BearTalk

Coach Mike Montgomery anticipates an aggressive defensive approach tonight by visiting USF, 2-0 under first-year coach Rex Walters.

“They’re playing well,” Montgomery said. “They’ve kind of chosen a style that’s a little bit unorthodox and it’s paying dividends for them. They’re very active. He’s got pretty good athletes and he’s got pretty good numbers. So he’s kind of picked a style that’s disruptive, trying to get you out of flow.

“First, they’ll pester press after made (shots) or deadballs, then go back to some kind of a matchup zone or switching man-to-man, with the theory that you won’t be able to run your stuff, you’ll get out of sorts and you’ll break down, which they’ve had some success with. They’re looking to turn you over, get you confused and run out of that.”

The Dons forced Hawaii and Texas State into a total of 39 turnovers in two USF victories at the Verizon Tip-Off Classic in Honolulu last weekend. Of course, the Dons coughed up 42 turnovers of their own.

“They play some four out, one in. They’ll play some five out, pass, cut, move the ball. They’re very confident right now,” Montgomery said. “They’re really hustling, working very hard, chasing the ball. They’re getting a lot of mileage out of their defense to create for the offense.”

If Walters chooses to play small, Cal centers Jordan Wilkes and Max Zhang could face difficult matchups.

Point guard Jerome Randle expects the USF defense to came at him hard. `They’re definitely going to trap the ball, probably try to get the ball out of my hands a lot,” he said. “But coach Montgomery has a lot of great schemes for that. We should be all right.

“I love it when guys press because I just feel like I can use my speed and create for my teammates. It’s not big deal for me.”

LOWDOWN ON LOWHORN: USF’s best player is junior Dior Lowhorn, a Berkeley High grad who spent his freshman season playing for Bob Knight at Texas Tech, then transferred back home. Lowhorn, a 6-7, 230-pound forward, led the West Coast Conference in scoring at 20.5 ppg last season, pulled down 7.4 rebounds and shot 51 percent from the field.

“Lowhorn’s a very good player. He causes matchup problems,” Montgomery said. “He’s strong at the 4 and he’s a quicker, smaller player. But he’s just a great shooter. If he gets the kind of shots he wants, they’re going to get down for him a high percentage of the time.” 

WOOING WALTERS: Montgomery said he tried recruiting USF coach Rex Walters to Stanford, not once but twice.

 ”I won’t tell you the whole story because I don’t want to embarrass Rex,” Montgomery said.

So, he couldn’t meet Stanford’s academic requirements?

“Basically, that’s what that meant,” Monty conceded.

Walters, who attended high school in San Jose, chose Northwestern, then transferred to Kansas after two seasons. Monty pursued him both times.

“I  really liked him. I think he wanted to come, but it didn’t work out,” Montgomery said. “Then when he left Northwestern and was looking for a place, we tried it again with the same result. Which was unfortunate, because Rex was a very, very good player.”

LIGHT THE CANDLES: How do you say “Happy Birthday” in Chinese? Max Zhang, the Bears’ 7-foot-2 1/2 redshirt freshman from YantaI City, China, turns 21 today. 

TIPOFF: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Haas Pavilion, Berkeley.
TV: None. RADIO: 1550 AM.

OUTLOOK: Cal (1-0) comes off a 68-56 win over Pacific Saturday in Mike Montgomery’s coaching debut in Berkeley . . . Three players scored in double digits vs. UOP, led by junior guard Jerome Randle, who had 24 points . . . Cal leads the all-time series 44-30 with five straight wins, but the teams haven’t played since 2002-03 . . . USF (2-0) will try for its first 3-0 start since 1992-93 . . . The Dons could be a tired bunch, having landed in San Francisco at 6 a.m. Monday after their flight home from Hawaii . . . Junior forward Dior Lowhorn (21.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg), a graduate of Berkeley High, had 26 points vs. Texas State on Sunday, and freshman guard Kwame Vaughn (13.5 ppg), formerly of Skyline High in Oakland, scored a career-high 17.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS

   Cal:
   PF Jamal Boykin, 6-8, Jr., 0.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg
   SF Theo Robertson, 6-5, Jr., 10.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg
   C Jordan Wilkes, 7-0, Jr., 6.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg
   SG Patrick Christopher, 6-5, Jr., 18 ppg, 3.0 rpg
   PG Jerome Randle, 5-10, Jr., 24.0 ppg, 2.0 apg

   San Francisco:
   PF Dior Lowhorn, 6-7, Jr., 21.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg
   SF Blake Wallace, 6-6, Jr., 16.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg
   SG Chris O’Brien, 6-4, Fr., 5.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg
   SG Manny Quezada, 6-2, Sr., 10.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg
   PG Dontae Bryant, 6-3, Jr., 4.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg