Cal MBB set to face Washington
On Saturday at 12:00 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks and KGO 810 AM, Cal men’s basketball will take on the Washington Huskies at Haas Pavilion. Cal comes in at 5-7 overall and 0-5 in the Pac-12 while Washington comes in at 1-8 overall and 0-4 in the Pac-12.
MBB Notebook: Bradley injury and Washington Week
Last time out: On Thursday, Cal fell to Washington State at home by a final score of 71-60. After a competitive first half, Cal ran out of gas in the second half. Isaac Bonton led the Cougars with 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists while Andre Kelly was the top performer for the Bears with 11 points and 5 rebounds.
RECAP: Cal MBB lays an egg at home against Wazzu
On Washington: The Huskies have had a really rough start to their season as is evident by their one win. Interestingly enough, their one win came over Seattle by a final score of 73-41. If you remember, Cal beat Seattle 70-65 to close out non-conference play. I’m not a big believer in common opponents being much of an indicator for how a matchup will go, but it is something to still factor into the equation when previewing this game. Also like Cal, one of Washington’s “out of conference” losses came to an in-conference opponent (Colorado 92-69).
The Huskies are led by senior guard Quade Green, who is averaging 15.4 points per game on 40.8% shooting from the field, 29.2% shooting from 3-point range, and 86.4% shooting from the foul line. No other player on the team is scoring in double figures, which means Green has to carry a lot of the load by himself. Similar to what Matt Bradley has to do for Cal. One player who is doing decent work inside is redshirt sophomore forward Nate Roberts, who is averaging 6.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Cal will need to do a good job defending him and keeping him off the boards.
As a team, the Huskies average 61.7 points per game on 38.3% shooting from the field, 24.6% shooting from 3-point range, and 71.5% shooting from the foul line. They average a -11.4 rebound margin, 9.1 assists, 7.4 steals, 4.6 blocks, and 13.7 turnovers per game. Their opponents are averaging 73.7 points per game on 42.1% shooting from the field, 32.6% shooting from 3-point range, and 71.1% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: Cal is expected to once again be without Matt Bradley, but they did get some decent production from Grant Anticevich in his first game back following his appendectomy. If Cal is going to win, they have to find a way to make up for Bradley’s offensive production. Fortunately for them, they have more pieces around Bradley than Washington does around Green, with three players scoring 10.1/10.0 points per game (Ryan Betley, Makale Foreman, and Grant Anticevich). If Betley, Foreman, and Anticevich can all be scoring double figures and getting into a nice groove offensively, that will really help Cal pull out this win.
Secondly, Cal needs to feed the ball inside to the post. They can’t just rely on their perimeter players to do all the scoring. Andre Kelly is having a solid season, averaging 8.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. At times, he has reverted to more of a backseat role in the offense, but when called upon, he has shown an ability to get going inside. Lars Thiemann is also another guy who Cal needs to get going. He had 10 points and 5 rebounds on Thursday. If he can have a similar type of outing, that would be huge.
Finally, Cal simply needs to keep Quade Green in check. Green doesn’t shoot so hot from the perimeter, but he does a great job at getting in the lane, getting to the foul line, and scoring in a variety of ways. If Cal can hold him to 12 points or fewer, it’s going to be tough for Washington to generate the type of offense that they need. If he has 18+ points, we’re likely looking at a Washington victory.
Prediction: On paper, this is a game that really could go either way. One could argue a compelling case for why Cal is due to pick up a league win and the same for Washington. Cal in my estimation should have won on Thursday against Washington State and instead, they lost by double digits. It’s clear that without Matt Bradley, this Cal team is going to be hard pressed to beat even the easiest of opponents at home.
That all said, I like Cal’s chances of containing Green and getting a stronger performance from Betley and Foreman. Anticevich should also be a bit more productive. I think the loss to Washington State will motivate Cal and get them to play a more cohesive team game. As rough of a season as they’ve had, it’s not been like what Washington is experiencing. I’m predicting a 63-59 win for Cal.