Cal v. Northwestern State Basketball: Andrej Stojakovic Goes Off in Win

Cal's sophomore scores a career high 31 in an 84-66 win.

photo via @calmbball twitter

After three straight losses that were individually frustrating for different reasons, Cal’s game Saturday afternoon against Northwestern State was, most importantly, a chance to get back to good vibes. The Demons had already played three power teams this year and were beaten decisively in all three, and though the Bears came out a little slow, the final outcome wasn’t ever really in doubt.

That was largely thanks to Andrej Stojakovic, who had one of the better all-around stat lines you’ll ever see: 31 points (on just 14 shots!), 4 assists, 1 turnover, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks. It was Andrej who kept Cal close when his teammates were cold, and it was Andrej who led the charge when Cal pulled away with a long scoring run that spanned the half.

Like the Cal women against Stanford the night before, the Cal men allowed an inferior team to stay close with cold three point shooting early (2-9 in the first half) before turning the game into a romp with hot shooting late (10-16 in the second half). Five different Bears hit a 3, led of course by Stojakovic, who tied a career high with four made triples.

After the game, Madsen’s focus was, unsurprisingly, on Cal’s defense. After getting torched three games in a row, signs of progress on the defensive side of the ball are very welcome. Holding Northwestern St to 66 points on 64 possessions isn’t exactly amazing defense, but Cal held an opponent below their season shooting percentage on 2s and blocked 6 shots. There were fewer uncontested looks near the basket. This team isn’t going to turn into a lock down defensive squad over night, so you look for progress where you can reasonably find it.

More than anything else, this game felt like another example of the big story, and the big question of this season.

The big story? Mark Madsen is trying to piece together a very difficult puzzle with a bunch of pieces gathered in the offseason.

The big question? Can Madsen fit the pieces together in a way that looks beautiful.

When you watch Andrej Stojakovic or Jeremiah Wilkinson slice through the defense and finish, when you watch Mady Sissoko or Lee Dort offer rim protection, when you see Joshua Ola-Joseph’s combination of shooting and slashing, when you see Jovan Blacksher’s handles, when you see Rytis Petraitis buy an extra possession with a scrappy hustle play . . . what you see are a bunch of individual skills that can easily contribute to a winning team. And when those kinds of skills get deployed at home against a middling team from the Southland conference, a lack of cohesion and chemistry doesn’t really matter.

But we saw against Missouri and Stanford and Cornell that individual talent isn’t enough. Last year, Madsen found a solid formula in early January, and I think Cal fans largely felt that Madsen got the most out of the roster he assembled.

Cal hasn’t hit the ceiling of what this particular roster can do. Doing so this year will require building and improving upon a defensive performance like this one, against stronger opposition to come.