WSU-Cal: Preview

As PAC-10 conference play winds down, Washington State takes their show on the road. First stop, Berkeley and the University of California.

WSU rolls into Northern California just in time to catch Cal in somewhat of a slump. The Bears have lost three of their last four games, most recently a 79-69 drubbing at the hands of cross-bay rival Stanford. So what’s up with Cal?

Coach Ben Braun has emphasized offense in conference play. That’s what the Bears record seems to say. They have only held opponents under 70 points twice in 14 games. One of those games was their victory over the Cougs in Pullman. Read into that what you will. Trying to outscore a team in the PAC-10 has proven to be an uphill climb for Cal.

Yes, Cal leads the conference in scoring. They average 77.8 points a game.

Yes, Cal is the worst team in the conference in scoring defense. They give up an average of 73.6 points a game.

A look at how the Cougs have done in PAC-10 will show just about the exact opposite results when compared with Cal.

WSU leads the conference in scoring defense, giving up an average of 55.5 points a game. WSU, however, has scored an average of only 66.8 points a game, good for 9th in the PAC-10. Only Oregon State has a tougher time putting points up on the scoreboard.

The other comparison that is worthy of mention would be each teams ability to rebound. Cal has a clear edge because Washington State is the worst rebounding team in conference play.

Cal gets their scoring from three of the PAC-10 leaders: No. 1 sophomore Ryan Anderson; No. 9 sophomore Patrick Christopher and No. 20 sophomore Jerome Randle. These three present opposing defenses plenty of challenges. Slowing down one or two players is pretty tough. When you put three of the best in the conference on the floor, that will drive opposing coaches nuts. Coach Tony Bennett isn’t going nuts over this game, but he must have some real concerns. The Cougs were able to slow Cal down on offense in Pullman, but they couldn’t score down the stretch and let the game get away from them.

Against Stanford on Sunday, Cal came out slow. They didn’t seem to be into the game emotionally. In fact, it looked as though the game was going to be a rout for the Cardinal. Ironically, the trash talking of Stanford fans appeared to have lit a fire under the Bears about 12 minutes into the game. By that point they were down by 16 points and found that too wide a margin to overcome.

If the Bears come out passionless Thursday, the Cougs will be in a position to build up the same kind of lead. Déjà vu? Don’t expect history to repeat itself. Should Cal win their last four games, they will find themselves playing in the NCAA tournament. That’s probably what it’s going to take. Since they have both USC and UCLA next week to wrap up their conference schedule, that’s asking a lot. Not impossible, but not likely.

Coach Braun will be preaching, “One game at a time.” Beat Washington State before looking down the road.

Coach Bennett has to get his team focused on a couple of things. Help his troops find some offensive rhythm. Against the Arizona teams, when WSU finally began to work for an open shot they found defenses overplaying and disrupting their flow. Time and time again, the Cougs were out-hustled going after rebounds and loose balls.

When teams match strength against strength, a good offense against a good offense, it will come down to who has the greater desire to win.

GO COUGS!!!