Cal Tries To Complete Season Sweep of UCLA in Front of Another Big Crowd at Haas
Expecting another big crowd Saturday afternoon against UCLA, Cal hopes to ride that support to its first season sweep of the Bruins in 12 years.
This is the final regular-season matchup between Cal (9-13, 6-6 Pac-12) and UCLA (12-11, 7-5) before the Bears join the ACC and the Bruins head off to the Big Ten next season.
Tipoff is 2:30 p.m. at Haas Pavilion.
This game matters to the Bears for more than historical reasons. On the heels of six straight losing seasons and a 3-29 record a year ago, Cal has won four of five games and finds itself tied for sixth place in the Pac-12 standings, alongside Stanford and Utah.
The Bears are just one game out of fourth place, shared by the Bruins and Colorado.
That’s significant because the top four finishers in the regular-season standings earn first-round byes into the Pac-12 tournament, scheduled for March 13-17 as Las Vegas.
Senior guard Jalen Cone talks in the video above about Wednesday night's crowd of 11,801 fans at the USC game.
UCLA is on its hot streak, 6-2 since losing 66-57 to the Bears on Jan. 6 at Pauley Pavilion, and winners of four in a row. While Cal topped USC 83-77 in overtime Wednesday in front of its first sellout in seven years, the Bruins knocked off Stanford 82-74.
There is some urgency involved for Cal, which plays five of its seven remaining regular-season games on the road after this one. And while the Bears are 8-5 at home — including wins over USC, Colorado, Washington State and Stanford — they are 2-4 in games on their opponent’s floor and 2-6 away from Berkeley, including neutral-site games.
Cal has some challenging Pac-12 road assignments ahead:
Thursday, Feb. 15 at Washington State: The Cougars are 11-1 at home this season and have won the past three meetings vs. Cal in Pullman
Saturday, Feb. 17 at Washington: The Huskies have beaten Cal six straight times in Seattle and are 9-4 at home this season
Wednesday, Feb. 28 at Colorado: The Buffaloes are 13-0 playing at 5,430 feet above sea level in Boulder, and have won their past six games vs. Cal
Saturday, March 2 at Utah: The Utes had won their first 12 home games this season before losing in triple overtime Thursday night to No. 8 Arizona. The Utes have won seven of their past eight meetings vs. Cal at Salt Lake City
Thursday, March 7 at Stanford: The Cardinal is 8-4 at home after its loss to UCLA and has beaten the Bears four straight at Maples Pavilion
First things first. A win over the Bruins would be the Bears' seventh in Pac-12 play, matching their highest conference win total since 2017. They haven't started conference play at 7-6 or better since that same season, when they opened 9-4 on the way to a final 10-8 ledger.
UCLA guard Dylan Andrews drives to the hoop vs. Stanford
Photo by Stan Szeto, USA Today
UCLA lost eight of nine games during one stretch this season, including four in a row early in Pac-12 play. But the Bruins are playing their best basketball right now, finally finding a rhythm, as Cal coach Mark Madsen explains in the video at the top of this story.
In particular, their young guards are on a roll. Sophomore Dylan Andrews is averaging 18.0 points and 4.5 assists the past four games, shooting 50 percent from the 3-point arc over that span. Freshman Sebastian Mack, who scored 20 in the first meeting vs. Cal, had 21 at Stanford on Wednesday.
Cal continues to get productive play from its four transfers, led by junior guard Jaylon Tyson, whose 27-point performance against USC was his 14th game of at least 20 points. Tyson remains on pace to become Cal’s first 20 points-per-game scorer since Ryan Anderson (21.1 in 2007-08).
Senior forward Fardaws Aimaq had 15 points, a season-high 20 rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots — a stat line unmatched by any Pac-12 player since at least 1996, according to Cal. Aimaq leads the Pac-12 in rebounding at 11.0 per game and is tied for fourth nationally in double-doubles with 15.
Cover photo of Cal guard Jaylon Tyson by Robert Edwards, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
