Cal Heads to Washington State for Saturday Afternoon Basketball Game
CAL (9-8, 2-4 Pac-12) at WASHINGTON SATE (9-7, 2-3 Pac-12)
WHERE: Beasley Coliseum, Pullman, Wash.
WHEN: Saturday, 1 p.m.
TV: Pac-12 Network -- Greg Heister (play-by-play), Eldridge Recasner (analyst).
RADIO: 810-AM
BETTING LINE: Washington State is favored by 9.5 points. Over/under is 127.5 points.
CAL-WASHINGTON STATE HISTORY: Cal leads the alltime series 81-53, but Washington State won both meetings last season, beating Cal 71-60 in Berkeley, then crushing Cal 82-51 in Pullman. Cal’s last road win against WSU was in 2020, when the Bears posted a 66-57 win.
CAL STORYLINES: Cal again will be trying to get its first win away from home. The Bears are 0-3 on their opponents’ home floor and 0-2 on neutral sites . . . The Bears lost Wednesday’s game at Washington 64-55 after having a nine-point lead early in the second half. . . . The Bears have lost three games in a row, and in each one they played well until midway through the second half, when a lapse allowed their opponents to gain control . . . Starting point guard Joel Brown was not with the team for Wednesday’s game because of illness, and it is uncertain whether he will be available for Saturday’s game . . . Cal committed 17 turnovers in that game and 15 in the previous game against UCLA. That is a lot for a team that slows the pace of the game and has a limited number of possessions . . . Andre Kelly leads Cal in scoring at 14.4 points per game, but he matched a season low with just four points against Washington on 2-for-7 shooting . . . Jordan Shepherd has scored in double figures in 11 straight games and is second on the team in scoring at 14.4 points per contest . . . Grant Anticevich has scored nine points in the past two games combined, going 4-for-20 from the field in that two-game span . . . Freshman Marsalis Roberson scored his first two points of his college career in the loss at Washington . . . Cal ranks 11th in the Pac-12 in scoring (65.06 per game) and second in scoring defense (62.59)
WASHINGTON STATE STORYLINES: Washington State is coming off of Thursday’s 62-57 home loss to Stanford. The Cougars led that game by 12 points late in the first half and by 11 points three minutes into the second half, but a 23-0 run by Stanford doomed WSU. The start of that game was delayed by 75 minutes due to COVID testing; however, every regular WSU starter played in the game . . . Freshman forward Mouhamed Gueye led the Cougars with 16 points in Thursday’s game . . . Two of WSU’s top three scorers are transfers. Michael Flowers, who was at South Alabama last season, leads the Cougars in scoring at 13.2 points per game, and Tyrell Roberts, who attended UC San Diego last season, is third at 11.2 points per game. Noah Williams is the other player averaging in double figures at 12.1 points. . . . The Cougars depend on 3-point shooting. They average 26.2 3-point attempts per game and 8.8 made 3-pointers per contest, both of which lead the Pac-12. The Cougars have made 33.9% of those shots from distance, which ranks sixth in the conference. . . . WSU is pretty good at defending the perimeter, allowing opponents to make just 30.5 percent of their shots from long range. . . . The Cougars rank fourth in the conference in scoring offense (74.75 points per game) and third in scoring defense (64.31) . . . The Cougars are 6-4 at home, with all four home losses being by margins of five points or fewer.
CAL GAME NOTES: Click here
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Cover photo of Kyle Smith and Noah Williams is by James Snook, USA TODAY Sports
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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
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