Cal Basketball: Bears Take on Last-Place Huskies, Go For Weekend Road Sweep

Cal secured its first road win of the season on Wednesday night at WSU

CAL (11-15, 5-8) at WASHINGTON (12-15, 2-12)

WHERE: Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, Seattle, WA

WHEN: Saturday, 3 p.m.

TV/RADIO: Pac-12 Networks/810-AM

CAL-WASHINGTON HISTORY: Cal leads 86-81 in a series that began in 1915-16. Cal has won the past two meetings, including 61-58 at Berkeley last month when Matt Bradley banked in a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left in overtime. Cal hasn’t beaten the Huskies in Seattle since a 78-75 win in 2016.

CAL STORYLINES: The Bears are coming off a 66-57 win at Washington State on Wednesday, their first road victory of the season. The Bears were 8-33 in Pac-12 road games over the past five seasons before knocking off the Cougars. Now the Bears can complete their first conference road weekend sweep since beating WSU and UW in 2015-16. . . . Cal, picked to finish last in the Pac-12, has climbed to eighth place in the crowded conference standings. . . . The Bears are positioned to sweep four games from the Washington schools for the first time since the 2013-14 season. . . . Senior point guard Paris Austin had 19 points in the win at WSU and is averaging 12.5 points in the past eight games since returning to the starting lineup. Austin was 12-for-12 from the free throw line on Wednesday, tying Larry Friend’s 63-year-old school record for best percentage in conference play. The overall Cal record is 14-for-14 by Ray Murry against LSU in 1976. . . . Sophomore C/F Andre Kelly scored 16 points against WSU and is contributing 8.5 points and 7.5 rebounds over the past six games. . . . Matt Bradley continues to lead the Bears in scoring (17.6) and he’s also honing his 3-point shot. The Pac-12 leader at 47.2 percent a year ago, Bradley made just 35 percent over the first 19 games this season, but is at nearly 43 percent from beyond the arc the past seven outings.

WASHINGTON STORYLINES: The last-place Huskies lost their ninth straight game Thursday, falling 72-64 to Stanford. UW is 9-6 at home but has lost its past four. . . . UW was picked third in the preseason Pac-12 media poll and opened the season with a 67-64 win over Baylor, which hasn’t lost since and currently resides at No. 1 in the AP Top-25. The win over Baylor in Anchorage, which boosted the Huskies to a No. 20 national ranking, was powered by 23 points from guard Nahziah Carter (12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds), still his season high. Freshmen forwards Jaden McDaniels (12.8 points, 6.0 rebounds) and Isaiah Stewart (17.1 points, 8.8 rebounds) added 18 and 15 points, respectively. . . . The Huskies’ season went south when sophomore point guard Quade Green (11.6 points, 5.3 assists), a transfer from Kentucky, was ruled academically ineligible in early January. UW was 11-4 with Green at the helm, but is just 1-11 since he was put on the shelf.

CAL GAME NOTES: Click here

WASHINGTON GAME NOTES: Click here