Cal Basketball: Is Washington State at Haas a Game the Golden Bears Should Win?

Cougars were picked 11th in the Pac-12 but come off a win over UCLA

CAL (6-8, 0-1) vs. WASHINGTON STATE (10-5, 1-1)

WHERE: Haas Pavilion, Berkeley

WHEN: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.

TV/RADIO: Pac-12 Networks/810-AM

CAL-WSU HISTORY: Cal beat Washington State 76-69 in Berkeley last season for one of their three Pac-12 victories, but the Cougars won the three meetings before that.

CAL STORYLINES: There are few teams on the Bears’ conference schedule that appear to give them a decent chance of winning, but this is one of them. Or at least it was before WSU rallied from 11 points down to beat UCLA 79-71 in double-overtime on Saturday. . . . The Bears have lost four in a row and eight of 10 since starting the season 4-0. They are 5-32 in Pac-12 play since the start of the 2017-18 conference schedule. . . . Sophomore guard Matt Bradley, the team’s leading scorer at 17.1 points per game, continues to be a barometer for the Bears winning and losing. He is scoring 20.5 points on 55% from the field and 52% from 3-point range in victories, just 14.6 on 36% from the field and 20% on threes in defeats. . . . junior forward Grant Anticevich is coming off his second double-double of the season, a 16-point, 10-rebound performance at Stanford. . . . Cal ranks 345th nationally (out of 350 teams) in assists per game at 9.1 and 339th in assist-to-turnover ratio at 0.67-to-1.

WASHINGTON STATE STORYLINES: Picked 11th in the preseason Pac-12 media poll, first-year coach Kyle Smith’s squad plays just its third road game of the season. The Cougars are 1-1 on the road so far . . . WSU is fifth in the conference in scoring defense (64.9), thanks to strength on the perimeter. The Cougars are last in the Pac-12 in blocked shots (2.5) and field-goal percentage defense (42.9 percent) but they are third against the 3-point shot (30.4 percent). . . . Offensively, WSU leads the Pac-12 in fewest turnovers per game (10.6) but is last in 3-point accuracy (28.6 percent). . . . The Cougars are led by sophomore forward C.J. Elleby, who is fourth in the Pac-12 in scoring (19.0) and 10th in rebounding (6.8). Elleby, whose father Bill played at Cal from 1988 through ’92, has nine games this season of at least 20 points. As a freshman last season, he averaged 15.5 points in two games vs. Cal. . . . Junior guard Isaac Bonton, a transfer from Casper Community College, averages 13.6 points and 4.3 rebounds. . . . D.J. Rodman, the son of former NBA star Dennis Rodman, plays sparingly as a freshman.

CAL GAME NOTES: Click here

WSU GAME NOTES: Click here