The Santa Clara Broncos and the California Golden Bears meet Saturday in college basketball action from Haas Pavilion. Santa Clara beat Menlo on Wednesday to improve to 7-1 overall this year. As for California, they’ve lost four straight games for a 2-5 record, most recently falling to San Diego State. Let’s get into our Santa Clara vs. California prediction. 

Santa Clara Broncos 

The Broncos posted wins in their first six games this year. Those victories came versus Utah Tech, St. Francis PA, Stanford, Southeastern LA, MS Valley State, and Oregon. Santa Clara took their first loss of the year in game seven versus Ohio State 86-56, though. The Broncos didn’t shoot very well in that one, hitting just 38.2 percent from the field. 

In their last matchup versus Menlo, the Broncos were able to bounce back with a blowout win. Santa Clara scored 56 points in the first half and 50 more after the break in a 106-69 result. Tops in scoring was Jalen Benjamin with 16 points and three rebounds. Carlos Marshall added 15 points with four rebounds and four assists. With a 7-1 record, Santa Clara is atop of the WCC, with two wins ahead of Gonzaga.

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California Golden Bears 

Over on the California side, they were able to win two of their first three games over St. Thomas MN, and Cal State Bakersfield (around a loss to Pacific). After that, the Bears lost to Montana State, UTEP, and Tulane in their next three games, though. In the 84-81 loss to the Wave, Cal gave up 51.6 percent shooting from the field and had 20 turnovers. 

California took yet another loss in their latest matchup versus San Diego State. The Golden Bears fought to force overtime, then got outscored 13-4 in the extra period for a 76-67 defeat. Jaylon Tyson led the team with 23 points, and Fardaws Aimaq doubled up with 14 points and 18 rebounds. 

SANTA CLARA VS CALIFORNIA PREDICTION 

I’ll side with the California pick. Granted, the Bears’ record looks pretty ugly right now. California has been competitive so far, however, and they should be able to hang around Saturday if the team plays well. The Bears shot a pretty dismal 31.9 percent from the field and 23.7 percent (9-of-38) versus San Diego State in their last showing. The rebounding (52) was good though, and the Aztecs are a pretty tough team. California hasn’t lost by more than eight points all year, and each of their last four losses have come by six or fewer. Santa Clara has scored 81 or more points in three of their last four games, so California is going to have to select some high-percentage shots if they want to bang out the cover/win. I think it’s doable.