Cal, Syracuse try to regroup after double-digit losses
Looking to boost their chances of making the NCAA Tournament, California travels to Syracuse on Wednesday in an Atlantic Coast Conference game.
The Golden Bears (17-7, 5-6 ACC) had their two-game winning streak snapped on Saturday at home against No. 20 Clemson, 77-55. The 22-point margin was their second-largest defeat of the season -- trailing only their 24-point loss Jan. 7 at Virginia -- and left the team searching for answers.
"Our goal is to dominate every single game on both sides of the ball," Cal head coach Mark Madsen said. "To have a dominating defensive performance and a dominating offensive performance. That's always the goal and the standard."
Despite that Clemson loss, the Golden Bears have climbed from 72nd to 58th in the NET rankings that have a large influence on NCAA Tournament at-large selections.
As Cal tries to climb into better position, it will ask leading scorer Dai Dai Ames (17.0 ppg) to lead the way. He ranks 10th among ACC scorers and has hit double figures in six consecutive games.
Justin Pippen (15.2 ppg) has scored in double figures in 11 consecutive games and tied for the team lead with five rebounds against Clemson trying to make up for the absence of Lee Dort. Cal's leading rebounder (7.7 rpg) has missed the last four games with a thigh injury.
The Orange (13-11, 4-7 ACC) lost 72-59 on Saturday at No. 20 Virginia. It was the team's sixth loss in the past seven games and frustration is starting to build.
"These losses are difficult and everyone's frustrated," Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry said after the game. "Tomorrow, we gotta reset and get ready for our next opponent. That's the schedule. We still have games left on the schedule, so they have to reset. This is a resilient group, a tough group, and I'm sure that we'll respond."
That starts with Donnie Freeman. He leads the team in scoring at 17.7 points per game on 48.9% shooting from the field, but he scored a season-low five points against Virginia on 2-of-11 shooting.
William Kyle, 11th in the ACC in rebounding at 7.4 per game and first in blocks at 2.7 per game, will try to help Syracuse overcome its rebounding struggles and take advantage of Cal's weaknesses in that area. Both teams get outrebounded by 1.7 per game, which ranks third-worst in the league.