Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament Preview: Bears look to beat #7 Seed Washington State

Bears look for first win against Washington State since 19/20 season

Cal Basketball @CalMBBall

Tournament time. Cal opens the #Pac12MBB Tournament vs. Washington State on Wednesday at @TMobileArena. #InvestAndAttack

Date: Wednesday March 9th, 2022 (6PM Pac-12 Networks)

Opponent: Washington State Cougars

Record: 18-13 (Conference: 11-9)

Standings: 7th Seed

KenPom Ranking: #55

Opponent Team Stats: 72.3PPG/36.9RPG/11.5APG/6.5SPG/11.4TPG

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Key Players: 

• Noah Williams

  • Guard (6-foot-5/195lbs)

  • Junior

  • 10.5PPG/3.3RPG/2.6APG/1.9TPG/1.2SPG

  • 34.1%-FG/28.1%-3PT/72.3%-FT

• Tyrell Roberts

  • Guard (5-foot-11/175lbs)

  • Junior

  • 10.8PPG/2.5RPG/2.0APG/1.4TPG

  • 34.8%-FG/33.3%-3PT/93.2%-FT

• Michael Flowers

  • Guard (6-foot-1/190lbs)

  • Senior

  • 14.2PPG/3.4RPG/3.4APG/1.6TPG/1.0SPG

  • 40.4%-FG/38.9%-3PT/85.4%-FT

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Expected Starting 5

• Guard Michael Flowers

• Guard Tyrell Roberts

• Forward Noah Williams

• Forward Mouhamed Gueye

• Forward Efe Abogidi

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Ah. How the turntables have turned… Wait that isn’t right. The Bears take on the Washinton State Cougs, a team they haven’t beaten since the 19-20 season. Former San Francisco HC Kyle Smith has the Cougs on the upswing since his appointment, the same year as Cal HC Mark Fox. The Cougs won just 6 conference games in his first season but have won 7 then 11 in the ensuing years. A middling conference offense but plays with tempo. A top 4 conference defense but a team that gives up a free throw on 30% of their opponent field goals attempts. It’s a tough game for the Bears to start their Vegas trip with. The key players, statistically, remain the same in Flowers, Roberts, and Williams. The three perimeter players score the majority of the points for the Cougs and are the most dangerous as any of them could ignite from 3. The front court is where they might win the game, as the Bears have struggled with frontcourt depth. Gueye and Abogidi are two talented big men on both ends of the court, where Kyle Smith should look to attack early on to get Lars Thiemann in foul trouble. The two bigs had a combined 27 points for the Cougs in the last matchup just last month. Not the matchup you want, but the Bears need to fight through in order to keep the season going just a single day longer.

And if you missed there Bears’ Regular Season Finale against Arizona make sure to check out the recap.

Cal Men's Basketball Ends Regular Season with 89-61 Loss at Arizona

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Cal’s Win Probability and Score according to KenPom: 27% (60-67 Loss)