Cal Men's Basketball Preview: Bears travel to Corvallis
The quintessential must-win game
Date: Wednesday February 9th, 2022 (8PM ESPNU)
Opponent: Oregon State Beavers
Record: 3-17 (Conference: 1-9)
Standings: 12th in Pac-12
KenPom Ranking: #222
Opponent Team Stats: 67.8PPG/31.6RPG/12.1APG/6.2SPG/12.5TPG
Key Players:Â
Dashawn Davis
Guard (6-foot-2/185lbs)
Junior
9.2PPG/3.8RPG/5.2APG/2.3TPG/1.4SPG
42.5%-FG/12.0%-3PT/63.4%-FT
Warith Alatishe
Forward (6-foot-8/210lbs)
Senior
10.1PPG/6.0RPG/1.5APG/1.9TPG
52.3%-FG/40.0%-3PT/44.7%-FT
Jarod Lucas
Guard (6-foot-4/195lbs)
Junior
13.7PPG/2.3RPG/1.0APG/1.0SPG/1.2TPG
42.9%-FG/40.8%-3PT/85.7%-FT
Expected Starting 5
Guard Dashawn Davis
Guard Jarod Lucas
Forward Glenn Taylor
Forward Maurice Calloo
Center Roman Silva
The Bears really need a win. That might be an understatement of the current situation. Cal has gone on a 10 game losing streak. The second-longest streak in the last 5 seasons. This should be a game the Bears win. Scratch that. This is a must-win against the worst team in the conference. The Bears are better or even with the Beavers in every statistical category. With all hopes of an improved season out the window, now it’s all about making sure we aren’t battling for the basement of the conference to end the season. This is only one of two games KenPom predicts the Bears to win out of their remaining seven games. Not much more needs to be said. Even with the loss of Andre Kelly for the season, the Bears need to win these types of games with their style of grind-it-out games.
And if you missed there Bears’ last game against Washington State make sure to check out the recap.
Cal’s Win Probability and Score according to KenPom: 53% (68-67 Win)
Must win?! What advantages would an additional win or 2 do for the season? I could see if we were on the bubble. What would it take to bring on a new coach? Would going 0-fer the rest of the season do it? If so, maybe it's best they don't win another game. Obviously, it sucks for the kids playing hard and the possibility of losing players...but that may happen if a new coach were brought in anyway. Apologies for being a nega-bear...but this season is over!
Looking at the stats, looks like OSU is poor defensively
Last game we locked down Lucas, and we need to do that again. The other player who can hurt us is Alatishe. I see a role for 2K to try to defend him, although 2K is not a strong rebounder
And then there is Silva which could be a major problem