The Bears (2-0) will meet No. 23 Syracuse (2-0)

[IE]

The Cal men?s basketball team is hoping it can learn from the last two seasons to pull off an upset victory in New York.
The Bears (2-0) will meet No. 23 Syracuse (2-0) for the third consecutive season at 6 p.m. Thursday. This time, the venue will be Madison Square Garden in the semifinals of the 2K Classic. The winner plays Texas (2-0) or Iowa (2-0) in Friday?s final.
The teams? most recent meeting came in the 2013 Maui Invitational, where the Bears lost 92-81. The previous March, Cal lost 66-60 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in San Jose.

So the Bears will go for round three against the length of Syracuse?s patented 2-3 zone defense under head coach Jim Boeheim.
?Playing them twice, I kind of have a feel for it,? Cal junior point guard Tyrone Wallace said. ?We?ve got to be patient and move the ball.?
Patience, however, would be a change from the Bears? first two games this season. First-year head coach Cuonzo Martin wants his team playing in transition. It?s a better fit for Cal?s athletic starting lineup.

Martin?s players are the experienced ones in this matchup. It?s the coach who has never faced Syracuse.
?You?re going against one of the best teams in America,? Martin said. ?Even though it?s a neutral site, there will probably be a lot of Syracuse fans. Our guys look forward to that.?

The Bears played well in their meeting with Syracuse last season. The teams were tied at halftime, but Cal made just 6 of 21 three-point attempts in the game, ultimately dooming its quest to undermine the zone.

?We kind of settled for deep shots because we hit a couple early,? sophomore guard Jordan Mathews said.

The Orange return just two starters from last season?s meeting, sophomore guard Trevor Cooney and junior forward Rakeem Christmas. Cooney scored 23 points against the Bears last season on 7-of-11 shooting.

The Bears return three starters from last year?s game, including Wallace, sophomore guard Jabari Bird and senior center David Kravish.
A key addition to the lineup will be Mathews, Cal?s three-point specialist, who will have a chance to make the open shots the Bears missed last season.
?If we just keep our head and stay patient the entire game, we?ll be right in it at the end,? Mathews said.

 

[IE]

5 things to watch in Syracuse's game


The Syracuse Orange will face a very familiar opponent on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

The Syracuse Orange will face the California Golden Bears for the third straight year and the fourth time in six seasons.

Syracuse and Cal will meet in the second game of tonight's double-header in the 2K Classic at the Garden. Iowa and No. 10 Texas will play in the night's opening game.

The Orange beat the Golden Bears in the 2013 NCAA tournament and in last year's Maui Invitational. In 2009-10, Syracuse, which was unranked at the time, defeated No. 13 Cal in the 2K Classic at the Garden.

This year, California will be playing for new head coach Cuonzo Martin, who guided Tennessee to last year's NCAA tourney. He replaced Mike Montgomery, who resigned after last season.

Both Cal and Syracuse enter tonight's game with 2-0 records. The two share one common opponent. Syracuse beat Kennesaw State 89-42 in its season opener last Friday. Cal thumped Kennesaw 93-59 on Sunday.

Here are five things to watch in tonight's game:

Rebounding
Syracuse enjoyed a rebounding advantage in its first two games. The Orange out-rebounded Kennesaw State 56-26 and picked up 26 second-chance points. In its second game against Hampton, Syracuse had 38 rebounds to Hampton's 32. The Orange scored 14 second-chance points.

Cal, however, is a lot bigger than SU's first two foes. The Golden Bears out-rebounded Kennesaw State 42-27. Cal had 44 rebounds to just 34 for Alcorn State.

Syracuse needs offensive rebounds to make up for its somewhat shaky shooting. The Orange is just 9-of-33 (27.2 percent) from 3-point range in its first two games.

Syracuse will have to rebound against a Cal frontline that goes 6-foot-6, 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-10.

Cal's 3-point shooting
California's outside shooters will test the strength of Syracuse's 2-3 zone defense.

In its first two games, Cal made 17 out of 36 shots from beyond the 3-point line. That's an impressive 47.2 percent.

Cal's top shooters are sophomore guard Jordan Mathews (6-of-10) and fifth-year transfer Dwight Tarwater (5-of-8).

Syracuse's zone hasn't had to deal with a good shooting team since its first exhibition game against Carleton. The Ravens went 5-for-11 from outside the arc in the first half of their game against Syracuse and led 39-30 at the half.

Since halftime of the Carleton game, Syracuse has held Carleton, Adrian, Kennesaw State and Hampton to 18-for-80 shooting (22.5 percent) on threes.

The Cornell connection
Dwight Tarwater spent the last four years at Cornell, but he still had one year of athletic eligibility. However, the Ivy League does not allow graduates to play.

So Tarwater transferred to California to play his final year of college basketball.


Tarwater, a 6-foot-6 forward, started all 28 games for Cornell last season. A team captain, he averaged 7.1 points and a team-high 5.5 rebounds in 26.1 minutes per game.

Tarwater wound up at Cal through his Cornell connections. Cal hired former Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin last spring to replace the retired Mike Montgomery. Martin hired Yanni Hufnagel, an assistant at Vanderbilt, to be part of his new staff at Cal. Hufnagel had previously been an assistant at Cornell.

In two games at Cal, Tarwater is averaging 10.5 points and 3.5 rebounds while coming off the bench. He's added experience to a young Cal bench.

Christmas' fouls
Cal will provide the first real test for Syracuse center Rakeem Christmas.

Syracuse needs Christmas, who leads the Orange in both scoring at 18 points and rebounding at 12.5 per game, to stay out of foul trouble. Christmas is a key presence at both ends of the floor.

Cal will start 6-10 center David Kravish. He's backed up by 7-1 freshman Kingsley Okoroh. Christian Behrens, a 6-8 power forward; and Jabari Bird, a 6-6 slasher; will also come at Christmas.

Christmas must play big while being careful not to get into foul trouble.

The turnover numbers
Syracuse held a huge advantage in the turnover battle in its first two games. The Orange forced Kennesaw State and Hampton into 40 total turnovers, while turning the ball over just 21 times itself.

The Orange had 41 points off turnovers in those two games, while its opponents had just 11.

Syracuse shouldn't expect the same success rate against California. The Golden Bears don't create a lot of turnovers, but they do take care of the ball when they have it.

Cal's first two opponents had 25 turnovers, while Cal had just 23. That's not a big difference, but the important number is Cal's 23 turnovers. That's just 11.5 per game.

If Syracuse can't turn Cal over more than that, the Orange could be in trouble. A low number of Cal turnovers means the Golden Bears are working the ball successfully and the Orange isn't getting its usual amount of easy points.