The Docket: Golden Bears Look To Keep The Run Going Against Huskies

Justin Cobbs was the Pac-12 Player of the Week last week after the Cal Golden Bears swept games at Oregon and Oregon State. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

The Cal Golden Bears, fresh off a sweep of their Oregon excursion last week, host the Washington Huskies Wednesday night at Haas Pavilion as one of just two teams still unbeaten in Pac-12 play.

That would be the No. 1-ranked Arizona Wildcats … and the Golden Bears. The end.

Cal has won four straight games overall since losing at Creighton on Dec. 22 and they’ve done it without fabulous freshman Jabari Bird, who sprained his ankle in that loss to the Bluejays and hasn’t played since.

With the Huskies coming to town, Bird is expected to be back, bringing with him his team-high 40 percent 3-point shooting. Bird is 18-for-45 from long range in the 12 games he’s played and while Jeff Powers has technically hit a higher percentage (11-for-19), Powers only averages 7.3 minutes a game and he’s only played in 10 of 16 games.

Bird was averaging 24.6 minutes and is one of five Bears averaging double figures in points at 11.3 per game. Justin Cobbs, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week, leads the way at 15.1 points a game, Richard Solomon averages a double-double at 12.1 points and 10.2 boards, David Kravish scores 11.9 points a night and Tyrone Wallace checks in at 11.8. That makes Cal difficult to defend.

The Golden Bears and Huskies met just once last year, with Washington winning at Haas Pavilion 62-47 on Jan. 9, and the Huskies have won four of the last five meetings between the teams. Cal still holds a 64-63 edge in the all-time series. Tipoff at Haas Pavilion is 8 p.m. Pacific

Here’s the rest of The Docket for Wednesday:

NBA: Sacramento Kings at Minnesota Timberwolves, 5 p.m.
This is the first of four meetings between these teams, with the Kings losing their last three visits to the Target Center. Last year, they met once in Minneapolis, with Minnesota getting a 92-80 victory on Nov. 2, 2012. Sacramento’s last win at Minnesota was on March 20, 2011, in a 127-95 blowout of the Timberwolves, and the Kings are 16-29 at Minnesota all-time. The Kings also lost as a “visiting” team to the Timberwolves in November 1999, in a game played in Tokyo.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: San Jose State Spartans at Air Force Falcons, 6 p.m.
The Spartans are the last winless team in Mountain West Conference play and head to the Air Force Academy in an effort to get their first-ever victory in their new league. Air Force is 2-2 in conference play thus far and this is just the fourth meeting ever between the schools. The Spartans are 3-0 all-time against the Falcons, including winning twice on the road, but the last meeting between them was Feb. 13, 1997, when San Jose State posted an 88-77 win at Air Force. The team’s lone senior, Chris Cunningham, was 6 years old at the time.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Washington State Cougars at Stanford Cardinal, 7 p.m.
Stanford upset Oregon on Sunday to salvage a split of their trip north and return home with a 1-2 mark in Pac-12 play. Washington State is 1-3 in the conference coming in. In their lone meeting last season, Stanford beat the Cougars 78-67 at Maples Pavilion, where Wazzu last won on Jan. 15, 2011. Stanford leads the all-time series 65-52.

NBA: Denver Nuggets at Golden State Warriors, 7:30 p.m.
The Warriors won the first of the four scheduled games between a pair of teams who played in the first round of the playoffs last spring, beating the Nuggets in Denver 89-81. Golden State and Denver split two regular-season meetings at Oracle Arena last season, with the Nuggets winning in double overtime 107-101 on Nov. 10 and the Warriors picking up a 106-105 win on Nov. 29. Golden State is 50-27 against the Nuggets at home all-time.

Thursday Lookahead:
NHL
Sharks at Florida, 4:30 p.m.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL
BYU at USF, 6 p.m.
San Diego at Santa Clara, 7 p.m.
UC Riverside at UC Davis, 7 p.m.
Portland State at Sacramento State, 7:05 p.m.