Pac-12 Tournament First Round: Cal vs Colorado

Wednesday, March 13 | 2:30 PM PT | T-Mobile Arena | Las Vegas, Nev.
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California men's basketball continues its momentous march in Las Vegas, Nev., this week at the Pac-12 Tournament. The Golden Bears, who are the No. 12 seed in the tournament, open postseason action against No. 5 seed Colorado Wednesday at 2:30 p.m., live on the Pac-12 Networks.

Cal has won three consecutive games, taking down No. 25 Washington, Washington State and Stanford behind a 47.1 percent shooting clip in that span. Connor Vanover is averaging 17.3 points to lead the effort, while three other Bears are averaging double-figure scoring in the streak -- Paris Austin (12.0 points per game), Darius McNeill (12.0) and Justice Sueing (11.0).

The Bears meet Colorado for just the third time in Pac-12 Tournament history, and for the first time in the first round. The Buffs have won eight of their last 10 games and like the Bears are also on a three-game win streak, coming off a weekend sweep of the SoCal schools. Cal is looking to advance past the first round for the first time since 2017 after falling to Stanford in last year's Pac-12 Tournament.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION:  Don MacLean, Roxy Bernstein and Jill Savage will deliver play-by-play, analysis and sideline reports for Wednesday's contest, live on Pac-12 Networks. Fans can also tune in at www.Pac-12.com/live or on the Pac-12 Now app. Todd McKim and Rich Cellini have the action for the California Golden Bears Sports Network on KGO 810 AM and via TuneIn. Live stats, broadcast info and more can be accessed via the Cal men's basketball schedule page. Fans can follow the Bears on social media via @CalMBball on Twitter and Instagram, and at Facebook.com/CalMBball.
 

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BY THE NUMBERS

10 -- In his career-high 24-point outing against the Cardinal, Connor Vanover showcased his range by scoring the first 10 of Cal's points in a four-minute span that saw him hit a jumper, back-to-back 3-pointers and a dunk.

1 -- Justice Sueing is one steal away from moving into Cal's single-season top 10. He has 51 steals this season and would tie Anwar McQueen and Shareef Abdur-Rahim at ninth with 52 steals. Sueing ranks among the nation's top 100 in steals per game (91st) and total steals (96th).

47.1 -- During Cal's three-game win streak, the Bears are shooting 47.1 percent (81-172). Vanover leads his squad with a 61.8 clip (21-34) in the span (min. 10 attempts).

65 -- With 65 3-pointers this season, Darius McNeill is just two 3-pointers away from tying his personal single-season best of 67 -- a mark that broke the Cal freshman record for 3-point field goals made. He hit 5 3-pointers at the Pac-12 Tournament last season to set the record.

2 -- Cal has met Colorado only twice in the Pac-12 Tournament -- in 2014 and  2012. The Bears are 0-2 against the Buffs in those meetings, galling 70-59 in the 2012 semifinal and 59-56 in the 2014 quarterfinal.
 

CAL IN THE PAC-12 TOURNAMENT

California owns a 16-21 all-time record in the Pac-12 Tournament, including two trips to the championship game in 2006 and 2010. In three of the last four seasons, Cal won its opening-round games, defeating Washington State, 84-59, in 2015's first round and topping Oregon State, 76-68, in the quarterfinals in 2016. In 2017, Cal opened against Oregon State and pulled past the Beavers, 67-62. Last year, the No. 12 seed Bears fell to Stanford, 76-58, in the first round, failing to reach the tournament quarterfinals for the first time since the tournament expanded.
 

SCOUTING THE BUFFS

• Series Record: Colorado leads, 16-15
• Last Meeting: The Bears and Buffs met just once in the regular season, and Colorado took a 68-59 win in Berkeley on Jan. 24. Lucas Siewert scored 18 for Colorado, and Tyler Bey scored 17 points. Justice Sueing and Paris Austin led Cal with 13 points apiece.
• Colorado's 2018-19 Record: 19-11, 10-8 Pac-12
• Colorado's Last Game: The Buffaloes earned a series sweep over USC after taking a 78-56 victory over the Trojans in Boulder. Evan Battey's 21 points led the Colorado effort, and Bey and McKinley Wright added 17 points each.
• Bey leads the conference in field goal percentage (55.7 percent) and double-doubles (14). He is averaging 14.5 points in Pac-12 action.
• Bey's 9.6 rebounds per game rank second in the conference and 26th nationally.
• In league play, Wright (12.5 ppg) and Shane Gatling (12.1 ppg) also averaged double figures for Colorado.
• Wright is top 100 nationally as a distributor for the Buffs -- 87th in total assists (141) and 75th in assists per game (4.9).
• Colorado has won 8 of its last 10 games, and is currently on a three-game win streak.

