2K Classic Championship
Madison Square Garden - New York, NY
Tip-off: Friday, 7:00 p.m.
Line: Texas -8, Total: 138

No. 10 Texas will take on California in a clash of 3-0 teams on Friday night at Madison Square Garden in the championship game of the 2K Classic.

Both schools have won each of three games in this tournament by at least 14 points thanks to suffocating defenses. The Longhorns are allowing a paltry 53.3 PPG on 28.9% FG, while the Bears have limited opponents to 58.3 PPG on 34.3% FG. This suffocating defense is a good sign for Texas considering it is 14-5 ATS (74%) after two straight games of allowing 33% FG or less under head coach Rick Barnes. But California has thrived on little rest in the past three seasons, going 8-1 ATS (89%) when playing its second game in three days. These teams have been similarly excellent on the offensive end this season, as Texas is scoring 80.3 PPG on 50.3% FG (39.1% threes), while California has been even better with 85.7 PPG on a 53.0% FG clip (45.5% threes) under first-year head coach Cuonzo Martin. These schools have not met since 2000 when Texas won a sloppy 57-54 game where the teams combined to shoot 35.9% FG, 25.0% threes and 52.9% FT. Longhorns starting PG Isaiah Taylor injured his wrist in Thursday's win over Iowa, and is out indefinitely. The Bears are injury-free, but 5-foot-9 PG Brandon Chauca is out indefinitely because of eligibility issues.

Which team will capture the 2K Classic Championship? For the latest college basketball picks, check out The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks. The experts have begun the 2014-15 season with a bang, posting a collective 80% ATS mark (32-8) in Best Bets. All five experts are 71% ATS or better on Best Bets, led by StatFox Gary's astounding 8-1 ATS mark. StatFox Dave is 7-1 ATS, StatFox Scott and StatFox Zach are both 6-2 ATS, and StatFox Brian is 5-2 ATS to open the season.

Texas has done a great job showcasing a balanced roster, as no player averages more than 26.0 MPG, and nine players have at least 14.0 MPG this season. Although Texas will miss injured PG Isaiah Taylor (15.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.3 APG), he has not run the offense very effectively with just seven assists and five turnovers. Luckily for him, SF Connor Lammert (5.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 3.7 APG) has been finding his teammates with ease, tallying a team-high 11 assists with zero turnovers. Texas also has a versatile backcourt to help with the loss of Taylor with guards Javan Felix (9.0 PPG) and Demarcus Holland (8.3 PPG). These two players are capable ball-handlers and have combined to make 7-of-16 threes (44%) this season. The school's best player has been senior PF Jonathan Holmes (14.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG) who is shooting 71.4% (15-of-21) from the floor, including 7-of-10 threes. Holmes scored 17 points in the second half against Iowa to help his team come back from a 12-point deficit to win 71-57. Freshman PF Myles Turner (10.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.7 BPG) has also played extremely well in his first three collegiate games, making 12-of-18 FG (67%) and 5-of-6 free throws. The one player that Texas has not been pleased with is C Cameron Ridley (6.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG) who is shooting only 39% from the floor and has eight turnovers with zero assists. But Ridley should be able to produce numbers that more closely resemble what he did last season when he averaged 11.2 PPG and 8.2 RPG, because Cal is not very strong in its frontcourt.

The Bears have four players averaging double-figures and their top eight scorers are all making at least half of their field-goal attempts. This is a perimeter-oriented team with a much slimmer rebounding margin (+8.7 RPG) than Texas (+13.0 RPG) this season, so they will have to continue to push the tempo and knock down the outside jumpers. SG Jordan Mathews (18.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG) has scored at least 18 points in all three games, making 61% FG and 8-of-15 threes. He also did a great job of penetrating the Syracuse 2-3 zone, as he got to the foul line 10 times in Thursday's 73-59 blowout win. PG Tyrone Wallace (16.7 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 5.7 APG, 1.7 SPG) has not only done a great job pushing the ball up the floor, but he's shooting 51% FG thanks in big part to a team-high-tying five offensive rebounds. SG Jabari Bird (14.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 3.7 APG) hasn't made many mistakes this season, draining 64% FG (18-of-28) including 5-of-10 threes. The team's best frontcourt player is 6-foot-10 PF David Kravish (10.3 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 3.0 APG) who was outstanding on Thursday night with 12 points, nine boards, five assists and three blocks. But he will have his hands full on Friday trying to get shots off with Turner and Ridley in the lane.