Cal Basketball: Arizona State Game Preview

CAL (7-10, 2-8 Pac-12) at ARIZONA STATE (4-8, 1-5 Pac-12)

WHERE: Desert Financial Arena, Tempe, AZ

WHEN: Thursday, 8 p.m.

TV/RADIO: FS1/810-AM

SCHEDULE UPDATE: The Bears have announced tipoff times for three upcoming home games -- Thursday, Feb. 4 vs. Stanford at 6 p.m. (ESPN2/U), Thursday, Feb. 11 vs. Utah at 3 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks) and Saturday, Feb. 13 vs. Colorado at 7 p.m. (ESPNU).

CAL-ARIZONA STATE HISTORY: Arizona State leads 46-41 and has won the past six meetings, including a 70-62 victory at Berkeley on Dec. 3. Remy Martin scored 22 points to lead the Sun Devils while Matt Bradley scored 20 for Cal, which suffered 20 turnovers in the game. The Bears' most recent win over ASU came on Feb. 8, 2017, when Grant Mullins made six 3-pointers and Ivan Rabb had 14 points and 11 rebounds to spark a 68-43 victory at Tempe.

CAL STORYLINES: The Bears come off home losses by 4 points to UCLA and 8 points to USC, but developed some confidence through the return to health of Matt Bradley and improved play by others on the roster. Bradley (17.1 points, 4.4 rebounds) missed the previous five games with his second different ankle injury this season. He returned to score 11 points in 25 minutes off the bench vs. USC, although he didn’t immediately find his shooting rhythm . . . Senior forward Grant Anticevich (10.7 points, 4.7 rebounds) is scoring at a 16.7 clip the past three games, during which time he’s shooting 61 percent from the field and 64 percent on 3-point tries (7-for-11) . . . Junior forward Andre Kelly (9.9 points, 5.8 rebounds) is averaging 11.5 points on 70-percent shooting over the past eight games . . . Sophomore point guard (5.8 points, 3.5 assists, 1.8 steals) is coming off a career-high 15-point performance vs. USC. Brown has improved his 3-point shooting from 31 percent a year ago 45 percent, tough he continues to struggle from the free throw line (42 percent) . . . Grad transfers Ryan Betley and Makale Foreman each average 10.1 points and they have combined for 74 of the Bears’ 128 made 3-point baskets . . . Cal has won exactly one road game each of the past three seasons, but defeated Utah in Salt Lake City two weeks ago in its most recent road contest.

ARIZONA STATE STORYLINES: The Sun Devils, picked to finish second in the Pac-12, have been a huge disappointment. They were 3-1 after beating Cal early last month, but are 1-8 since then and bring a six-game losing streak into Thursday night’s game. ASU has lost twice to Arizona and once each to UCLA and USC, and its only victory in the past 56 days was a one-point verdict over Grand Canyon . . . The team’s biggest issues are defense (last in the Pac-12 allowing 77.8 points per game) and rebounding (11th in the conference win rebound margin at minus-8.5) . . . Senior PG Remy Martin (17.4 points, 4.2 assists), who missed the L.A. games while attending his grandfather’s funeral, needs 12 points to reach 1,500 for his career. He has four games of at least 20 points this season, including 31 vs. Grand Canyon . . . Freshman Josh Christopher (15.7 points, 5.2 rebounds), the only ASU regular starter to play in all 12 games, is the younger brother of former Cal standout Patrick Christopher. The 6-foot-5 guard is coming off a season-low 5 points against Arizona on Monday night but scored 28 in an early-season game vs. Villanova. NBADraft.net projects Christopher as the No. 14 pick in the 2021 draft . . . ASU also features senior guard Alonzo Verge Jr. (14.4 points) and freshman forward Marcus Bagley (12.1 points, 6.4 rebounds), another projected first-round NBA draft pick. Bagley is the younger brother of former No. 2 overall draft pick Marvin Bagley III of the Sacramento Kings.

CAL GAME NOTES: Click here

ARIZONA STATE GAME NOTES: Click here

COVER PHOTO OF ANDRE KELLY BY STAN SZETO, USA TODAY

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