Who’s Playing
California Golden Bears @ San Diego State Aztecs
Current Records: California 7-4, San Diego State 7-2
How To Watch
What to Know
California has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They and the San Diego State Aztecs will compete for holiday cheer at 10:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at SAP Center at San Jose. The Golden Bears are strutting in with some offensive muscle as they’ve averaged 81.5 points per game this season.
Having struggled with three defeats in a row, California finally turned things around against Northwestern State on Saturday. They enjoyed a cozy 84-66 victory over the Demons. The Golden Bears’ season wasn’t pretty last year but it’s starting to look like struggles are in the rearview.
Andrej Stojakovic had a dynamite game for California, going 10 for 14 en route to 31 points plus seven rebounds and three blocks. Stojakovic had some trouble finding his footing against Cornell last Tuesday, so this was a nice turnaround. Another player making a difference was Jeremiah Wilkinson, who went 7 for 11 en route to 18 points.
Meanwhile, San Diego State entered their tilt with Cal Baptist last Wednesday with three consecutive wins but they’ll enter their next game with four. They walked away with an 81-75 win over the Lancers.
San Diego State’s victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Miles Byrd, who went 5 for 9 en route to 19 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Nick Boyd, who scored 16 points along with eight assists.
California’s win bumped their record up to 7-4. As for San Diego State, they are on a roll lately: they’ve won five of their last six matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 7-2 record this season.
Saturday’s game is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: California has been dynamite from deep this season, having made 38.1% of their threes per game. However, it’s not like San Diego State struggles in that department as they’ve nailed 38% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it’ll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
California is hoping to beat the odds on Saturday, as the experts think they’re headed for a loss. For those looking to play the spread, keep California’s opponent in mind: they have a solid 2-0 record against the spread vs San Diego State over their last two matchups.
Odds
San Diego State is a 4.5-point favorite against California, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The line on this game has moved quite a bit since it opened, as it started out with the Aztecs as a 8.5-point favorite.
The over/under is 147 points.
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Series History
San Diego State has won 3 out of their last 5 games against California.
- Nov 25, 2023 – San Diego State 76 vs. California 67
- Dec 08, 2018 – California 89 vs. San Diego State 83
- Dec 09, 2017 – California 63 vs. San Diego State 62
- Nov 21, 2016 – San Diego State 77 vs. California 65
- Nov 27, 2015 – San Diego State 72 vs. California 58
