UC Irvine at California (-11.5) - 7:00pm Pacific

The Bears return three starters from last years NCAA tournament team and have one of the top recruiting classes in the nation which includes two McDonald's All-Americans in forward Leon Powe and guard Ayinde Ubaka.  Much preseason hype has surrounded this team but so far the results have not been too impressive.  They blew a big lead late in their opener vs Cal Poly and lost on a tip in at the buzzer.  In that game they led by 8 with three minutes left but sloppy play cost them.  They rebounded to beat a good BYU team at the buzzer in next game but then lost at UNLV by 2 in their most recent game.  In that game they team really appeared to turn the corner as they rallied from a 51-31 second half deficit with 14 minutes to play and had three shots in their final possession to tie or take the lead.  With two bitter losses and three close games under their belts, I believe Cal is ready for a breakout game.  Freshman Powe has had a double double in each of his first three college games.  Freshman point guard Ubaka has 12 assists to just 3 turnovers in his first three college games.  He came off the bench in season opener but was quickly inserted into the starting lineup in second game.  Returning starters C/F Amit Tamir and guard Richard Midgely, both outstanding shooters last year, have struggled so far this season.  Cal as a team is shooting just 8-for-45 (.177) from behind the arc.  Once they get a couple shots to fall everything will come easier for this team.

 

I was there to witness Stanford's drubbing of UC Irvine eight days ago.  The game was never as close as the 13 point final margin.  Stanford played without arguably their best player Josh Childress but immediately took control of the game.  They led 9-0 and forced a UCI timeout before eventually leading 24-5.  The half-time lead was 23 and Stanford cruised throughout the game seemingly doing whatever they wanted.  UCI has a good big man in senior Adam Parada who they need in the game at all times to have a chance at defending or rebounding inside.  Forward Stan Zuzak has a nice outside touch but no one on this team is adept at creating shots for themselves or teammates.  That is what the Anteaters miss most from the departure of seniors Jordan Harris (all Big West, leading scorer) and Mike Hood (third leading scorer).  So far no one has come close to stepping up and until they do Parada will continue to be collapsed on inside which limits his impact.  UCI lacks any quality depth and looked much slower than teams in recent years.  Last years team lost by 27 in a December road game at Stanford and this years version appears much weaker.

 

Cal head coach Ben Braun is a good one and he already has his team playing good defense and rebounding well (outrebounded all three opponents) which was thought to be a weakness heading into the season.  He we will get the offense on track soon.  Braun committed to his freshman early on by starting three of them.  It is only a matter of time before they start delivering.  This may be the weakest team Cal has faced yet.  Look for an easy Cal win here.

 

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