.m., Fox)