Cal Basketball Preview Box: Bears Host Pacific Wednesday Afternoon

Cal plays its final nonconference game on Wednesday against Pacific before resuming Pac-12 play on Jan. 2 at Stanford.

Here are the facts for Wednesday's game:

PACIFIC (5-8) at CAL (7-5)

WHERE: Haas Pavilion, Berkeley

WHEN: Wednesday, 3 p.m.

TV: Pac-12 Networks

RADIO: 810-AM

CAL-PACIFIC HISTORY: Cal leads the alltime series 26-2, and the Bears won the most recent meeting 78-58 on Nov. 25, 2012. The first meeting was in the 1908-09 season. Pacific’s most recent victory against Cal came in the 1954-55 season, when the Tigers won 82-77. Cal has won the last 10 matchups against UOP, and the Bears had double-digit margins of victory in nine of the 10.

CAL STORYLINES: Cal has won three games in a row and is looking for its first four-game winning streak since starting the 2019-20 season 4-0 . . . Cal is coming off a 61-55 victory over Dartmouth, in which the Bears played well defensively but struggled offensively . . . The Bears have won seven straight home games . . . Cal is 136th in the country and 10th in the Pac-12 in the NET rankings released Tuesday. The Bears dropped one notch after their win over Dartmouth . . . Grant Anticevich is just 3-for-20 on three-point shots over the past five games, but he had a career-high 15 rebounds against Dartmouth and has averaged 10.75 boards over the past four games . . . Andre Kelly is averaging 15.08 points, which ranks fifth in the Pac-12, and 9.17 rebounds, which is second in the conference. His 63.8% field-goal percentage ranks third in the Pac-12. . . . Jordan Shepherd is averaging 14.58 points per game, and that’s eighth-best in the Pac-12. . . . Makale Foreman reinjured his foot in Sunday’s win over Dartmouth, and he is questionable for Wednesday’s game.

PACIFIC STORYLINES: Pacific is coming off a 77-67 home loss to UC Davis on Sunday. The Tigers have lost two in a row and five of their last six games. . . . Pacific ranks 279th in the country and last in the West Coast Conference in the NET rankings as of Tuesday. . . . UOP is 0-4 this season in games played on its opponent’s home floor. . . . Leonard Perry is in his first season as Pacific’s head coach, succeeding Damon Studamire, who left to become an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics. Perry had been the head coach at his alma mater, Idaho, from 2001 through 2006, but Idaho had losing records in all five of Perry’s seasons as head coach there . . . Pacific’s three top scorers are Alphonso Anderson (11.0 points, 6.5 rebounds), Jeremiah Baily (11.0 points, 44.4% three-point shooting) and Luke Avdalovic (10.7 points, 46.5% three-point shooting). In his past five games, Avdalovic has made 50% of his shots from beyond the arc (16-for-32). . . . Eleven different players have started games for UOP this season . . . UOP blocks an average of 3.55 shots per game, tops in the WCC.

CAL STATISTICS: Click here

PACIFIC STATISTICS: Click here

Cover photo of Jordan Shepherd is by Matt Pendleton, USA TODAY Sports

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