GAME NOTES: A pair of teams bringing up the rear in the Pac-12 Conference standings, Arizona State and California are set to get together on Thursday night at Haas Pavilion.

Since winning the conference opener against 21st-ranked Washington close to three weeks ago, the Golden Bears have come up empty in four straight outings. The latest setback was a 69-59 loss at home to Stanford on Jan. 14, marking the sixth defeat in the last seven games for a program that is 1-4 in conference and tied with both the Sun Devils and USC for last place in the standings.

As for Arizona State, it kicked off the Pac-12 slate with four straight defeats during the first half of the month, but finally broke through with a 78-72 decision against Colorado last Saturday at home. Now the Sun Devils are shooting for back-to-back victories for just the second time since the start of December.

The Sun Devils own a slim 38-37 advantage in the all-time series with Cal, winning three straight. The last victory for the Bears was a 68-47 final in Berkeley three years ago.

After a slow start against Colorado, the Sun Devils more than picked up the pace in the second half of their meeting as the hosts shot a staggering 71.4 percent from the floor, including 5-of-7 behind the 3-point line, over the final 20 minutes in order to claim the win. Shaquielle McKissic led five players in double figures with 16 points, followed by Bo Barnes and Gerry Blakes with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Eric Jacobsen and Tra Holder both tacked on 10 points and combined for 13 rebounds and seven assists, but at the same time accounted for seven of the unit's 14 turnovers.

Held to just seven points in the game prior to the outing against the Buffaloes, McKissic is the only player on ASU scoring in double figures against league foes, putting up 12.0 ppg. Jacobsen checks in with 9.4 ppg and is first with 5.0 rpg in those conference outings, but as someone who is shooting 65.4 percent from the field, his 52.0 percent accuracy at the free- throw line is disappointing. As a group, the Sun Devils are hitting 65.3 percent at the charity stripe, en route to a mere 57.8 ppg in conference play.

California built itself a five-point lead at the break against Stanford in the last outing, but then allowed the visitor to make good on 53.6 percent from the floor, including 5-of-7 beyond the arc, en route to the double-digit decision at Haas. Tyrone Wallace nearly pulled off a double-double for the Golden Bears with 14 points and nine rebounds, but he shot a miserable 6-of-22 from the floor in doing so.

Also coming up a rebound short of a double-double was David Kravish as he tallied 11 points to go along with a team-best three blocked shots, followed by Jordan Mathews with 10 points in yet another setback for California.

Mathews has been the dominant force on offense during the Pac-12 outings for the Golden Bears, generating an impressive 21.0 ppg as he shoots better from 3-point range (.543) than he does the floor overall (.493). Mathews has also benefited from going to the free-throw line 24 times, missing just four chances, the same going for Wallace (14.8 ppg) who has converted 22-of-29 at the charity stripe, which means the two of them have accounted for all but 16 of the unit's connections at the stripe.

Both of these teams have trended downward with the start of the Pac-12 schedule, but at least the Sun Devils are aiming to build on a positive outcome from their most recent outing. Unfortunately, ASU is unfamiliar with success on the road and that will hurt the squad this time around.