BearTalk

The absence of suspended forward Omondi Amoke doesn’t merely force coach Mike Montgomery to alter his starting lineup, but shortens the bench by one man. And depth hasn’t been a Cal strength much of this season.

Sophomore guard Jorge Gutierrez, who is replacing Amoke in the starting lineup, said, “I’ve just got to be smarter than coming off the bench because I have more minutes to play.”

Although he plays defense aggressively, Gutierrez actually isn’t the Bears’ most foul-prone player. He picks up one foul every 8.7 minutes on the floor, and has fouled out of two games. Backup post players Max Zhang and Markhuri Sanders-Frison struggle far more with fouls. Zhang averages one every 5.4 minutes and MSF collects them at the rate of one per 4.7 minutes, and has fouled out three times. 

Theo Robertson said the Bears must avoid foul trouble without become too cautious.

“I think that was a focus for us, even before. I think there’s going to be a premium on that,” he said. “You don’t want to lose your aggressiveness, though. You’ve got to make sure you’re playing the game. At the same, you just have to be smart. The main thing is not to get any silly fouls.”

Jerome Randle said Amoke’s suspension will be the last thing on the players’ mind when the ball goes up tonight.

“At this point there’s nothing that can distract me because this can obviously be my last college basketball game,” Randle said. “So whatever I have to do to get this win, I’m going to try to do.”

Robertson said he doesn’t even think about the game in those terms.

“I feel very loose, very confident. Not really looking at it at all as this being my last game. I’m going in feeling really confident,” he said. “It’s a game I feel like we can win. We just have to come out and play hard. I haven’t really thought about it (possibly being his final game).

“To be honest, that’s not really a good way to look at it, as maybe being your last game. Our intention is to come out and win.”