Cal Basketball Preview Box: Bears Seek Road Win at Washington State

CAL (8-15, 3-13 Pac-12) vs. WASHINGTON STATE (12-10, 5-10 Pac-12)

WHERE: Beasley Coliseum, Pullman, Wash.

WHEN: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.

TV: Pac-12 Networks (Greg Heister and PJ Carlesimo will have the call)

RADIO: 810-AM

CAL-WASHINGTON STATE HISTORY: Cal leads the alltime series against Washington State 81-52, but the Cougars won the meeting earlier this season, beating Bears 71-60 in Berkeley on Jan. 7. Cal won both games against Washington State last season, including a 66-57 victory in Pullman. That was the Bears’ only road win against the Cougars since 2017.

VIDEO ABOVE: Cal coach Mark Fox talks about Washington State, including center Efe Abogidi.

VIDEO BELOW: Cal coach Mark Fox talks about Cal's improved rebounding

CAL STORYLINES: Cal is coming off its best win of the season – a 71-62 victory over Colorado in Berkeley on Saturday. That temporarily lifted the Bars out of sole possession of last place in the Pac-12, but Washington’s victory on Monday dropped Cal back into 12th place by itself . . . Matt Bradley had a career-high 29 points against Colorado and is now third in the Pac-12 in scoring at 19.1 points per game, just a hair behind Stanford’s Oscar da Silva and Arizona State’s Remy Martin, both at 19.2 a game. Bradley did not play in the loss to Washington State earlier this season, because of a sprained ankle. . . . Cal has three scheduled games left after Thursday before the Pac-12 tournament. The Bears are the only Pac-12 team that has not had a conference game postponed. . . Cal is hoping to win a second straight game, which would match its longest winning streak of the season. . . Freshman Jalen Celestine made his second start of the season against Colorado and had a career-high 13 points, going 3-for-4 on three-pointers. He also did a nice defensive job on Colorado point guard McKinley Wright IV. It is assumed he will be in the starting lineup against Washington State. . . . Cal ranks 11th in the Pac-12 in scoring offense at 66.8 points per game, just ahead of Washington (66.6). . . Cal is 10th in scoring defense, allowing 70.5 points per contest. . . Grad transfer Ryan Betley was Cal’s second-leading scorer for much of the season, but his minutes have been reduced lately. He had five points in last week’s games against Utah and Colorado combined. . . . Cal is looking for its second road win of the season.

WASHINGTON STATE STORYLINES: The Cougars have lost two in a row, including Monday’s 65-63 loss to Washington. However, WSU defeated UCLA last Thursday. . . . WSU’s top scorer, Isaac Bonton, is averaging 18.4 points per game, which is fourth best in the Pac-12, but he did not play in Monday’s game because of injuries to his ankles. Bonton is questionable for Thursday’s game against Cal, but the best guess is that he will play. He had 22 points, six assists and five rebounds in the win over Cal earlier this season. . . . Noah Williams is WSU’s second-leading scorer at 12.5 points per game, but he is in a shooting slump, going 4-for-22 from the field over the past two games. . . . Cougars 6-foot-10 freshman center Efe Abogidi has been a force in the paint, especially on the defensive end, averaging 1.5 blocks per game. He has been inconsistent offensively. Abogidi had 12 points and nine rebounds against Cal in their previous meeting this season . . . The Cougars need to win at least two of their final four games to post a winning regular-season record for the first time in 10 years. . . . WSU is last in the Pac-12 in field-goal percentage at 41.4 percent, but the Cougars are third in field-goal-percentage defense, allowing opponents to shot just 40.8 percent from the floor.

CAL GAME NOTES: Click here

WASHINGTON STATE GAME NOTES: Click here

Cover photo of Washington State guard Isaac Bonton is by James Snook, USA TODAY Sports

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