Winning feels a lot better than losing. After getting as close as you can get against Utah, thanks to a Matt Bradley 3 rimming out and Andre Kelly missing the first free throw down 2 with less than a second left, Cal came back against Colorado, a team that beat them a month ago by 29, and had one of their best defensive performances of the year. Even with a long stretch without a field goal (nearly seven minutes), Cal held onto the lead thanks to defense and a handful of missed free throws, and a final Matt Bradley 3 put a capper on a win over the Buffs.

There are multiple things to be argued after the split against the mountain schools. Cal is a flawed team, as the record shows, but when they don't turn the ball over (only seven turnovers against Colorado), they're capable of playing with the better teams in the conference. Against Utah, the Bears turned the ball over 14 times, fouled late in the shot clock a few too many times, and still had a chance to win thanks to taking advantage of Utah's mistakes.

On both television broadcasts of the games against the mountain schools, the idea of Cal being a great 36 minute team was brought up, as the Bears have struggled in closing out halves. They went down 10 at the half to Utah and didn't against Colorado. One game isn't a trend, but they closed a half well against a good team, now they've got to be consistent, something they've struggled with all year.

A few notes:

- Jalen Celestine got the start against the mountain schools, as his minute count has been ramping up for the Bears throughout the conference schedule. Celestine rewarded that confidence against Colorado, with a career high in points (13, with 3 threes in the first half) and solid defense against Colorado star McKinley Wright. The former Long Island Lutheran standout has developed throughout the season, and his 33 minutes against Colorado were the most he's played. Celestine gives the Bears another shooter, something they need with Ryan Betley and Makale Foreman both in a shooting slump for one reason or another.

- Foreman had one of his better showings against Utah, after dealing with a back injury for the past few weeks. He hadn't scored in double figures since the last time the Bears had played Utah.

- Since returning from his ankle injury, Matt Bradley has scored 20+ in all but one game that he has started. The junior set a new career high with 29 points against Colorado, which put him at 1199 for his career. He passed Richard Midgley, Chris Washington, John Coughran, Gene Ransom, and Ayinde Ubaka on Cal's all-time scoring list against Colorado, passing Michael Chavez against Utah, and now sitting at 28th all time in Cal's record books. Names that Bradley could pass this week are Jordan Mathews, Doug True, Jabari Bird, Jorge Gutierrez, Ryan Anderson, and Brian Wethers.

- Cal is 14-2 against Colorado at Haas Pavilion all-time.

- Kuany Kuany saw more time against Colorado at the 4, as the Buffs used a lineup that used more wing-type players (namely Jeriah Horne and Tristan Da Silva) over their 7 footer in Dallas Walton.

- While Cal's three point defense is still the worst in the conference, they've done a good job at running teams off the three point line, as conference opponents have taken the lowest proportion of 3-pointers to FG attempts against Cal.

At Home: 6-6 (average score of 69.6-67, margin of +2.6)

On the Road: 1-9 (average score of 63.4-74.7, margin of -11.3)

Neutral Site: 1-0 (86-61 win over Northwest at Oregon State)

Injuries: None

Per Game Stat Leaders:

Points: Bradley, 19.1

Rebounds: Kelly, 6.4

Assists: Brown, 3.3

Steals: Brown, 1.6

Blocks: Kelly, .5

Minutes: Anticevich/Bradley, 29.6

Field Goal % (minimum 5 attempts per game): Kelly, 58.4%

3pt% (minimum 2 attempts per game): Anticevich, 38.7%

Free Throw% (minimum 1 attempt per game): Anticevich, 88.0%

At Washington State

Where: Beasley Coliseum, Pullman, WA

When: Thursday, February 18th at 7:30 PM

TV: Pac-12 Network

Radio: KGO 810

Kenpom Prediction: 68-63 Cal loss, 34% chance of a Cal win

At Washington

Where: Alaska Airlines Arena, Seattle, WA

When: Saturday, February 20th at 7:00 PM

TV: ESPNU

Radio: KGO 810

Kenpom Prediction: 72-71 Cal loss, 50% chance of Cal win

Washington State has hit a bit of a bump since they last played Cal. They're a capable defensive team, as the Bears found out the last time these two teams matched up, but they went on a six game losing streak after beating the Bears. Kyle Smith's squad has struggled offensively (with the highest turnover rate in the conference), and while they hit the offensive glass well, they've dealt with injuries to a handful of guys. They do have wins over some of the top teams in the conference in UCLA and Oregon, but haven't put it all together yet.

The Cougars play Washington tonight, which could be telling as far as the health of Isaac Bonton. The Wazzu point guard turned his ankle late against USC, and as the main piece of the offense, losing Bonton would be a blow to a team that has already dealt with injuries to Myles Warren, Andrej Jakimovski, and Tony Miller.

Likely Starters

G Isaac Bonton 6'3", 190 lbs

G Noah Williams 6'5" 187 lbs

F DJ Rodman 6'6" 215 lbs

F Dishon Jackson 6'10" 235 lbs

F Efe Abogidi 6'10" 225 lbs.

Key Reserves

F Aljaz Kunc 6'8" 212 lbs

G TJ Bamba 6'5" 208 lbs

G Ryan Rapp 6'5" 189 lbs

G Myles Warren 6'3" 185 lbs* (injured)

F Andrej Jakimovski 6'8" 215 lbs* (injured)

Player to Watch - Jackson

If Bonton can't go, Jackson, a Bay Area native, could pick up the scoring slack. He had a career high of 18 against USC, and alongside Efe Abogidi, he gives Wazzu another scoring threat down low.

There's no other way to say it, Washington is having a bad year. They had a couple home wins against the mountain schools, sandwiched by eight and five game losing streaks respectively. That included a home loss to Cal, in which Erik Stevenson went 6-9 from 3 and scored 27 points. Against teams other than Cal, he has not scored more than 18.

Where Washington struggles the most is in the rebounding department. They allow offensive rebounds at a rate that is 3rd worst in the NCAA. Behind them are Chicago State (which hasn't played since December 20th and went 0-9) and Mississippi Valley State (1-17). There are guys who can score on this Washington team, and Jamal Bey is sitting pretty at 52.2% beyond the arc, but Washington is a far cry from the team that won the Pac-12 two years ago.

Likely Starters

G Quade Green 6' 170 lbs

G Erik Stevenson 6'3" 200 lbs

G Jamal Bey 6'6" 210 lbs

F Hameir Wright 6'9" 220 lbs

F Nate Roberts 6'11" 265 lbs

Key Reserves

F Cole Bajema 6'7" 190 lbs

G Raequan Battle 6'5" 175 lbs

G Nate Pryor 6'4" 175 lbs

C Riley Sorn 7'4" 255 lbs

Player to Watch - Stevenson

While Green is the volume shooter, Stevenson has shown he can get hot and stay hot throughout a game. Consistency has been his issue, but with the memory of the last time these two teams played, the Bears will try to run him off the three point line.