The Louisville Cardinals and the Cal Golden Bears meet Tuesday in college basketball action from the Haas Pavilion. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Louisville Cardinals vs. Cal Golden Bears prediction.
Louisville Cardinals Recap
The Louisville Cardinals come into this game looking to build on their 94-54 win over Montana last time out to sit at 10-2 this season. After this game, Louisville will head on the road for a game against Stanford.
Cardinals Bounce Back From Tennessee Loss
Ryan Conwell leads the Cardinals in scoring with 19.2 PPG along with 4.6 RPG and 2.3 APG while Mikel Brown Jr. has 16.6 PPG with a team-high 5.1 APG to lead the Cardinals in assists and 3 RPG. Isaac McKneely’s added 11.3 PPG with 3.3 RPG and Sananda Fru has 10.7 PPG with 6.3 RPG to lead the Cardinals in rebounding and to round out the group of double-digit scorers for Louisville so far this season. J’Vonne Hadley has 9.9 PPG with 5 RPG while Adrian Wooley’s added 9.1 PPG with 4.6 RPG and Khani Rooths has 6.4 PPG with 4.4 RPG this season. As a team, Louisville is averaging 91.6 PPG on 47.5% shooting from the field, 36% from three and 76.5% from the foul line this season.
Why the Louisville Cardinals will win
- Louisville has won each of its last 18 night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- California has lost 21 of its last 22 games against AP-ranked opponents.
Cal Golden Bears Recap
The Cal Golden Bears come into this game looking to add on to their 74-56 win over Columbia last time out to improve to 12-1 this season. After this game, Cal will take on Notre Dame at home.
Golden Bears Win 9 In A Row
Dai Dai Ames leads the Golden Bears in scoring with 17.7 PPG with 2.5 APG while John Camden has 15.5 PPG with 4.9 RPG and Justin Pippen has 14.6 PPG with 3.9 RPG and a team-high 4.3 APG to lead the Golden Bears in assists. Chris Bell has 14.4 PPG with 2.7 RPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Cal so far this season. Lee Dort also has 8.9 PPG with a team-high 7.6 RPG to lead the Golden Bears in rebounding as well this season. As a team, Cal is averaging 83.1 PPG on 47.5% shooting from the field, 38.8% from three and 78.5% from the foul line so far this season.
Why the California Golden Bears will win
- California has won each of its last 12 games at Haas Pavilion.
- Louisville has lost three of its last four December night games as an AP-ranked team.
Total Points Facts
- Each of Louisville’s last 10 night games against Conference opponents have produced a total of 157 or fewer points.
- Thirty-one of California’s last 32 night games against AP-ranked opponents have produced a total of 156 or fewer points.
Louisville Cardinals vs. Cal Golden Bears Prediction
I’m on Cal here. I just think this is a big number for a Cal team that’s played a lot of teams tough already this season and did beat UCLA at home already this season, catching a similar number. We also saw a lot of ACC and Big Ten teams struggle with these West Coast travel spots last year and vice versa, and I think this one could get a bit dicey for Louisville here. Give me the Golden Bears and the points.