On Monday at 4:30 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks and KGO 810 AM, Cal men’s basketball will welcome the Nicholls State Colonels to Haas Pavilion. Cal comes in at 0-1 overall, having won their previous outing against NAIA opponent Northwest (WA) in a Thanksgiving Day exhibition. Cal’s loss to start the season was against Oregon State in a rare non-conference game against a conference opponent.
RECAP: Cal MBB breezes past Northwest in exhibition
On Nicholls State: The Colonels come in at 2-1 overall, winning their two games against UC Davis and Idaho State. The Colonels dropped their first game of the season at Santa Clara on Saturday by a final score of 73-57.
The top performer through these first three games for the Colonels is redshirt junior guard Ty Gordon, who is averaging 16.0 points and 5.0 assists per game on 56.7% shooting from the field, 58.3% shooting from 3-point range, and 70.0% shooting from the foul line. Gordon is in his first season with the Colonels after transferring from Troy. Redshirt senior guard Jaylen Fornes (11.7 points) and redshirt junior forward Najee Garvin (11.3 points & 8.3 rebounds) are the other two Colonels scoring in double figures.
Through three games, the Colonels average 76.0 points per game on 41.0% shooting from the field, 34.3% shooting from 3-point range, and 73.9% shooting from the foul line. They average a -5.0 rebound margin per game, 13.7 assists, 9.0 steals, 2.3 blocks, and 13.7 turnovers per game.
Cal will be the first of two Easy Bay opponents for this Nicholls State team. After playing in Berkeley, they’ll head down to Moraga to face Saint Mary’s on Tuesday night.
Keys to the game: If Cal wants to win this game, the first thing they need to do is win the battle in the backcourt. If Gordon gets whatever he wants and has a big night, Nicholls State could put up a real fight to win this game. If Gordon has a more modest night and if Cal’s backcourt led by Matt Bradley, Makale Foreman, and Ryan Betley has a strong outing, the Bears should be in prime position to win this game.
The 3-point line will be key. Nicholls State is shooting 34.3% from beyond the arc on the season with Gordon and Fornes shooting a combined 12-24 (50.0%). Cal has to defend the perimeter well and in turn get some shots to fall of their own from deep. Cal’s 6-25 (24.0%) shooting from 3-point range against Oregon State was pretty weak.
Secondly, Cal needs to move the ball. This was a major weakness of Cal’s last season and judging by their meager 9 assists against Oregon State, it looks to be a weakness once again. It’s not just sophomore point guard Joel Brown that needs to move the ball. It’s everyone. If Cal can get 14+ assists in this game and create more open looks for each other, that should go a long ways to securing this win.
Finally, Cal’s front court needs to deliver the goods. Cal got outrebounded 43-32 against Oregon State. Their front court simply did not show up like it needed to. Nicholls State has one solid big body in senior 6’11”, 280 pound center Ryghe Lyons (9.3 points & 6.0 rebounds). If Cal doesn’t put a body on him and allows Nicholls State to win the battle on the boards, the Bears could be in for an ugly surprise in this one.
