Monty Bowser and the Golden Bears wrap up regular-season play on Saturday at Oregon State.

MBB3/3/2023 12:52 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Golden Bears Seek Season Split With Oregon State

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The California men’s basketball team concludes the regular season on the road at Oregon State on Saturday. Tipoff from Gill Coliseum is slated for 5 p.m. PST on the Pac-12 Network.
 
The Golden Bears (3-27, 2-17 Pac-12) will look to snap a 14-game losing streak when they clash with the Beavers for a second time this season before shifting their focus to next week’s Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament. Both teams came up short on Thursday night, as Cal was dealt an 84-51 loss at Oregon while Oregon State (10-20, 4-15) saw its current losing streak extended to four games with an 83-60 defeat by Stanford.
 
The Beavers bested Cal 68-48 in Berkeley on Jan. 22.
 
Ben Creighton and Don MacLean will have the call for the Pac-12 Network.
 
GAME INFORMATION

• Date & Time: Saturday, March 4 | 5 p.m. PST
• Location: Corvallis, Oregon | Gill Coliseum
• Watch: Pac-12 Network | Ben Creighton (PxP) & Don MacLean (Analyst)
• Listen: 810 AM & The Varsity App | Rich Cellini (PxP)
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast

 
NOTEWORTHY

• Sam Alajiki has scored in double figures in four of the past seven games, including 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting on Thursday at Oregon. The sophomore forward is shooting 52.3% (11 of 21) from 3-point range in that seven-game span and leads Cal in 3-point makes (33) and attempts (89) this season.
• Joel Brown tied a career high with nine assists against Washington State on Feb. 25 and nearly triple-doubled, adding 13 points and seven rebounds. The senior guard stuffed the box score in a similar fashion the last time Cal visited Corvallis on Feb. 9, 2022, when he tallied nine points, nine rebounds and seven assists in a 63-61 road victory. Brown is playing a team-leading 32.2 minutes per game this season.
• Lars Thiemann returned to the rotation on Thursday at Oregon after a one-game absence and posted nine points and three rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench. Thiemann is averaging career highs of 9.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game this season. Freshman ND Okafor has earned the first two starts of his young career in Thiemann’s place.
• Fellow freshman Grant Newell is averaging 9.8 PPG in his past six games. He’s the first Cal freshman with multiple double-doubles in the same season since Ivan Rabb and Jaylen Brown did so in 2015-16.
• Kuany Kuany – who led the Bears with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting in their Jan. 22 loss to Oregon State – is averaging 9.9 PPG and 4.7 RPG in the past 18 contests. He’s recorded 10 of his 16 double-figure scoring efforts during that span.
• The Bears have protected the ball well in their past two games, surrendering only 15 total turnovers with just six against Washington State on Feb. 25.

 
UP NEXT
Cal heads to Las Vegas next week for the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Bears are the 12th seed and will play an opponent to be determined at 2:30 p.m. PST on Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena.
 
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