Washington State Cougars

Record: 11-17 (4-11)

Points/Game: 76.2

Points Allowed/Game: 78.6

Last 5 Games

L @ Stanford, 98-50

L vs. Utah, 92-79

L vs. Colorado, 76-74

L vs. Washington, 72-70

W @ Arizona, 69-55

Projected Starters

JR G Ahmed Ali - 6.5PPG/1.7RPG/2.5APG

SR G Viont’e Daniels - 5.7PPG/1.7RPG/1.7APG

SO G Marvin Cannon - 8.7PPG/3.5RPG/0.5APG

FR F CJ Elleby - 14.9PPG/6.1RPG/3.4APG/1.2SPG

SR F Robert Franks - 21.8PPG/6.4RPG/2.1APG

Top Reserves

JR G Jerome Robinson - 4.1PPG/1.0RPG/2.1APG

JR F Isaiah Wade - 4.3PPG/3.5RPG/0.8APG

FR F Aljaz Kunc - 2.9PPG/2.3RPG/0.6APG

Preview

Coming off of our first win of the season against Washington, Cal will have a great opportunity to make it two in a row against a struggling Washington State team. Washington was a shocking victory for the Bears, as they came into the game as the undisputed best team in the Pac-12.

Washington State owns slight edges over Cal in terms of shooting efficiency, but still tend to do worse than their opponents. In similar fashion, they also tend to get out-rebounded by their opponents, despite averaging around 5 rebounds/game more than Cal. Statistically, they are a better passing team than Cal as well, but they are just coming off a game with a season-high 22 assists (compared to their season average of 11.0/game). Lastly, Cal (as usual) will hold the advantage in terms of turnovers.

If we look at our blowout 82-59 loss earlier in the season, we can see that Cal had easily one of their worst games of the season. They shot terribly, had only 6 assists, and even lost the turnover battle. Against Washington we witnessed the exact opposite: great passing, great shooting, and an even turnover battle.

This Washington State team is definitely beatable for Cal. In fact, being at home and just two days off of our best game of the season, I think I honestly expect a win. That feels weird to say, and I know you all will hate me in the comments, but I think that this team is capable of winning this game. If they can, it will obviously serve as a huge stepping stone for this young team and a great way to build momentum to end the season and go into next year.

What do you think Cal fans? Can we win two in a row?