Cal Men, Women Look to Extend Their Basketball Seasons Sunday

It’s not over till it’s over for Cal’s men’s and women’s basketball teams, which hope to extend their seasons with second-round games in their respective postseason tournaments.

When the Cal men (22-11) host Saint Joseph’s (23-11) in a National Invitation Tournament round-of-16 game at 6 p.m. on Sunday, the Golden Bears will be seeking their 23rd victory, which would match the 2015-16 season for the most Cal wins in a season since the Bears went 24-10 under head coach Mike Montgomery 14 years ago.

The Cal women (20-14) travel to Manhattan, Kansas, to face Kansas State (19-17) in a 4 p.m. game on Sunday in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, and the Bears are hoping to get a second postseason win for the first time in 13 years, since they got to the 2013 NCAA Final Four.

If the Cal men win Sunday’s game, which will be televised on ESPNU, the Bears will play a quarterfinal game either Tuesday or Wednesday against the winner of Sunday’s second-round game between New Mexico and George Washington. Cal would probably host that quarterfinal game if George Washington is the opponent, but likely would travel to Albuquerque if New Mexico advances.

Saint Joseph’s finished in third place in the Atlantic 10 conference with a 13-5 record, after being picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll. The 23 wins represent the most wins for the Hawks since 2015-16, and first-year Saint Joseph’s coach Steve Donohue was rewarded by being named A-10 coach of the year.

The Hawks are playing their best basketball of the season in March, having won eight of their past nine games, including a 69-64 first-round NIT road victory over third-seeded Colorado State on Wednesday.

The Hawks’ star is guard Derek Simpson, a first-team all-Atlantic-10 selection who is averaging 13.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.2 assists, and had 13 points, nine rebounds and three steals in the win over Colorado State.

Their top scorer is Jaiden Glover-Toscano, who is averaging 15.8 points and is the team’s best three-point shooter on a team that makes only 30.8 percent of their long-range shots. Glover-Toscano is 15-for-31 from distance over his past five games.

Nobody is hotter from the perimeter than Cal’s Chris Bell.

He made 7 of 8 three-point shots while scoring a career-high 31 points in the Bears’ 92-73 victory over Illinois-Chicago on Wednesday.

As a team, the Bears were 15-for-28 (53.6 percent) from long range against the Flames, and that included 9-for-13 in the second half.

Cal will have trouble duplicating that against Saint Jospesh’s, which allows opponents to shoot just 31.4 percent from distance.

Cal and Saint Joseph’s have faced two common opponents this season – Virginia Tech and Syracuse. The Hawks lost to Virginia Tech 94-59 and were beaten by Syracuse 71-63 in early-season games, while Cal also lost to both, falling to Virginia Tech 78-75 and losing to Syracuse 107-100 in double overtime.

Cal’s women’s team is coming off a 72-68 victory over Santa Clara in the first round of the WBIT, and if the Bears get past Kansas State they would play a quarterfinal game on Thursday against the winner of the second-round game between Columbia and top-seeded North Dakota State.

Kansas State finished in 11th place with an 8-10 conference record in the tough Big 12, and the Wildcats are just 8-8 at home.

Kansas State and Cal played three common opponents this season – SMU, North Carolina and Georgia Tech. The Wildcats beat SMU 46-44, lost to North Carolina 85-73 and defeated Georgia Tech in the first round of the WBIT 69-65.

Cal had the same results against those three opponents, beating SMU 78-34, losing to North Carolina 71-55 and beating Georgia Tech 63-56.

Lulu Twidale leads the Bears in scoring at 16.2 points per game, but she averaged 22.6 points over the last seven games and scored 27 points in the win over Santa Clara.