California @ UNLV preview
Thomas & Mack Center
Last Meeting ( Nov 12, 2019 ) UNLV 75, California 79
Unheralded competition took them to task in their season openers. Now both teams are looking for improved efforts when California visits UNLV for a non-conference game Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The Rebels survived a poor shooting night to win at home over Gardner-Webb of North Carolina 64-58 on Tuesday, riding a combined 40 points from Bryce Hamilton (22) and Royce Hamm Jr. (18).
Hamilton's game-high point total came despite 8-for-25 shooting in a game in which the Rebels finished at 30.3 percent. He misfired on eight of his nine 3-point attempts, contributing to UNLV's woes there. The Rebels went 2-for-25.
"I think coming into the game, we kind of thought it was going to be a little easier than it was," Hamm admitted of an opponent that went just 11-15 last season. "They hit us in our mouth, and we found a way to come back and respond."
The win allowed Kevin Kruger to record a win in his first game as UNLV head coach. Kruger had been the point guard on a Rebels squad that reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 2007 when his dad, Lon, was the head coach.
Cal had no such luck pulling out a win in its lackluster debut against a U.C. San Diego team that had never previously beaten a Pacific-12 Conference foe in 12 tries.
Coach Mark Fox took the blame for the 80-67 loss.
"Very disappointed in our team's play," Fox said. "I obviously didn't have them ready to go."
One bright spot was Charlotte transfer Jordan Shepherd, who led Cal with 27 points. He shot 4-for-7 on 3-pointers, but his teammates combined to go just 1-for-11.
Andre Kelly put up a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double, shooting 7-for-13. Despite his success, the Bears finished the game at just 40.0 percent from the field.
The game is a rematch of a 79-75 Cal win in overtime at home in 2019.
--Field Level Media