Scouting report: Arizona Wildcats vs. California Golden Bears

Social media: @TheWildcaster on Twitter / TheWildcaster on Facebook

PROBABLE STARTERS: ARIZONA

G James Akinjo (6-0 junior)

G Terrell Brown (6-1 senior)

F Bennedict Mathurin (6-7 freshman)

F Azuolas Tubelis (6-10 freshman)

C Christian Koloko (7-0 sophomore)

PROBABLE STARTERS: CAL

G Joel Brown (6-2 sophomore)

G Jarred Hyder (6-3 sophomore)

F Matt Bradley (6-4 junior)

F Grant Anticevich (6-8 senior)

C Andre Kelly (6-8 junior)

HOW THEY MATCH UP

The series: Arizona has won eight straight games against California, and hasn’t lost to the Bears at McKale Center since the 2012-13 season. Cal last beat Arizona on Jan. 23, 2016, when Gabe York missed a heavily defended shot in the final seconds to allow the Bears to hold on 74-73 win in Berkeley. The teams played only once last season, when UA beat Cal 68-52 in Berkeley in a game when Dylan Smith hit four straight 3-pointers en route to 14 points and Zeke Nnaji had 21 points and five rebounds.

This season: Cal and Arizona are scheduled to play only once this season because of the Pac-12’s unbalanced 20-game schedule. The Wildcats were initially scheduled to miss the Bay-area trip to play Cal and Stanford under the old 18-game format but the Stanford road game was added back and played on Dec. 19 in Santa Cruz, Calif.

Cal overview: After a promising start under new coach Mark Fox last season, when the Bears won seven conference games and beat Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament’s first round, Cal has slogged along this season thanks in part because of medical issues with starters Matt Bradley and Grant Anticevich. Bradley still isn’t at full strength after having injuries to both ankles that cost him a total of seven games. Anticevich missed four games in December with emergency appendectomy surgery but the Bears are fully staffed at this point. They also put Fresno State transfer guard Jarred Hyder into action last month after the NCAA allowed all transfers to play immediately, adding depth to the backcourt.

The Bears rely heavily on 3-point shots but they’re only mediocre shooters, hitting 34.5% from 3-point range (seventh best in the Pac-12) while taking 43.3% of their shots from beyond the arc in conference games. Grad transfers Makale Foreman (2.2) and Ryan Betley (2.1) are among Pac-12 leaders in 3-pointers made per game but Anticevich (44.4) is the Bears’ best 3-point percentage shooter in conference games. The Bears are also shaky free throw shooters, shooting just 66.5% at the line.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Overall, both Cal’s offense and defense rate No. 11 in efficiency in Pac-12 games, with the Bears defending 3s at a league-worst 41.0%.

Cal has deployed a number of different lineups this season, with Foreman and Brown splitting point guard duties while Hyder and Betley are the main threats around Bradley on the wing. Anticevich plays a stretch-four role while Kelly is an efficient force inside, shooting 66.2% from the field in conference games while collecting the defensive rebound 22.0% of the time he’s on the floor. But when he’s healthy, Bradley is by far the Bears’ biggest threat, taking 36.1% of his team’s shots when he’s on the floor.

THE SCOUT SAYS

“They’ve played in a lot of close games so you have to be ready to play. Matt Bradley’s back and I just think he makes them even more potent. With every game he played, he’s going to get better and better. He’s very, very dangerous. He can shoot, he can drive it, he can post it, he can do it all. When he’s healthy, they run a lot of their stuff for him and through him. Foreman and Betley are good shooters and they really shoot it a lot so it allows Bradley more space to operate.

“When they get out in transition, one of the few things they will do is shoot the 3. But for the most part they’re doing to run their offense, get to the second side and the third side. They’re going to turn down OK shots for great shots.

“Anticevich is a dangerous matchup because you have to play him on the perimeter and he’s a post. When Bradley was out they were really feeding him the ball.”

— UA associate head coach Jack Murphy, who scouted the Bears

KEY PLAYER: CAL

Matt Bradley

The Wildcats are catching the Bears’ best player just as he’s learning to play with nagging ankle soreness. He had 26 points and 10 rebounds on Thursday at ASU in his best offensive game since returning from ankle injuries — and he might have had even more if he didn’t miss some open shots and opportunities to finish inside.

KEY PLAYER: ARIZONA

James Akinjo

Whether it’s because of his scoring or passing, Akinjo’s pretty much a key guy in any Wildcat game this season. But this one may mean a little more to the East Bay native, who will be facing a number of experienced guards in Joel Brown, Makale Foreman and Jarred Hyder.

SIDELINES

Playing through pain

Cal guard Matt Bradley was already still hobbling somewhat on a sprained right ankle that had kept him out two games when the other one was twisted even worse at Oregon State on Jan. 2.

The second injury was immediately painful for both Bradley and the Bears, who were outscored 52-35 after Bradley went out and lost to the Beavers by nine.

“Matt and I talked and I said ‘This is going to be a lot harder than the first one,’ because it was a much more significant sprain, so I’ve tried to prepare him for the fact that this was going to be really tough mentally,” Cal coach Mark Fox told reporters earlier this week. “I think he’s handled it pretty good. His body’s not going to feel good until probably July. It’s going to take time for Matt to get his legs back underneath him. It’s going to take time for him to look and feel like himself.”

But Bradley had 26 points and 10 rebounds at ASU on Thursday in what was just his second game back from the second injury. Fox said he’s grown through the process not just physically but mentally.

“It’s almost torture not to play when a guy loves to play,” Fox said. “I thought Matt was very supportive of his teammates when he was out but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t frustrated. When the game is taken away from you, it’s really hard and I thought he was pretty positive.”

Sharp-dressed man