California At Washington State

The Cougars (4-3) open their Pacific-10 Conference season against the 17th-ranked Golden Bears (7-1) in front of a national ESPN television audience. The tipoff at Friel Court was moved to 9:06 p.m. to accommodate the television broadcast.

At a glance

On paper, this looks like a mismatch of immense proportions. Even though WSU is coming off a decent second-place showing in the Sun Classic in El Paso, Texas, it has some serious problems against Cal. With Jason Kidd and Lamond Murray both opting to leave school early for the NBA, Bears coach Todd Bozeman has decided to get it done with depth - and his players have responded. Senior forward Monty Buckley leads the team in scoring with an average of 14.8 points per game. But 10 other players are averaging at least three points a game. The Cougars, meanwhile, are trying to survive with only 10 scholarship players, which means first-year coach Kevin Eastman will have a tough time keeping his players fresh against Cal’s full-court defensive pressure. Adding to the Cougars’ problems is the fact that the students are not on campus because of a holiday break.

California: Monty Buckley, 14.8 points per game, 6.3 rebounds per game; Randy Duck, 10.4 ppg; Jelani Gardner, 9.4 ppg, 5.8 assists per game; Tremaine Fowlkes, 13.6 ppg.

WSU: Isaac Fontaine, 19.8 ppg; Mark Hendrickson, 12.9 ppg, 11.1 rpg; Donminic Ellison, 10.4 ppg and 6.4 apg; Shamon Antrum, 12.3 ppg.

Television/Radio

ESPN-TV, 9 p.m.; KXLY (920 AM) Spokane, KWSU (1250 AM) Pullman, KORD 870 AM) Tri-Cities, KCLX (1450 AM) Colfax, KCVL (1240 AM) Colville, KWWW (1340 AM) Wenatchee, KBSN (1470 AM) Moses Lake, KNSN (97.1 FM) Walla Walla, 8:40 p.m.

xxxx