Hey guys, here is the game hub for Saturday's Cal men's basketball game at Wyoming. Tipoff is 12:00 PM PST on CBS Sports Network. This thread will start with 5 key things to look for going into the game.
#1. Both teams come in at 5-2: Cal comes in with wins over Rice, UCSB, East Carolina, Sam Houston State, and Seattle while suffering two losses to San Diego State and Richmond. As for Wyoming, they're coming in with wins over Denver, Montana State, CSU-Baskersfiled, New Mexico Highlands, and Bristol University while suffering losses to Montana State and Indiana State.
#2. Wyoming Senior guard Josh Adams can light it up: Adams is averaging 23.7 points per game on 47.0% shooting from the field and 38.1% shooting from three-point range. Wyoming will make it a priority to get Adams touches and force Cal to keep their top scorer quiet all night.
#3. Wyoming struggles on the glass, so Cal should dominate the boards: Wyoming averages 29.7 rebounds per game while allowing their opponents to get 34.0 rebounds per game. As for Cal, they grab 41.9 rebounds per game and allow their opponents to get 33.1 rebounds. If Cal can play good defense on the perimeter and force Wyoming to take a lot of tough shots, that should give them a huge advantage.
#4. Look for Cal to use a deeper bench: Wyoming plays at very high elevation (7,220 feet). Wyoming will definitely try to take advantage of their elevation to tire Cal out. It's very possible that Cuonzo Martin tries to combat this by giving guys more rest and extending his bench a bit. This means Brandon Chauca, Kingsley Okoroh, and Roger Moute a Bidias may get more minutes than usual. It's possible Cuonzo rolls with the same rotation, but if he's smart, he'll do whatever he can to give his players a little more rest when possible.
#5. Cal needs to take better care of the ball: Cal's assist-to-turnover ratio is 88/75, which calculates to 1.173333. That has to improve. If Cal wants to win this game, they have to take care of the ball and not give Wyoming free points in transition.
Prediction: Las Vegas has Cal favored by 6.5 points at the moment. I'm gonna say that Cal wins, but Wyoming covers the spread. Cal wins 74-70. Cal hasn't been playing all that well lately and Wyoming is a tough place to play. This is far from a gimme. This one should be close.
#1. Both teams come in at 5-2: Cal comes in with wins over Rice, UCSB, East Carolina, Sam Houston State, and Seattle while suffering two losses to San Diego State and Richmond. As for Wyoming, they're coming in with wins over Denver, Montana State, CSU-Baskersfiled, New Mexico Highlands, and Bristol University while suffering losses to Montana State and Indiana State.
#2. Wyoming Senior guard Josh Adams can light it up: Adams is averaging 23.7 points per game on 47.0% shooting from the field and 38.1% shooting from three-point range. Wyoming will make it a priority to get Adams touches and force Cal to keep their top scorer quiet all night.
#3. Wyoming struggles on the glass, so Cal should dominate the boards: Wyoming averages 29.7 rebounds per game while allowing their opponents to get 34.0 rebounds per game. As for Cal, they grab 41.9 rebounds per game and allow their opponents to get 33.1 rebounds. If Cal can play good defense on the perimeter and force Wyoming to take a lot of tough shots, that should give them a huge advantage.
#4. Look for Cal to use a deeper bench: Wyoming plays at very high elevation (7,220 feet). Wyoming will definitely try to take advantage of their elevation to tire Cal out. It's very possible that Cuonzo Martin tries to combat this by giving guys more rest and extending his bench a bit. This means Brandon Chauca, Kingsley Okoroh, and Roger Moute a Bidias may get more minutes than usual. It's possible Cuonzo rolls with the same rotation, but if he's smart, he'll do whatever he can to give his players a little more rest when possible.
#5. Cal needs to take better care of the ball: Cal's assist-to-turnover ratio is 88/75, which calculates to 1.173333. That has to improve. If Cal wants to win this game, they have to take care of the ball and not give Wyoming free points in transition.
Prediction: Las Vegas has Cal favored by 6.5 points at the moment. I'm gonna say that Cal wins, but Wyoming covers the spread. Cal wins 74-70. Cal hasn't been playing all that well lately and Wyoming is a tough place to play. This is far from a gimme. This one should be close.
