Cal Basketball Game Preview: Bears Seek First Road Win of Season at Colorado
CAL (6-7, 1-5 Pac-12) vs. COLORADO (9-3, 3-2 Pac-12)
WHERE: CU Events Center, Boulder, CO
WHEN: Thursday, 11 a,m. PT
TV/RADIO: Pac-12 Network/810-AM
VIDEO: Senior forward Grant Anticevich in the video above talks about challenges presented by Colorado, Cal's pursuit of a road victory, how the Bears have adjusted without injured Matt Bradley and whether he will take advantage of the NCAA's rule that allows athletes to re-play this season because of COVID-19 complications.
CAL-COLORADO HISTORY: Colorado leads 18-16, although Cal won the most recent meeting, 72-62, last year in Berkeley. Matt Bradley scored 26 points in that game, the most ever by a Cal player against CU. Cal is 2-13 vs. the Buffaloes at Boulder.
CAL STORYLINES: Cal earned its first Pac-12 victory of the season on Saturday, beating Washington 84-78, despite playing its second straight game without top scorer Matt Bradley (17.8 points). Bradley’s status for Colorado is unclear. Cal has played four of its past six games without Bradley, and won three of them . . . Junior forward Andre Kelly (9.9 points, 5.9 rebounds) scored a season-high 22 points in the win over UW . . . The Bears are 0-5 in road games this season and have won just twice on their opponent’s court in 27 games dating back to the start of the 2018-19 season . . . This game originally was scheduled for Wednesday, then moved back a day . . . Assuming that Bradley is unavailable, Cal’s leading scorers are graduate transfer guards Ryan Betley (10.7 points) and Makale Foreman (10.3 points).Betley and Foreman are tied for second in the Pac-12, each with 30 made 3-pointers . . . Cal ranks last in the Pac-12 and 270th nationally in free-throw accuracy at 66.0 percent.
COLORADO STORYLINES: The Buffaloes are coming off a 65-58 win at Utah on Monday, their first win over the Utes in Salt Lake City since 2012. It came on the heels of a 79-72 home conquest of then-No. 17 Oregon last Thursday. That was the Pac-12’s only win this season over a team in the AP Top-25 . . . Colorado is No. 11 in the latest NCAA NET computer rankings . . . the Buffaloes lead the nation in free-throw accuracy at 85.6 percent . . . Colorado is led by senior McKinley Wright IV (15.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists), a two-time first-team All-Pac-12 selection and a top-10 finalist last season for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation’s top point guard. McKinley has 562 career assists, currently tied with Jay Humphries (1980-84) at the top of CU’s all-time list. In five career games vs. Cal, he has averaged 15.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists . . . Junior 7-footer Dallas Walton (9.6 points), who has undergone three ACL surgeries the past six years, sat out the past four games with a lower leg injury. His status for the Cal game is uncertain . . . But sometimes foul-prone 6-foot-8 freshman Jabari Walker (7.4 points, 4.4 rebounds) delivered his best game of the season against Utah, posting 15 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. CU’s only other double-digit scorer is senior forward Jeriah Horne (10.7 points).
CAL GAME NOTES: Click here
COLORADO GAME NOTES: Click here
.
COVER PHOTO OF CAL'S ANDRE KELLY BY SOOBUM IM, USA TODAY
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
