Cal Men's Basketball Opponent Preview: The Washington Schools

To the Pacific Northwest we go

Cal men’s basketball has won 3 of 4 and are looking to continue their recent solid stretch of play against Washington and Washington State. Both of these games are completely winnable, but just how winnable?

ND Okafor vs Utah via Calbears.com

---

Washington State (7-10, 2-4 Pac 12), led by HC Kyle Smith

#61 in Kenpom (1/9/23)

Wazzu boasts the #7 Pac 12 offense

Shoot 43.6% from the field and a whopping 36.7% from 3 as a team with the most attempts in the conference

Shoot 73% from the free throw line as a team

---

Key Players

Mouhamed Gueye (Sophomore Forward)

31.5 mpg, averages 14 ppg on 49% shooting from the floor

TJ Bamba (Junior Guard)

31.8 mpg, averages 15.1 ppg on 43.1% shooting from the floor and 36.4% from 3

Jabe Mullins (Junior Guard, transfer from St.Mary’s)

26.6 mpg, averages 12.4 ppg on 48.6% shooting from the floor and a whopping 51.4%(!!!) from 3. Mullins usually comes off the bench.

---

Washington State’s record is a bit misleading. They’ve had a slew of injuries (sound familiar?) that have kept them from reaching their ceiling this season, Last year, they made the final 4 of the NIT and earned an invite to Madison Square Garden. Injuries to Dishon Jackson, Jabe Mullins (who has since returned), and Andrej Jakimovski put the Cougars in a rut to start the season. Combine that with initial struggles for the dynamic duo of TJ Bamba and Mouhamed Gueye, and it was a less than stellar start in Pullman.

However, they have recently gotten healthy and are showing great flashes of who they could really be. They were ahead of UCLA the whole game, but didn’t score a FG in the final 7 minutes enroute to a 1 point loss. They beat USC by 10. And most impressively, they just went into the McKale Center and beat Arizona 74-61 thanks to Gueye and the 3 ball. This will be a tough task for the Bears, as both teams seem to be hitting their stride at the exact same time. By the way did I mention that Gueye is an athletic freak? Oh man this could call for some early ND Okafor.

Prediction: WSU 73 Cal 62

---

Washington (9-8, 1-5 Pac 12), led by HC Mike Hopkins

#110 in Kenpom (1/9/23)

UW boasts the #8 Pac 12 offense

Shoot 42.4% from the field (last in the conference) and 30.4% from 3

Shoot 74.4% from the free throw line as a team

---

Key Players

Keion Brooks Jr (Senior forward, transfer from Kentucky)

33.9 mpg, averaging 16.1 ppg on 41.2% shooting from the floor

Braxton Meah (Junior Center)

22.9 mpg, averaging 9 ppg and 6.4 rebounds per game along with 1.7 BPG

Cole Bajema (Senior Guard)

31.2 mpg, averaging 10.4 ppg on 42.2% shooting from the floor and 36% from 3

---

Washington has been a bit of a hit or miss team this year. They won the Wooden Legacy down in Southern California, defeating a borderline Top 25 team in St.Mary’s. However they haven’t really built on that, with a loss to Oregon State on top of getting wiped by Auburn, UCLA, and USC. Jamal Bey hasn’t stepped up like UW fans have hoped. Couple all of that that with a loss early in the year to California Baptist and it’s just been a weird season for the Huskies. There’s definite ire that’s heading in Mike Hopkins direction if he doesn’t get this fixed quick, as he’s been to the NCAA tournament before with Washington but hasn’t seen anything remotely close to that success in a while. If Cal can move the ball swiftly and with a purpose, there are holes that can be had in this 2-3 zone defense that UW runs. Mix that in with some corner 3’s and the Bears *could* see a similar night in terms of volume from 3 like against Stanford. The key to this will be getting Braxton Meah in foul trouble.

Here’s the problem. In the 3 visits to Seattle in the Mark Fox era, the Bears have averaged 53 ppg against the Huskies. That is pitiful. No matter how inconsistent Washington may seem, if you can’t score you can’t win. This game is the more winnable of the two and I think Cal finally gets over that hump. But not without some pain.

Prediction: Cal 61 UW 58

Go Bears!