Cal Basketball: Golden Bears Seek Weekend Split With Visit to Utah

Cal chases a weekend split on the Pac-12’s challenging mountain road swing when it plays Utah on Saturday at Salt Lake City.

Tipoff is 6 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.

The Bears (13-16, 9-9) are coming off an 88-78 loss Wednesday at Colorado which snapped a three-game win streak. Utah (17-11, 8-9) beat Stanford 90-68 on Thursday night.

A win by the Bears would clinch their first .500 season in Pac-12 play since going 10-8 in 2016-17. Cal closes its conference schedule next Thursday at Stanford.

Still at play for Cal is a chance to ascend to fourth place, which would provide the Bears a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament. They trailed UCLA (14-14, 9-8) by a half-game in the conference standings.

Here’s more to watch for Saturday:

— Cal can defeat its 10th different Pac-12 foe with a win over Utah. The Bears haven’t done that since the 2015-16 season when they beat all 11 conference rivals. Cal has wins over every school in the league this season except Arizona and the Utes, whom they are playing for the first time.

— Senior forward Fardaws Aimaq, fifth nationally with 19 double-doubles, will tie the program record with his next one. The Cal record of 20 is shared by Mark McNamara (1981-82) and Ansley Truitt (1971-72).

— Aimaq leads the Pac-12 in rebounding at 11.3 per game and has 328 for the season, which is tied for fifth in program history with Ryan Anderson (2008). He needs 14 more rebounds to move into fourth past McNamara (341 in 1982).

— Junior Jaylon Tyson, second in the Pac-12 in scoring (20.3) has 567 points this season to rank 14th in Cal single-season history. He needs 27 points to climb into the top-10, ahead of McNamara (593 points in 1981-82).

— Tyson, who has 567 points, 195 rebounds and 93 assists this season, needs 33 points, five rebounds and seven assists to join Sean Lampley as the only Cal players with 600-200-100 in a season. Lampley had 605-224-102 as a senior in 2000-01.

— Junior Jalen Celestine has quietly ranked among the Pac-12's top 3-point shooters all season. He leads the conference 45.7 percent (42 for 92).

— Senior guard Jalen Cone is averaging is averaging 16.4 points and shooting 41 percent from the 3-point line in Cal’s 13 wins, but is at 10.8 points and 24 percent from beyond the arc in the 16 defeats.

— Utah remains on the fringe of the NCAA tournament conversation, ranked 50th in the latest NET computer rankings. Cal is at No. 114. 

— Utah’s fifth-year senior center Branden Carlson, who leads the Utes at 16.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, has not had great success against Cal. In eight career games, Carlson is averaging 8.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and shooting 36.5 percent from the field.

Cover photo of Cal's Jalen Celestine, Fardaws Aimaq and Jalen Cone by Ron Chenoy, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo