On Wednesday at 2:30 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks, Cal men’s basketball will take on the Colorado Buffaloes in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Cal comes in as the 12th seed at 8-22 overall and 3-15 in the Pac-12 while Colorado comes in as the 5th seed at 19-11 overall and 10-8 in the Pac-12. This is the second meeting of the season between the two teams. Colorado defeated Cal 68-59 in Berkeley back on January 24th.
ANALYSIS: Cal Men's Basketball On A Winning Streak
On Colorado: The Buffaloes have four players scoring in double figures, giving them a lot of different looks on the court: Sophomore small forward Tyler Bey (13.4 points & 9.6 rebounds), sophomore point guard McKinley Wright IV (13.0 points & 4.9 assists), junior shooting guard Shane Gatling (10.5 points), and junior power forward Lucas Siewert (10.0 points & 4.9 rebounds). In their win over Cal back in January it was Bey and Siewert that really hurt the Golden Bears. Bey finishing with 17 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 blocks; Siewert finishing with 18 points on 6-11 shooting from the field, 2-4 shooting from 3-point range, and 4-4 shooting from the foul line.
When looking at the team stats, it’s clear that rebounding is the major strength of this Buffs team (+5.6 rebound differential per game). Bey is by far their top rebounder, making him extremely integral to their rebounding success. Another major strength of this team is foul shooting. The Buffs average 21.2 foul shot attempts per game, shooting 74.2% for the season. When you combine stellar rebounding with stellar foul shooting, you have a recipe for success.
Keys to the game: If Cal is to extend their season and beat the Buffs, the first thing they have to do is contain Bey. More specifically, they have to keep him off the glass unlike their last meeting. One thing that should change the equation in that regard is the emergence of Connor Vanover, who played just six minutes in their first meeting. With him playing much more confident inside, it should be harder for Bey to have the same type of success.
Secondly, Cal needs to get something out of Darius McNeill. Against Stanford on Thursday, McNeill was awful. He scored 0 points and shot 0-7 from the field. Cal was fortunate to have Vanover go wild, but they can’t rely on him to carry the scoring load. McNeill has to step up and at least score in double figures if Cal is to make a run in Vegas. Also, if McNeill is not going to score, he might as well do other things. Against Stanford, he had just 2 rebounds and failed to record a single assist, steal, or block. If that’s all he’s going to give, he might as well not even play.
Lastly, Cal needs to keep feeding Vanover. While it is true that he can’t be expected to carry the load offensively, he is the most unique weapon they have, and they have to take full advantage. Especially since Colorado hasn’t really seen him yet. If Vanover can show off his full repertoire of knocking down shots, rebounding, and blocking shots, Cal will be tough to stop.
Quotes: On Monday, Cal head coach Wyking Jones spoke to the media in advance of Wednesday’s game. Below are quotes pertaining to the game.
Q: What can you glean from the first time you played Colorado and what do you need to do differently this time?
WJ: “Well, I think the first time we played them, we’re a very different team than the first time we played them. When I watched the game and I looked at even just our starting lineup, the first time we played them we went with Paris, Matt, Justice, Roman, and Andre. First time we played them, Connor only played six minutes and Darius came off the bench and so I just think that we’re a different team than the first time we played them. In game one, I think what hurt us the most they beat us on the boards 37-24. So, they dominated us on the boards. We didn’t shoot the ball well, we went 5-for-21 from three, which is, we shot 23 percent, we’re a better shooting team than that. Tyler Bey played well against us. He had 17 points and 14 rebounds and 3 blocks, so we got to do a better job with him. Keeping him off the glass and not letting him score inside. He had some easy looks inside. I think Connor brings more of a rim protection presence. Obviously last game he had six blocks. Does a really good job protecting the rim against Stanford and hopefully can continue to do that in the tournament.”
Q: Wyking, can you talk more about Tyler Bey? He’s really emerged the second half of the season.
WJ: “He’s a workhorse. He’s an energy guy. He’s an undersized post player and he gets a lot done because he works hard, and he has a great motor. He has a nose for the ball, which you can see in his rebounding totals, and he’s a great finisher above the rim. A finisher inside.”
Q: What about Shane Gatling? What does he bring to the table for the Buffs?
WJ: “He’s a three-point threat. He’s a guy that you gotta be able to catch, you gotta run him off the line, you can’t give him open looks. I wanna say that he hit seven against UCLA at UCLA for them when they got the sweep of the Los Angeles schools. And so, you gotta run him off the line, you can’t give him a good look. He’s a big-time three-point threat.”
Q: How much does it help Justice to have Connor Vanover emerge like he has?
WJ: “It’s nice for our entire team and staff to have a guy like that. A five man that can really shoot the ball and open up the floor for his teammates. I think it’s nice not just for Justice or Darius, I think for everyone. For Paris to be able to get to the rim the way that he does. You put Connor in the corner, you put Connor at the top, and they have to come out and respect that, they have to come out and guard him. And so, it opens up the floor for everyone to be able to drive and finish at the rim without having to be congested by a five man. Having him out there is a weapon. Not just his shooting, but he does a great job finishing around the rim as well. He dunks the ball continuously throughout the last couple games and so anytime a big steps up, you can throw him a lob, you can dump it off to him, he will finish. Made the biggest play of the game in our game against Stanford when he got the and-1 when they cut it to three. So, he’s not just shooting. He’s rim protecting, he’s knocking down fifteen footers, he’s finishing at the rim, he’s doing a lot of things besides shooting.”
Q: Darius really struggled against Stanford. Has he been shooting well in practice? Is there anything you can do to help him get out of his funk?
WJ: “Well, you just tell him to keep shooting. He’s had games where he’s hit five [threes] in a game and had games where he’s hit six. He’s gotta keep shooting. Shooters are going to go through slumps at times and he didn’t hit one in our last game, he could hit five on Wednesday. You just tell him to keep believing and tell him to keep shooting. If you’re open, shoot. Do your job. It’s his job to shoot the ball when he’s open, so I’m never going to discourage him from doing his job. So, just continuing to do his job and believe that they’ll go in.”
Q: I heard Juhwan injured his hand against Stanford? What’s the injury update?
WJ: “Yeah, he injured his thumb against Stanford. He wasn’t able to finish the game against Stanford, but he practiced yesterday and everything was fine. Jacobi Gordon has been in and out of games and practice with Achilles flare-ups. But that’s it.”
