SALT LAKE CITY – The California men's basketball team will play its penultimate regular-season game against Utah on Saturday at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The lone regular-season meeting between the Golden Bears (13-16, 9-9 Pac-12) and the Runnin' Utes (17-11, 8-9) tips off at 6 p.m. PST/7 p.m. MST and will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
 
GAME INFORMATION

• Date & Time: Saturday, March 2 | 6 p.m. PST/7 p.m. MST
• Location: Salt Lake City, Utah | Jon M. Huntsman Center
• Watch: Pac-12 Network | Guy Haberman (PxP) & Don MacLean (Analyst)
• Listen: 810 AM & The Varsity Network App | Justin Allegri (PxP)
• Live Stats: Statbroadcast

INSIDE THE MATCHUP

• Cal has lost five straight times against Utah dating back to Feb. 11, 2021.
• The Bears' most recent victory in the series was a 72-63 comeback win in Salt Lake City on Jan. 16, 2021. Trailing by 12, 34-22, at halftime, Cal outscored the Runnin' Utes 50-29 in the second half to secure the road victory.
• Utah is 13-2 at home this season, including a 90-68 win against Stanford on Thursday. The pair of home losses came against Arizona and Arizona State in consecutive games on Feb. 8-10 during Utah's most recent homestand.
• Mark Madsen has faced Utah once previously in his head coaching career, losing a 75-67 contest with Utah Valley on Dec. 15, 2020.

LAST TIME

• Cal's season-long three-game win streak was snapped with an 88-78 loss at Colorado on Wednesday.
• The Buffaloes improved to 15-1 at home this season, shooting 50% from the floor and 43.8% from beyond the arc.
• Jaylon Tyson poured in 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting, despite an 0-of-5 start to the game.
• Colorado took the lead for good three minutes into the game and ended the first half on a 12-6 surge for a 45-31 halftime advantage.
• Tyson's 3-pointer pulled Cal to 58-53 with 13 minutes to play, but the Bears didn't get closer.

NOTEWORTHY

• The Golden Bears can secure at least a .500 record in conference play with a win at Utah. The last time they finished .500 or better in conference play was the 2016-17 season (10-8).
• Cal went 10-6 at home this season, winning in six of its final eight games inside Haas Pavilion. It's Cal's first winning home slate since 2019-20.
• 21 of Cal's 29 games have been decided by single digits, the most nationally. Cal has won six of its last seven such games.
• Cal is 9-3 when holding opponents to fewer than 75 points. The Bears have allowed 69.7 PPG in 13 wins versus 81.3 PPG in 16 losses.
• The Bears have scored 80-plus points in seven conference games this season, tied for their most since doing the same in 2010-11.
• Jaylon Tyson has proven to be one of the top players in the country, as he's the only major-conference player averaging at least 20.0 points (20.3 PPG), 7.0 rebounds (7.0 RPG) and 3.0 assists (3.3 APG) per game this season. With 25 points at Colorado, Tyson has scored 20-plus 17 times this season, the most by a Golden Bear in a single season since Jerome Randle (17) in 2009-10.
• Fardaws Aimaq is fourth nationally and leads the Pac-12 with 11.3 rebounds per game. He's on pace to become just the sixth Golden Bear to average 11.0 RPG in a season and the first since Mark McNamara in 1981-82. Aimaq's 328 total rebounds this season are tied for the fifth most in program single-season history and are 54 shy of tying Ansley Truitt's record of 382 in 1971-72.
• Aimaq is one of five major-conference players averaging a double-double this season. Of those five players, Aimaq is one of two averaging at least 14.6 PPG and 11.3 RPG, joining Purdue's Zach Edey, the reigning consensus National Player of the Year. Aimaq has 19 double-doubles this season – the most by a Golden Bear in the Pac-12 era – and is one shy of tying the program single-season record, shared by McNamara (1981-82) and Truitt (1971-72).
• Keonte Kennedy has scored double figures in three of the past four games, averaging 11.0 PPG on 53.1% shooting from the floor (50% from 3).
• Jalen Cone has averaged 17.0 PPG on 47.2% (26 of 55) shooting from the floor and 45% shooting from 3-point range (18 of 40) in Cal's past five wins compared to just 4.0 PPG on 12.5% shooting in its previous four losses. The sharpshooter played a critical role in both of Cal's come-from-behind victories last week, scoring 30 of his 32 total points in the second halves against Oregon State and Oregon.
• Jalen Celestine leads all qualified Pac-12 players in 3-point field-goal percentage at 45.7% (42 of 92) following a 3-of-6 effort at Colorado. The lefty has also cranked up the defensive intensity of late, tallying 10 steals in the past four games, including a career-high five at Colorado.
• Cal has made at least 10 3-pointers in 10 games this season, including a program single-game record-tying 16 against Oregon State last Thursday. The Bears are second in the Pac-12 with 8.8 3-point makes per game and rank first in attempts (25.8).

UP NEXT
Cal closes the regular season at Stanford next Thursday in a nationally televised contest on ESPN2. Tipoff at Maples Pavilion is at 8 p.m. PST.
 
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