Cal Is a 22-Point Underdog Against No. 2 Arizona on Saturday

A preview of Bears' final regular-season game against the Wildcats, who are 16-0 at home

CAL (12-18, 5-14) at NO. 2 ARIZONA (27-3, 17-2)

WHERE: McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz.

WHEN: Saturday, 2 p.m. (3 p.m. Mountain time)

TV: Pac-12 Network

RADIO: 810-AM

BETTING LINE: Arizona is favored by 22 points

CAL-ARIZONA HISTORY: Arizona leads the alltime series 69-31, and the Wildcats have beaten Cal 10 times in a row, including a 96-71 triumph over the Bears this season back on January 23 in Berkeley. Cal has not defeated Arizona in Tucson since the 2012-13 season, and has lost seven straight games on the Wildcats’ home court.

CAL STORYLINES: This is Cal's final regular-season game . . . The Bears followed up their best performance of the season (a 53-39 victory over Stanford last Saturday) with one of their worst performances of the season in a 71-44 loss at Arizona State on Thursday. The 44 points were the Bears’ lowest scoring output of the season. Cal shot 25.8% in the second half of that game while ASU shot 64.3% in the second half . . . If Cal pulls off the upset and beats Arizona, the Bears would be assured of a 10th-place finish in the conference and a No. 10 seed in the Pac-12 tournament. If the Bears lose to Arizona and Utah beats Colorado Saturday night, Cal and Utah would tie for 10th place, and the Utes would be the No. 10 seed in the conference tournament by virtue of their two wins over Cal during the season . . . Lars Thiemann played 27 minutes Thursday despite a sprained ankle, and he is questionable for Saturday’s game. If the 7-foot-1 Thiemann can’t play or is limited it will be a problem for Cal against Arizona’s outstanding and big frontcourt, especially with Cal’s top inside threat, Andre Kelly, sidelined for the rest of the season . . . Jordan Shepherd is Cal’s leading scorer at 14.4 point a game and had 21 points in the Bears’ loss to Arizona earlier this season. He had just nine points on 4-for-13 shooting on Thursday against Arizona State.

ARIZONA STORYLINES: Arizona has already clinched the Pac-12 regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in next week’s Pac-12 tournament. At the moment, the Wildcats are projected to have a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament . . . Arizona is 16-0 at home this season and has won 18 games in row at McKale Center. . . Arizona ranks third in the nation in scoring (84.5 per game), first in assists (20.2), first in assists-per-field goal (65.7%), fifth in field-goal percentage (49.2), fifth in field-goal percentage defense (38.2), and seventh in blocked shots (5.9) . . . The Wildcats are coming off an 81-69 victory over Stanford on Thursday that was more difficult than expected. The Cardinal led by three points more than seven minutes into the second half before Arizona took control . . . Arizona swingman Bennedict Mathurin (17.4 points, 5.7 rebounds) is expected to be the Pac-12 player of the year, but Arizona has two other standouts: forward Azuolas Tubelis (14.9 points, 6.4 rebounds) and center Christian Koloko (11.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.9 blocks) . . . Mathurin had 24 points against Stanford on Thursday, and Koloko had 21 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in that game . . . In the Wildcats’ victory over Cal earlier this season, the 7-foot-1 Koloko had 19 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks in just 27 minutes of court time.

CAL GAME NOTES: Click here

ARIZONA GAMES NOTES: Click here

.

Cover photo of Bennedict Mathurin by Chris Coduto, USA TODAY Sports

.

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport or going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport