GAME NOTES: The California Golden Bears try to bring an end to a six-game slide on Thursday night, as they tangle with the Washington State Cougars in Pac-12 Conference action at Beasley Coliseum.

Playing outside of the Golden State for the first time since early December, the Golden Bears find themselves tied with USC for last place in the league standings with just a single win in seven tries. Losers of eight of the last nine decisions overall, California is now just two games over .500 on the season.

Last Saturday, the team hosted seventh-ranked Arizona and was blown away by the Wildcats in a 73-50 final.

Meanwhile, with three wins in seven Pac-12 opportunities, WSU is tied with Colorado and UCLA for sixth place in the league standings entering play on Thursday. The team has hit a bit of a rough patch in recent weeks, losing three in a row after winning three straight. A meeting with Colorado in Boulder last weekend resulted in a lopsided 90-58 loss.

WSU won the first meeting of the campaign earlier this month by a score of 69-66 on the road. However, dating back to the very first encounter nearly a century ago, California owns a 76-48 advantage in the series.

David Kravish managed to come up with another double-double for the Golden Bears, producing 16 points and 11 rebounds, but even that was not enough to keep Cal from falling into the loss column yet again. Jordan Mathews was responsible for another 16 points and Tyrone Wallace 13, but the team finished with 19 turnovers and failed to get a single point out of the reserves. In addition to shooting only 3-of-12 behind the 3-point line, Cal was also outscored at the charity stripe by a whopping 23-1 margin.

As one of three players to have started every game this season, Wallace leads the program in scoring with 17.2 ppg, although that number could by even higher if not for the fact that he has converted just 61.8 percent of his attempts at the charity stripe. Wallace is also first on the unit with 8.0 rpg, 76 assists and 27 steals, making him one of a very rare breed in college basketball these days. Mathews (15.0 ppg) and Kravish (10.9 ppg) lend support on offense, but Cal needs much more than that in order to be successful.

Very little went right for Washington State during the team's recent stop in Boulder. The Cougars allowed the Buffaloes to connect on 11-of-22 shots behind the 3-point line and distribute 25 assists, compared to the 14 dishes they were credited with during the 32-point thrashing. Josh Hawkinson and DaVonte Lacy accounted for 12 points apiece, the former also clearing seven rebounds, all at the defensive end, while the team was crushed on the glass, 44-28.

Lacy and Hawkinson have been the primary offensive stars for Washington State, delivering 16.9 and 15.1 ppg, respectively, for a program that is generating a decent 70.7 ppg. However, the defense for the Cougars has been lacking while giving up 75.5 ppg. During Pac-12 games, the scoring margin is even greater for league foes as they post 78.7 ppg, while Washington State comes up with 68.9 ppg.

Both of these teams have star performers that are capable of taking over games, but the deciding factor will be how well the supporting casts contribute and if the last game for Cal is any indication, expect the Golden Bears to come up short yet again.