On Thursday at 8:00 PM PST on FS1 and KGO 810 AM, Cal men’s basketball will take on the Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe, Arizona. Cal comes in at 7-10 overall and 2-8 in the Pac-12 while Arizona State comes in at 4-8 overall and 1-5 in the Pac-12.
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Last time out: On Saturday, Cal lost to USC by a final score of 76-68. Matt Bradley finished with 11 points in his return.
Previous matchup against Arizona State: On Thursday December 3rd, Cal fell to then #25 ranked Arizona State by a final score of 70-62 in Berkeley. Remy Martin led Arizona State with 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists while Matt Bradley finished with 20 points and 8 rebounds.
RECAP: Cal MBB battles tough in loss to #25 Arizona State
On Arizona State: Since their lone league win over Cal, things have gone the wrong way for the Sun Devils. They’ve lost six straight games and have to deal with a number of issues related to COVID-19 as well as the death of Remy Martin’s grandfather, which caused him to miss some time so that he could be with his family. These issues have led to a lot of disjointedness, making it tough for them to establish any rhythm or flow.
Thankfully for them, they got everyone of consequence back now and are hoping to get back on track before the Pac-12 tournament. After a rocky first half against Arizona in their previous game in which they went down 40-18 at halftime, the Sun Devils won the second half 49-40, making it an 80-67 victory for the Wildcats instead of some 20+ point blowout. With Cal coming to town, they are definitely licking their chops to get another league win and get back in the groove.
The Sun Devils are led by senior guard Remy Martin, who is averaging 17.4 points and 4.2 assists per game on 45.0% shooting from the field, 30.2% shooting from 3-point range, and 87.7% shooting from the foul line. Freshman guard Josh Christopher (15.7 points), senior guard Alonzo Verge, Jr. (14.4 points), and freshman Marcus Bagley (12.1 points) are the other Sun Devils scoring in double figures.
As a team, the Sun Devils average 75.6 points per game on 43.1% shooting from the field, 32.4% shooting from 3-point range, and 71.1% shooting from the foul line. They also average a -8.5 rebound margin, 12.6 assists, 6.8 steals, 3.8 blocks, and 11.1 turnovers per game. Their opponents average 77.8 points per game on 45.8% shooting from the field, 36.3% shooting from 3-point range, and 73.8% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Cal, the first thing they have to do is contain Remy Martin. He’s the engine that makes this Sun Devils team go. If he has a big night, it’s game over. Cal has to do everything they can to contain him and force others to beat them. It’s a really simple key, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy.
Secondly, Cal needs to take advantage of their size inside. Arizona State’s -8.5 rebound margin is pretty weak, and Cal should be looking at that as something to exploit. If Andre Kelly, Lars Thiemann, D.J. Thorpe, and Grant Anticevich can get rolling inside and control the boards, Cal should put themselves in a position to steal this game.
Finally, Cal has to get out to a better start. Many times this season, Cal has found themselves down early on in the game. At home against UCLA, Cal trailed 9-3 early on, against USC they got down 15-4, and even in a game that they won earlier in the season against San Francisco, they got down 17-5. This has been an unfortunate pattern for Cal all season long and while there have been sometimes when they’ve been able to overcome the deficit and win, the odds are never on your side if you get down early like this. If Cal wants to win this game, they absolutely need to get out to a much better start and at least play Arizona State tight in the opening minutes of the game.
Prediction: Given how much Arizona State has struggled since their previous meeting with Cal, it’s really tempting to pick the Golden Bears in this one. They have all their pieces back and are finally starting to find out what type of team they can really be. The problem is the same goes for the Sun Devils. They too finally have their key pieces back and are finally starting to find out the type of team they can really be as well.
If this game were in Berkeley, I think Cal would come out on top. But given it’s in Tempe and Arizona State is coming off a loss in which they improved in the second half against a good Arizona team. I expect Arizona State to carry that momentum into Thursday and come out victorious against Cal by a final score of 72-67.
