Basketball Game Preview: University Red Devils vs. Santa Cruz Cardinals

The University Red Devils will square off against the Santa Cruz Cardinals at 2:15 p.m. on Monday. University knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past 13 games -- so hopefully Santa Cruz likes a good challenge.

University fought the good fight in their overtime contest against Lick-Wilmerding on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 74-73 to the Tigers. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Tuesday (63), the Red Devils still had to take the loss.

Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Santa Cruz beat Soquel 58-54 on Friday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Cardinals.

Santa Cruz has also been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 7-8 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.0 points per game. As for University, their loss was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 11-7.

University came out on top in a nail-biter against Santa Cruz in their previous matchup back in January of 2024, sneaking past 62-59. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Santa Cruz's Ben Dotten, who went 10 for 19 on his way to 26 points and seven boards. Now that he won't be playing on Monday, will it be easier for University to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.