The Washington Huskies and the California Golden Bears have had some great games on the basketball court the in past few years and tonight should be no exception. The Huskies come into the game the favorite but in past years the favorite has not always came away with the victory.
You only have to go back ten months for an example of that. On March, 13, 2010 theses same two teams played for the right to named Pac 10 tournament Champions. As you might recall from my Oregon State preview that I did last week, I was on a cruise. The cruise was on its way home and I was waiting for the Huskies game at 3pm that day. I had been watching College basketball all day but still had no idea if Washington was a lock for the NCAA tournament or on the bubble. That day I remember talking to Purdue and a Kanas fan. I told them about the Huskies season and both the Kanas fan and the Purdue fan agreed that the Huskies should be a lock.
When the game started I knew that Washington were the underdog but I didn't know how big of an underdog. The game was a game filled with energy and lots of lead changes. The Huskies held a slim 41-37 lead at half and I was liking the huskies chances. The Huskies lead 61-52 when Cal went on a 14-0 run to lead 66-61. The Huskies battled back for the epic 79-75 win and got their 2nd tournament title in five years.
The California Golden Bears will be looking for some revenge tonight when Cal welcomes UW for a rare Sunday night tilt. California is coming off a thrilling 88-81OT win over Washington State. In that game Freshmen Allen Cabbe had a career high 30 points to lead his team in scoring. Cal is 9-7 and 2-2 in the Pac 10.
For the Huskies, they will look to get back on track tonight following their 58-56 heartbreaking loss to Stanford on Thursday night. The team never got the big hoop down the stretch and were a victim of going 6 for 12 from the foul line. If the Huskies are going to salvage a split on this road trip, the Huskies will have to shoot better from beyond the arc as the went 8-26 from 3 point range Thursday.
If Cal is going to pull off the upset tonight the Bears will have to get points from Junior Jorge Gutierrez. Gutierrez is averaging 12 points per game but shooting 42% from 3 point range. The Bears will also need their bench to give them a lift as Cal's bench only scored 8 out of 88 points on Thursday night.
On another note, I shook Freshman Emerson Murray's hand last year. He went to a high school in Vancouver, BC last year and two years ago knocked down the wining shot in the AAA Provincial championship with 2.3 seconds to beat their cross town rival.
The game tonight will show a lot of what the Huskies are made of. If the Huskies win they will be 5-1 and back on track in the Pac 10. However, a loss and the Huskies would be in a dog fight just to get into the tournament. I know it's early but a win in January is easier to get then a win in March. I think the Huskies step up big tonight and get the win. Darnell Gant and Justin Holiday have big game tonight. The Huskies will prevail 75-66.
The game starts at 7pm and can be seen on FSN National.
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