(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)
As Arizona State looks to carry momentum from its first Pac-12 victory over Colorado throughout the rest of the season, its next test comes against the California Golden Bears in Berkeley.
In the Colorado win, ASU won thanks to key free throw shooting down the stretch as well as one of senior forward Shaquielle McKissic’s best performances of the season, recording 16 points and six rebounds to go along with multiple powerful dunks.
The Sun Devils are looking for their first multiple game winning-streak since they defeated Detroit on December 23 and Harvard on December 28. They then lost their next four games to start conference play until their most recent victory against Colorado.
Cal, on the other hand, has lost six of its last seven games after winning 10 of its first 11. Cal’s last game resulted in a 69-59 loss against Stanford. Junior guard Tyrone Wallace was the leading scorer for the Bears with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Keys to the Game
Use Barnes and Gilling alongside McKissic
With seniors Bo Barnes and Jonathan Gilling’s three-point shooting ability and McKissic’s knack for getting to the rim, ASU has a major advantage at keeping defenses off balance. That advantage really showed last game with Barnes and Gilling combining for six threes made, while McKissic had a handful of highlight dunks, and it was clearly too much for Colorado to handle.
Slow down Wallace and Matthews
Cal has one of the best scoring backcourts in the Pac-12 in Wallace and sophomore guard Jordan Matthews. Combing for 33 of the team’s 67 points per game, ASU’s backcourt has one of its biggest challenges of the season on their hands with the 6-foot-5 Wallace and 6-foot-3 Matthews.
Keep on Assisting
Another big key to Sun Devil victories this season has come from sharing the ball. In the Colorado game, ASU had 20 assists on 26 made shots. Considering the Sun Devils don’t have that one player that is guaranteed to be the leading scorer every game, their best option is to move the ball and keep looking for the best open shot regardless of who is taking it.
Prediction
Despite a hot start, Cal is looking to get back on track and earn its second conference win just like the Sun Devils. Both teams are coming off plenty of rest, so fatigue should not be much of an issue. At this point the game is a toss up, but Cal has the higher ceiling and is more likely to win in blowout fashion. If ASU can keep consistent with what it managed to do in the Colorado game by spreading the ball and forcing difficult perimeter shots, the Sun Devils have a good chance of winning this game.
