The Bears have a crucial road game coming up tonight (7:30 PT, CSNBA) against the Oregon State Beavers. The Beavers have beaten Cal 2 of the last 3 times they’ve met, but Cal did take the meeting this season.
In that game, the Bears won 65-61 in a hard-fought game. Cal has a lead over 10, but OSU would come back strong to make it a single digit game.
OSU always gives Cal trouble in all sports. Of course, they upset us twice a year ago despite being among the worst in conference. I expect this matchup to be no different.
The Beavers run a very slow pace offensively, running a Princeton offense. If it’s their style of game, then the game will be somewhere in the 40’s or the 50’s. They lean heavily on their guard play, with Seth Tarver and Calvin Haynes being the leading scorers. Haynes scored 25 in the first game. While he hasn’t produced much this season, it’s still hard to overlook Roeland Schaftenaar. He’s OSU’s only big guy really (maybe Omari Johnson?), and he does average 8 points and 4 rebounds. If he can get back last year’s “mojo” (10 points and 47% shooting) then we’ll be in trouble.
OSU also has a stout zone defense that traditionally gives us problems. 65 points is certainly nothing to sneeze at, but it is a bit low for us. Last year they held the Bears to 54 and 65. One of their strong suits is shutting down guards. Jerome Randle only scored 14 in the first game and Patrick Christopher was held to 8. They also held prolific point guard Nic Wise to 5 points on 1-11 shooting when they played Arizona. Jamal Boykin will have to exploit the fact that he will be given opportunities. The 1-3-1 zone will certainly give him some chances.
This is the ultimate trap game for the Bears. If they can escape, then a road sweep seems easy. If they lose, then winning out is basically the only way to take the conference. Go Bears!
Prediction: 59-56 OSU
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