(1) Kansas (6-3) at California (6-1)

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA (TICKER) —California faces a ranked opponent for the first time this season on Saturday at the Arena in Oakland when it meets No. 19 Kansas in the Pete Newell Challenge.

California (6-1) recently captured its own tournament with a 77-61 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette last Saturday. Amit Tamir had 20 points and eight rebounds, Brian Wethers added 18 points and Joe Shipp 13 for the Golden Bears.

Shipp leads the team in scoring with 19.3 points per game while Wethers is shooting nearly 54 percent from the floor. Tamir has made 15-of-32 3-pointers and also leads the team in rebounding with 8.3 boards per game.

The Golden Bears are 6-0 in games in which they have outrebounded their opponents. Cal’s lone blemish was an overtime loss to Georgia on December 7.

Cal is 4-0 in the Pete Newell Challenge, named after its former coach. Newell, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, won four consecutive conference titles from 1957-60 and the 1959 national championship.

Kansas (6-3) has won three straight after last Saturday’s 87-70 victory over UCLA. Kirk Hinrich scored 27 points and Wayne Simien added 19 and 10 rebounds as the Jayhawks shot nearly 52 percent (30-of-58), built a 48-25 halftime cushion and never looked back.

Nick Collison added 18 points and Keith Langford chipped in 13 for Kansas, which handed out 22 assists on 30 baskets. Sophomore guard Aaron Miles dished out nine assists.

This is the third of four games for Kansas against a Pac-10 Conference opponent, having lost to Oregon and beaten UCLA. The Jayhawks still have a home date with Arizona left.

Kansas is 0-3 in games played at NBA arenas, losing to North Carolina and Florida in New York and falling to Oregon in Portland.

The Jayhawks have won six straight meetings with the Golden Bears and lead the series, 13-3. Coach Roy Williams sports a 4-0 mark, including an 85-67 victory in the last meeting on November 26, 1997 in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.

The game originally was scheduled as a homecoming for former Jayhawk Drew Gooden, a Northern California native who left school early for the NBA.