Notebook: Cal Basketball Heads to the Oregon Schools

This week is Oregon week for Cal, as the Bears head up to the Beaver state to face the Oregon schools. This will be the second time for Cal in the Pacific Northwest in this year, as the Bears played the Beavers in their opener, a 71-63 loss, before beating NAIA Northwest the next day.

Cal has figured out a bit more of what they are as a team, as limited practice time showed in the opening loss to the Beavers. What the Bears haven't figured out is the disparity between performances at home and on the road. Cal won one road game in Mark Fox's first year (over Washington State), and haven't looked the same away from Haas Pavilion. Prior to that win, the last Cal road win outside of the Bay Area came in December of 2017 (a 63-62 win over San Diego State).

The Bears should return Matt Bradley this week, after an ankle injury kept him out against CSUN and Seattle, but Grant Anticevich remains out. They get a matchup against a ranked Oregon team on New Years' Eve, before a rematch of the opener against Oregon State in Gill Coliseum.

At Home: 4-1 (average score of 70.2-62, margin of +8)

On the Road: 0-3 (average score of 60.3-73.6, margin of -13.3)

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

Injuries:

G Matt Bradley (ankle) - Bradley missed Cal's previous two games after suffering an ankle injury against San Francisco. The conference's leading scorer should be back for the Oregon series

F Grant Anticevich (appendectomy) - the senior forward had an emergency appendectomy in the hours before Cal's win over Cal State Northridge. Anticevich is out for an unspecified period of time.

F Kuany Kuany (ankle) - Kuany came off the floor against Seattle after turning an ankle in the win. He would return to the game late and should be available to play going forward.

Per Game Stat Leaders:

Points: Bradley, 19.1

Rebounds: Kelly, 6.4

Assists: Brown: 3.6

Steals: Brown, 1.9 (Brown leads the conference in total steals)

Blocks: Anticevich, .9

Minutes: Betley/Anticevich, 32.0

Field Goal % (minimum 5 attempts per game): Kelly, 50.9%

3pt% (minimum 2 attempts per game): Betley, 38.9%

Free Throw% (minimum 1 attempt per game): Foreman, 80%

Thursday, December 31st: at 21st ranked Oregon (6-1, 1-0)

Where: Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, OR

Time: 7 PM

TV: Pac-12 Network

Radio: KGO 810

KenPom Projection: 74-60 Oregon win (11% chance of Cal win)

Saturday, January 2nd: at Oregon State (4-3, 0-1)

Where: Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, OR

Time: 3 PM

TV: Pac-12 Network

Radio: KGO 810

KenPom Projection: 66-64 Oregon State win (42% chance of a Cal win)

This is an Oregon team that will be interesting to watch, as their starting lineup may not have a traditional big. Center N'Faly Dante suffered a season ending knee injury against San Francisco, and without the 6'11" big, Oregon started four 6'6" players in addition to guard Amauri Hardy against Portland.

Dana Altman continues to stock the Oregon roster with transfers in leading the Ducks. With Peyton Pritchard gone to the NBA, Hardy (a UNLV transfer), leads the offense, and if the starting lineup from their previous game remains the same, not a single player in that lineup will have come to Oregon from high school.

Of note, LJ Figueroa came to Oregon as a transfer from St. John's, where he led the Johnnies in scoring a year ago. He has had a couple double digit scoring games so far, but the 6'6" Figueroa has impressed as a rebounder, averaging 7.2 rebounds for an Oregon team that lacks size.

After an early loss to Cuonzo Martin and Missouri, Oregon has been unblemished since. They've had close calls with Washington and San Francisco, but have a 13-point win over Seton Hall at a neutral site to their name. They have the profile of a typical, Altman-led Oregon team, with a handful of athletic wings who can rebound, surrounding a solid point guard in Hardy. They don't shoot the 3 particularly often (Chris Duarte has the most attempts with 38, making 16 of those, Cal has nearly three players with that many attempts), but they make nearly 57% of their shots inside the arc and are among the best in the country on the offensive glass.

Injury Notes:

C N'Faly Dante (knee) - Out

G Will Richardson (Thumb) - Out

Probable Starting Lineup:

G Amauri Hardy - 6'2" 190 lbs.

G Chris Duarte - 6'6" 190 lbs.

G/F LJ Figueroa 6'6" 200 lbs.

F Eric Williams Jr. 6'6" 200 lbs.

F Eugene Omoruyi 6'6" 235 lbs.

Key Bench Players

F Chandler Lawson - 6'8" 205 lbs

G Jalen Terry - 6'0" 165 lbs.

Player to Watch - Omoruyi

The Rutgers transfer has been the volume scorer for the Ducks this year, averaging 18.1 points per game so far this year. Omoruyi has also developed a three point shot, shooting 37% from beyond the arc so far after not making a 3 over his first two seasons at Rutgers.

Omoruyi, along with Oregon's regiment of long forwards, should cause some issues for Cal, who has had their fair share of struggles against long, athletic wings. How they match up against a team filled with them. Kuany Kuany, who had his best game of the season against Seattle, may be a key piece for the Bears in defending the Oregon length.

After beating Cal to open their season, Oregon State hasn't kept up their level of success in suffering a handful of bad losses. They fell to Washington State in their conference opener and took a couple home losses to Wyoming and Portland (in overtime). The Beavers rebounded with wins over UTSA and Portland State prior to this week's matchups against the Bay Area schools.

Wayne Tinkle's squad has a handful of returning faces, namely Ethan Thompson and Zach Reichle, integrating sixth man Jarod Lucas into more of a scoring role, and getting transfers Maurice Calloo (Oklahoma State) and Warith Alatishe (Nicholls State) integrated into the lineup. With those five being the group with the most minutes played, Oregon State has length, shooting on the outside (Calloo leads the conference in three point%), and the ability to get to the line (something the Beavers have always done well under Tinkle). Where they've struggled is inside the arc, where they're shooting 42.4% against D1 competition (300th out of 330 teams that have played so far)

When the two teams met in the opener, Cal struggled from beyond the arc and Oregon State both cleaned up on the offensive glass and got to the free throw line more frequently, with Alatishe gashing the Bears on the glass. Whether the Bears have improved in the month and change since the opener, with more practice time, should be worth watching.

Probable Starting Lineup

G Ethan Thompson - 6'5" 195 lbs.

G Zach Reichle - 6'5" 205 lbs.

F Warrith Alatishe 6'7" 200 lbs.

F Maurice Calloo 6'10" 220 lbs.

C Roman Silva 7'1" 265 lbs

Key Bench Players

G Jarod Lucas - 6'3" 195 lbs.

G Gianni Hunt - 6'3" 180 lbs

F Rodrigue Andela 6'8" 248 lbs

F Dearon Tucker 6'10" 240 lbs

Player to Watch - Alatishe

The Nicholls State transfer is second in the conference in rebounding (9.14) and averages nearly four offensive rebounds per game. He gives the Beavers plenty of second chances with his length and is the only volume shooter for the Beavers shooting over 50% inside the arc.

This should be an interesting matchup for Cal, as they could have Bradley on Alatishe, but Kuany may see some time on the junior forward. Mark Fox prefers to match his opponents in personnel, but the Bears did start with the Bradley matchup in the opener.