Washington State At Cal

The Cougars (9-8 Pacific-10, 15-11 overall) hope to bounce back from Thursday night’s loss to Stanford and earn a split of their Bay Area trip when they take on the Golden Bears (5-12, 13-13) at 3 p.m. today at Harmon Arena.

At a glance

WSU coach Kevin Eastman is hanging on to a faint hope that a win over Cal might still get his team into the NCAA Tournament provided Washington upsets Stanford and the Cougars finish alone in fifth place in the Pac10. But in all likelihood, this game is for a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. WSU might already be in, but the Golden Bears, who had taken unpredictability to a whole new level this season, must win if they hope to play on. Cal dropped an 83-71 decision to the Cougars in Pullman and has lost 11 of 16 games since, including eight of its last 10. The Bears are a miserable 1-6 at home against Pac-10 opponents and are coming off a terrible loss to UW Thursday. Still, coach Todd Bozeman has an impressive arsenal that includes senior forward Monty Buckley and Tremaine Fowlkes, the Pac-10’s freshman of the year. The Cougars keep getting splendid play out of junior forward Mark Hendrickson, but need much better consistency from the perimeter.

WSU: Hendrickson, 16.0 points per game, 9.1 rebounds; Isaac Fontaine, 17.9 ppg; Shamon Antrum, 14.1 ppg; Donminic Ellison, 9.7 ppg, 6.4 assists. Cal: Monty Buckley, 16.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg; Tremaine Fowlkes, 13.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg; Jelani Gardner, 10.8 ppg, 6.1 apg.

Radio: KXLY (920 AM) Spokane, KWSU (1250 AM) Pullman, KORD (870 AM) TriCities, KCLX (1450 AM) Colfax, KCVL (1240 AM) Colville, KWWW (1340 AM) Wenatchee, KBSN (1470 AM) Moses Lake, KNSN (97.1 FM) Walla Walla, 2:30 p.m.