The Davidson Wildcats will travel to Haas Pavilion to take on the California Golden Bears. Action begins at 9:00 pm ET on Monday, Dec. 28 and can be seen on PAC.
The Golden Bears are hoping to rebound after their 63-62 loss to Virginia in their last matchup. Jaylen Brown was the game’s leading scorer with 18 points. The Wildcats, meanwhile, are coming off an 81-77 win against Morehead State in their last game. Jack Gibbs was the game’s top scorer, registering 41 points on 13-for-18 shooting.
The Wildcats will look to keep miscues at a minimum in this matchup. They’re ranked second in the nation at avoiding mistakes (TO% of 13.3%). Conversely, California forces the second-fewest errors in the nation, with just 13.8% of opponents’ possessions resulting in a turnover.
California is a seven-point favorite against Davidson and the Over/Under (O/U) for this game is sitting at 155 points. The Golden Bears have gone 9-3 Straight Up (SU) and 5-7 Against The Spread (ATS). The rebounding edge goes to the Golden Bears in this matchup, who are one of the top rebounding teams in the nation with an average of 41.8 boards per game.
In the other locker room, the Wildcats have 8-2 SU and 2-7 ATS records. The Wildcats are the better of the two teams when it comes to assist-to-turnover ratio, ranking 20th in Division I at 1.59.
California and Davidson will be facing off for their first head-to-head game in recent seasons.
Predictions: SU Winner – Cal, ATS Winner – Cal, O/U – Over
Notes
California is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of California’s last 6 games.
California is 10-1 SU in its last 11 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of California’s last 5 games at home.
Davidson is one of the top-scoring teams on the road, averaging 87.0 points per game (ranked fifth). California, on the other hand, allows 63.9 points per home game (ranked 103rd).
The Davidson Wildcats rank 48th for their offensive rating of 114.0. The California Golden Bears have a defensive rating of 96.8 (ranked 100th).
California has an average field goal percentage of 46.6%. Davidson is an even 2-2 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The California Golden Bears rank higher based on their field goal percentage (71st) than their effective field goal percentage (91st). The Davidson Wildcats rank higher based on their effective field goal percentage (56th) than their field goal percentage (99th).
Davidson ranks 75th in assists, recording 15.6 per game. California performs worse at 234th with 12.7 assists per game.
California, the 53rd-ranked team in blocked shots, records an average of 5.1 per game. Davidson does worse, ranked 193rd with 3.3.
California ranks 100th in offensive rebounding. Davidson ranks 113th in defensive rebounding.
The California Golden Bears make an average of 3.9 steals per game. When the Davidson Wildcats allow 3 or more steals, they are a dazzling 7-2.
