While the cast of characters is generally the same since the last time the Washington Huskies played Cal, with the Golden Bears playing as well as they have recently it's worth revisiting who might be contributing to their increasingly confident play.
If indeed the key to Cal's improved play has been their more fluid offensive execution, then it's hard not to start with ball control as a key to the game.
Key statistical battleground: turnovers
UW's defense has been under scrutiny after three consecutive poor efforts. Given that the Huskies are a team that typically thrives off turnovers to get out and score points in transition, their ability to force turnovers will be significant. For Cal, they've turned the ball over more often than their opponents throughout the season and conference play but with the exception of one game (vs. Oregon) they've dramatically improved that along with their assist to turnover ratio over the last six games.
Cal players to watch
Jorge Gutierrez, G (6-foot-3, 195, Jr.)
Over the last six games, Gutierrez has had 35 assists compared to 16 turnovers and 6 of those turnovers came in their triple overtime game against Arizona last weekend. He's running the point very well right now as a distributor and also as a scorer getting to the line 44 times over that same time span. UW coach Lorenzo Romar has identified Gutierrez previously as a player they've had to worry about on the defensive end, but his ability to run the team so efficiently lately definitely helps Cal's chances quite a bit.
Allen Crabbe, G (6-foot-6, 205, Fr.)
Crabbe has been Cal's second-leading scorer during conference play (behind forward Harper Kamp) at 16.6 points per game and perhaps his most significant contribution among rotation players is his three-point shooting 45.6 percent from beyond the arc. However, Crabbe also contributes quite a bit on the boards in averaging the second-highest rebounds per game at 6.2.