California @ Washington St. preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 9, 2020 ) Washington St. 66, California 73

Two teams that appear to be on similar trajectories meet Wednesday as California visits Washington State, which has shown signs of improvement under first-year coach Kyle Smith. The same could be said about a Cal team that has already reached double-digits in wins after recording eight victories in each of the past two seasons.

Sophomore guard Matt Bradley averages 17.8 points to lead Cal, which has lost four in a row but turned in an encouraging effort against surging Arizona State on Sunday before losing 80-75. “I think we did a nice job sharing the ball,” coach Mark Fox told reporters. “We played together and we competed hard. In a lot of ways, we took a step forward, but we came to win the game and we didn’t do that. We’ve still got to eliminate a few mistakes and be a little better to beat the best teams.” Bradley scored 22 points before fouling out against the Sun Devils while forward senior point guard Paris Austin contributed 17 points, five assists and five rebounds. The Bears are winless in 10 games away from Haas Pavilion but have a favorable matchup against Washington State, which could be without starting point guard and second-leading scorer Isaac Bonton (hip) for the second straight game.

TIME: 10 p.m. ET. TV: Pac-12 Network

ABOUT CAL (10-15, 4-8 Pac-12): Fox continues to be pleased by the play of 6-8 forward Grant Anticevich, who recorded 18 points and eight rebounds against Arizona State and is averaging 8.6 points and 5.7 rebounds in conference play. The Bears were hoping to jump-start their offense by starting freshman guard Joel Brown in place of Kareem South, but the two combined for just eight points on 3-of-9 shooting in the loss. The team’s offense revolves around Bradley, who had 26 points and 10 boards in last month’s 73-66 win over Washington State but needs to be careful to avoid early foul trouble.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE (14-12, 5-8): The Cougars’ offense was stagnant at times without Bonton in last Saturday’s 70-51 loss to USC, but sophomore forward CJ Elleby continued to impress with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Bonton’s injury forced Smith to rely heavily on freshmen Noah Williams and Ryan Rapp, who combined for 14 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Elleby is averaging 18.7 points and 7.5 rebounds to lead the Cougars, who were 4-14 in Pac-12 play last year but have recorded noteworthy wins over UCLA, Arizona State, Washington and both Oregon schools this season.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Cal has won the last two meetings against the Cougars and owns an 82-51 lead in the all-time series.

2. Washington State missed 22 straight 3-point attempts at one point of last Saturday’s loss to USC and is shooting 31.3 percent from beyond the arc this season.

3. Cal F Andre Kelly is averaging 8.7 rebounds over his last three games.

PREDICTION: Cal 68, Washington State 65