California has excellent ice cream, any takers?
When: Wednesday February 5, 11:00 PM ET
Where: Haas Pavilion, Berkeley CA
TV: ACCN
Opponent: California Berkeley Golden Bears
Prediction – KenPom (KP) / Bart Torvik (BT): Cal 71-70 / Cal 71-70
Wolfpack Snapshot:
- Record: 9-12, 2-8
- Rankings: KP #99, BT #97, WAB -5.2 ranked 168th *
- NET Ranking: NET 115, 12th in ACC Conf NET rankings
- NET performance: Q1 (0-7), Q2 (0-3), Q3 (2-2), Q4 (7-0)
Wolfpack Season So Far:
The Wolfpack is on a six-game losing streak, the last three losses to 3 of the top 5 ACC NET teams – SMU (NET 41, 5th in ACC), Duke (NET 2, 1st in ACC), and Clemson (NET 29, 2nd in ACC).
Cal is a Q3 opponent.
Wolfpack Player Notes:
- Mike James had arthroscopic knee surgery on 10/30 and has yet to play this season. Coach Keatts announced that he has not yet been ruled out for the season in his Monday (2/3) press conference. He expects to make a final decision soon.
Opponent Overview:
It’s not just us, the injury bug shows no favorites. Andrej Stojakovic (son of NBA All-Star Peja Stojakovic), Cal’s leading scorer this season, has missed four consecutive games with a hip injury. Center Mady Sissoko missed the SMU game last Wednesday due to concussion protocol, he did play Saturday against Syracuse.
Opponent Snapshot:
- Record: 11-11, 4-7
- Rankings: KP #128, BT #138, WAB -4.2 ranked 136th *
- NET Ranking: NET 131, 14th in ACC Conf NET rankings
- NET performance: Q1 (1-7), Q2 (1-1), Q3 (2-3), Q4 (7-0)
Their ACC Rankings of Note – Conference Play: (Source: theacc.com)
- Team Offensive rebounds – 1st
- Turnover Margin 4th
- Combined Team rebounds – 5th
- Opponent FG% – 15th
- Opponent 3PT FG% – 16th
- 3PT FG Made – 17th
- Combined Opponent rebounds – 17th
- Team FG% – last
- Team 3PT FG% – last
- Assists – last
Player Notes
Mady Sissoko – Rebounding 7th , Blocked shots 6th
Key Player Injuries
Andrej Stojakovic has missed four games with a hip injury.
While Coach Madsen is “very hopeful” that his star forward will return “in the near future,” it is unclear whether or not Stojaković will be available for Wednesday’s game against NC State. (The Daily Californian)
Previous game results
This was one of those maddening games that the Pack could not finish. Cal led most of the second half. With 1:23 left, score 59-61, Taylor got a steal and made the layup and the free throw to take the lead 62-61. Cal got away for a layup to make it 62-63. NC State ran a play for Huntley-Hatfield but he missed a short jumper with 36 seconds left. The Pack fouled and Cal made them and were up 62-65. Breon Pass missed the 3PT shot with 1 second left.
The notable statistic was, the Pack was 1-10 from 3PT.
Wolfpack DOs and DON’Ts
- Team – DON’T shoot 1-10 from 3PT
- O’Connell – DON’T shoot from outside unless wide, wide open, DO set up your teammates
- Taylor – DON’T drive, DO catch and shoot, DO keep rebounding (in last four games averaging 5+ per game)
- Hill – DON’T shoot from outside, DO keep rebounding (in last six games averaging 5+ per game)
- Styles – DO keep on shooting the 3PT (10-14 in last two games), DO keep rebounding (in last eight games averaging 5+ per game)
- Huntley-Hatfield – DO dial up the energy, we need 20 solid minutes – 10 points / 5 rebounds would be acceptable, thank you in advance.
- Middlebrooks – DON’T foul!! Play just a little smarter – (4 fouls in 5 of last 8 games), DON’T shoot 3PT shots