SERIES NOTES
Neutral-Site Record: 1-2
Last 10 meetings: 5-5
Most points, Cal: 98, 1974-75
Most points, Colorado: 89, 2010-11
Largest margin, Cal: 33, 1959-60
Largest margin, Colorado: 25, 1986-87
Longest Cal win streak: 3, 1945-46 to 1954-55
Longest Colorado win streak: 3, 2003-04 to 2010-11;
2011-12 to 2012-13
Current Streak: 3, Colorado

RECORDS AGAINST COLORADO
Points: 22, Justin Cobbs, Jan. 27, 2013
Rebounds: 16, Richard Solomon, March 13, 2014
FG: 10, Justin Cobbs, Jan. 27, 2013
3P: 5, Charlie Moore, Feb. 5, 2017
5, Jordan Mathews, Jan. 1, 2016
FT: 8, Grant Mullins, Feb. 5, 2017
8, Jaylen Brown, Jan. 31, 2016
8, Justin Cobbs, Feb. 26, 2012/March 8, 2014
 

LAST TIME OUT

• The Result: Cal earned its third consecutive win, toppling Stanford, 64-59
• The Bears held Stanford to 59 points, an opponent low for this season.
• It was Cal's first road win since  a Dec. 30, 2017 victory, which was also against Stanford at Maples Pavilion.
• Cal won back-to-back games at Stanford for the first time since the 1985 and 1986 seasons,. The Bears won 43-41 in double overtime in 1984-85, and 75-69 in 1985-86.
• Vanover's 24 points marked a new career-high for the freshman. He matched his previous career-high 18 points by 6:39 of the first half. Vanover scored 16 points in the first 10 minutes of the first half, going 6-7 from the floor, including 4-4 from 3-point range.
• Vanover hit a career-high 5 3-pointers, going 5-6 from deep.
• Vanover also surpassed his career high block total, blocking 6 shots. He previously blocked 4 at Oregon State on Feb. 9.
• Justice Sueing was one rebound shy of tying his career high, finishing with 10 boards alongside his 9 points.
• Cal went on a 17-0 run from 18:30 to 13:01 of the first half to jump out to a 19-2 lead before Bryce Wills made a free throw at 13:01.
 

MARCHING ON

Cal's current three game win streak began with an upset of Pac-12 regular-season champion and No. 25-ranked Washington. With that game ending after midnight in two U.S. time zones -- Eastern and Central -- all three wins in Cal's recent run could be considered as part of March's madness. In Cal's "March" win streak:

• Four Bears are averaging double-figure scoring: Connor Vanover (17.3), Paris Austin (12.0), Darius McNeill (12.0) and Justice Sueing (11.0).
• Cal is averaging 9.3 steals per game, and 14.7 assists per game.
• The Bears are shooting 47.1 percent (81-172) from the floor, and 42.6 percent (20-47) from 3-point range.
• Cal is outscoring opponents 72.0-67.0.
• The Bears posted their first back-to-back wins at Stanford for the first time since the 1985 and 1986 seasons.
• Cal swept a Pac-12 weekend for the first time since Feb. 2017 against Utah and Colorado, and for the first time in the Wyking Jones era.
• The Bears snapped a 23-game losing streak to Pac-12 opponents, taking their first over a league opponent since Feb. 3, 2018 (Oregon State) with the Feb. 28, 2019 win over No. 25 Washington.
• Cal topped a ranked opponent for the first time since Jan. 8, 2017 (at No. 25 USC), and for the first time under Jones.
 

RANKING ROUNDUP

As a team, Cal ranks Top 50 nationally in:
• Fewest Turnovers: 34th, 343
• Turnovers Per Game: 46th, 11.4

Individually, Cal players rank in the Top 100 nationally in:
• Free Throws Made: Justice Sueing (99th, 129)
• Steals Per Game: Justice Sueing (91st, 1.70)
• Total Steals: Justice Sueing (96th, 51)
 

EYE ON THE RECORDS

Cal players are closing in on the following records:

SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS
3-POINT FG MADE
1. Jerome Randle (2010) - 92
2. Jordan Mathews (2016) - 89
3. Allen Crabbe (2012) - 83
...
6. Jordan Mathews (2015) -- 70
7. Ryan Drew (1990) -- 68
8. Darius McNeill (2018) -- 67
T9. Darius McNeill - 65 
T9. Jabari Bird (2017) -- 65

STEALS
1. Jason Kidd (1993) -- 110
2. Jason Kidd (1994) -- 94
3. Gene Ranson (1978) -- 63
...
T9. Anwar McQueen (1997) -- 52
T9. Shareef Abdur-Rahim (1996) -- 52
...
Justice Sueing -- 51

FRESHMAN RECORDS
3-POINT FG MADE
1. Darius McNeill (2018) -- 67
2. Allen Crabbe (2011) -- 62
3. Ryan Drew (1988) -- 60
4. Ryan Anderson (2007) -- 58
T5. Matt Bradley - 47 
T5. Shantay Legans (2000) -- 47
 

NEXT UP

With a win, the Bears would advance to face No. 4 seed Oregon State on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. PT. The game airs live on the Pac-12 Networks.