Cal Men's Basketball Preview: Bears close out first road trip of 2022 against Washington State

Can the Bears stop the skid?

Cal Basketball @CalMBBall

Heading to the Palouse. The Bears will take on Washington State at 1 p.m. PT Saturday in Pullman.

Date: Saturday January 15th, 2022 (1PM Pac-12 Networks)

Opponent: Washington State Cougars

Record: 9-7 (Conference: 2-3)

Standings: 8th in Pac-12

KenPom Ranking: #50

Opponent Team Stats: 74.8PPG/38.7RPG/10.9APG/6.3SPG/12.4TPG

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Key Players: 

• Noah Williams

  • Guard (6-foot-5/195lbs)

  • Junior

  • 12.1PPG/4.2RPG/2.6APG/2.2TPG/1.2SPG

  • 36.3%-FG/22.0%-3PT/74.6%-FT

• Tyrell Roberts

  • Guard(5-foot-11/175lbs)

  • Junior

  • 11.2PPG/2.3RPG/1.3TPG

  • 34.3%-FG/32.6%-3PT/93.9%-FT

• Michael Flowers

  • Guard (6-foot-1/190lbs)

  • Senior

  • 13.2PPG/3.7RPG/3.0APG

  • 41.7%-FG/38.7%-3PT/86.5%-FT

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Expected Starting 5

• Guard Michael Flowers

• Guard Tyrell Robert

• Forward TJ Bamba

• Forward Andrej Jakimovski

• Forward Efe Abogidi

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Another tough opponent to try and snap a losing streak against. The Bears travel to Pullman to take on a formidable Cougar squad under third-year Head Coach Kyle Smith. A top 100 efficient offense and top 30 efficient defense, according to KenPom, won’t be an easy task. Though, they did endure a 20-point swing loss against the Stanford Cardinal to go from being up 10 to being down 10 in just 7 minutes. The Cougs have struggled to score the ball as a team, especially since their team is based around the 3PT game with 43.6% of their total shots coming from beyond the arc. That bodes well for the Bears, who have run their opponents off the 3PT line and have a top 35 3PT% defense. The toughest matchup will be between the Bears 2PT scoring and the Cougs 2PT defense. It basically stands as a push with the Bears scoring 48.9% of their shots inside the arc while the Cougs allow 45.6%. Can the Bears do enough damage in the paint and mid-range game with the slow tempo? Will the Cougs turn the corner for their 3PT shooting to start falling again?

And if you missed there Bears’ last game against Washington make sure to check out the recap.

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Cal’s Win Probability and Score according to KenPom: 23% (60-67 Loss)