Top-ranked Arizona couldn’t have asked for a better buildup to the Pac-12 tournament. The Wildcats ravaged their opposition over the last month of the regular season, including an absolute mauling of the Cal Bears. With all the momentum on their side, can the ‘Cats begin their quest for that long-awaited conference tournament crown with another big win? Read on below as we break down this Pac-12 quarterfinal battle.
The winner of Arizona-Cal will go on to face the victor of USC-UCLA in the semifinals. Check out our preview of that matchup here.
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Arizona Wildcats vs. California Golden Bears Preview
Arizona pretty much steamrolled through the last month of its regular season schedule, winning its last eight games in emphatic fashion. The Wildcats won those games by an average of 23 points, with their six-point road win at Utah the only one that finished in single digits. Arizona went 7-1 against the spread during that stretch.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]Arizona’s biggest win of the bunch came at the expense of its quarterfinal foe, Cal. The Wildcats ran riot in a 99-60 home rout on March 5. Brandon Ashley led six ‘Cats in double-digits with 21 points as the team shot close to 57 percent from the field.
The Wildcats also dominated their first matchup of the season, a 73-50 win at Cal back in January. Freshman Stanley Johnson was the star in that game with a team-high 18 points.
Scoring shouldn’t be a problem for an Arizona offense that has more or less gotten anything it’s wanted against Cal’s defense. The Wildcats have shot a collective 53 percent over the two games against Cal. Meanwhile, no one has managed to break through the Wildcats’ shutdown defense, which has now limited opponents to sub-40 percent shooting for six consecutive games.
Cal got a confidence-boosting 84-59 win over Washington State in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament on Wednesday. David Kravish had a big night with 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting and eight rebounds, while Jordan Mathews added 19 on 6-of-8 shooting from the field.
Kravish and Mathews – the team’s third- and second-leading scorers – are averaging close to 24 total points this season, but they were essentially non-factors in their game last week in their 39-point drubbing against Arizona. The two combined for just 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting, way down from the 32 points they contributed in their first meeting against the Wildcats.
Foul trouble was the big reason for Kravish’s dip in production in the second game, as he was limited to 17 minutes before eventually fouling out. The Bears will need more bullish production from the two, as well as leading scorer Tyrone Wallace (17.2 points per game) to stand any chance of bringing down the Wildcats.
Cal did not fare well against quality opposition this season. The Bears went just 1-7 (2-6 against the spread) against the top five teams in the Pac-12 (Arizona, Utah, Oregon, UCLA and Stanford), and went 0-2 against Wildcats.
Writer’s Prediction
Arizona deals a third blowout loss of the season to Cal as the Wildcats win and cover -17.
