Bears basketball game day: Cal vs. Arizona State
Bears basketball game day:
The script: A once-promising season continued to derail this week when Cal announced that point guard Tyrone Wallace will miss 4-6 weeks with a broken bone in his right hand.
Wallace, the Bears’ only scholarship senior, leads the team with 15.4 points, 4.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
In his absence, junior Sam Singer will move into the starting lineup.
Cal has struggled mightily with turnovers and free throws over its past three games, all road losses.
Players hope that a return home, where they are 11-0 this season, will help alleviate their ills.
The Sun Devils were the surprise of non-conference play.
After being picked eighth in the Pac-12 media poll, they opened 10-3 — a stretch that featured a win over then-No. 18 Texas A&M. But conference action is proving difficult for Arizona State.
The 6-foot-2 sophomore from Los Angeles is one of the nation’s most improved players on offense.
The Bears pace the Pac-12 in field goal percentage defense (37.8) and scoring defense (65.9 ppg).
On the other end of the spectrum is Arizona State, which is last in the conference with a field goal percentage defense of 44.
[...] they were especially sloppy on their three-game road swing, totaling 49 turnovers in their losses to the Ducks, Beavers and Cardinal.
On Thursday, Cal hosts an Arizona State team that has averaged just 10 giveaways over its past six contests.
The Sun Devils lead the series 40-37, including wins in the past five meetings.
[...] they thrive at home, and they’re facing a team that has played matador defense of late. 72 Cal, 68 Arizona State.
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Jabari Bird excelled in his return to the starting lineup last week.
The Bears put walk-on guard Brenden Glapion on scholarship.