Cal vs. WSU Hoops: Matt Bradley Out; Grant Anticevich a`Game-Time Decision'
CAL (5-6, 0-4 Pac-12) vs. WASHINGTON (8-1, 1-1 Pac-12)
WHERE: Haas Pavilion, Berkeley
WHEN: Thursday, 7 p.m.
TV/RADIO: Pac-12 Network/810-AM
CAL-WASHINGTON STATE HISTORY: Cal leads 83-51 and has won the past three meetings. The Bears won 73-66 at home last season and 66-57 at Pullman.
CAL STORYLINES: Coach Mark Fox announced 40 minutes before tonight's tipoff that all-Pac-12 junior guard Matt Bradley (17.8 points) is out after injuring his left ankle in Saturday’s loss at Oregon State. At the time, Fox described the injury as “significant” . . . But the status of senior forward Grant Anticevich (10.3 points, 5.9 rebounds), who underwent an emergency appendectomy on Dec. 17, was upgrade to "game-time decision." . . . There has been no word on when Bradley might return. He missed two non-conference games in December with a separate injury to his right ankle and the Bears posted wins against Cal State Northridge and Seattle. But without him in the second half at OSU the Bears gave up a 12-point lead to remain winless in Pac-12 play . . . Cal ranks 10th in the Pac-12 in scoring defense (67.4 points) and 11th in offense (68.7) . . . The NCAA announced its first NET computer rankings this week and Cal sits at No. 197, which is 10th among Pac-12 teams. . . . The Bears remain winless (0-5) in road games but are 4-1 at Haas this season . . . Graduate transfer guards Makale Foreman (10.3 points) and Ryan Betley (10.1) have combined for 49 of the Bears’ 80 made 3-pointers . . . Junior forward Andre Kelly, who is averaging 11.4 points and 7.2 rebounds over the past five games, scored 16 points in the Bears’ win at WSU last season.
SCHEDULE UPDATE: Cal's game next week at Colorado, originally scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 13, has been moved back one day to Thursday, Jan. 14. The game will tip off at 11 a.m. and will be shown on the Pac-12 Networks.
WASHINGTON STATE STORYLINES: The Cougars are the Pac-12’s statistically stingiest defensive team, allowing just 60.5 points per game. But they lost 86-82 in double-overtime to Arizona on Saturday . . . WSU played the Arizona game without four players sidelined by COVID-19 protocols. As of Tuesday, only one of them — 7-foot-1 sophomore center Volodymyr Markovetskyy — had been cleared . . . This is WSU’s first road game of the season after nine straight home games . . . The Cougars are led by senior guard Isaac Bonton, who is fourth in the Pac-12 in scoring (17.1 points), although he is shooting just 32 percent from the field and 24 percent on 3-point attempts . . . Freshman Efe Obogidi, a 6-foor-10 forward/center from Nigeria, leads the Pac-12 in rebounding (9.0) and is second in blocked shots (2.2). Obogidi has averaged 15.5 points over the past four games, with three double-doubles during that span . . . Sophomore guard Noah Williams (13.3 points) is the son of former Bishop O’Dowd High star Guy Williams, who went on to become a 1,000-point scorer in the 1980s at USF and WSU . . . Freshman Dishon Jackson (3.7 points, 3.0 rebounds), a 6-10 center from Vallejo, is the son of Shavaki Jackson, who played on the Cal women’s team for two seasons, averaging 11.6 points and 8.7 rebounds as a senior in 1999-2000 . . . WSU is No. 104 in the NET rankings, which is seventh among Pac-12 programs. But the Cougars weren't seriously challenged by a non-conference schedule that provided eight victories vs. opponents with an average NET ranking of 238.
CAL GAME NOTES: Click here
WASHINGTON STATE GAME NOTES: Click here
Cover photo of WSU's Isaac Bonton by Joe Camporeale, USA Today
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Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
