California @ Washington preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 12, 2017 ) Washington 59, California 69

California’s Wyking Jones and Washington’s Mike Hopkins are the two newest coaches in the Pac-12, but that’s about all the two have in common. Jones and the Bears look to put two ugly losses behind them Thursday when they visit the surprising Huskies, who have already matched their conference win total from last season.

Freshman guard Jaylen Nowell averages a team-high 16.3 points to lead the Huskies, who opened league play with three straight road games and sandwiched wins over USC and Washington State around a 21-point loss to UCLA. Washington finished 9-22 overall and 2-16 in the Pac-12 last season but showcased its new-found depth in last Saturday’s 70-65 win over Washington State as sophomore guard Carlos Johnson scored 10 points in 14 minutes off the bench. “We promote the ‘Tougher Together’ theme, and I think it showed,” Hopkins told reporters. “You got guys who, on any given night, can come off the bench and they’re buying in and they’re winning.” The Huskies play five of their next seven games at home, beginning with Thursday’s matchup against a Cal team that ranks last in the conference in scoring defense at 81.4 points per game.


TV: 11 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network

ABOUT CAL (7-9, 1-2 Pac-12): The Bears opened Pac-12 play with a win over Stanford but were then swept in a home series against the league’s Los Angeles schools for the first time since 2007. Junior guard Don Coleman averages 18.9 points to lead the Bears, who recorded season worsts in field-goal percentage allowed (58.2) and three-pointers allowed (17) in last Saturday’s 107-84 loss to UCLA. “We showed a lot of toughness, fight and aggressiveness,” Jones told reporters. “Unfortunately, we only did when we were down 21. We’ve got to be able to put together 40 minutes of that kind of effort and attack, that kind of aggressiveness and fight.”

ABOUT WASHINGTON (12-4, 2-1): Guard Matisse Thybulle scored a team-high 17 points in the win over Washington State while point guard David Crisp added 15 points and three assists. Crisp is averaging a team-high 37.7 minutes per game but now has a capable backup in freshman Michael Carter III, who returned to face the Cougars after missing 11 games with a fractured wrist and scored two points in 11 minutes. The undersized frontcourt is led by junior forward Noah Dickerson, who is averaging 15.1 points and a team-best 7.7 rebounds while shooting 60.4 percent from the field.

TIP-INS

1. Cal has won six straight games against Washington and holds an 84-78 lead in the series.

2. Washington is averaging a league-best 9.0 steals per game.

3. Cal forward Justice Sueing is averaging 14.0 points in the second half of his last three games.

PREDICTION: Washington 83, Cal 67