By Robert Steward

BERKELEY–The Cal Bears Men’s Basketball Team jumped out quickly against the Kennesaw St Owls and never looked back, en route to a 93-59 victory in the 2nd round of the 2K Classic, which benefits the Wounded Warrior Project. In the first-ever meeting between both programs, the Owls, from the Atlantic Sun Conference, were no match for the Bears, as Cal jumped out to a 9-0 lead before Kennesaw St scored their first points at the 15:10 mark. It should be noted that Kennesaw St played at Syracuse on Friday night before having to travel all day on Saturday to the west coast.

After the quick start, head coach for the Bears, Cuonzo Martin, felt the Bears were a bit stagnant and were leading 20-9 after an official timeout with 7:08 left in the first half. Coming out of the timeout, the Bears’ Tyrone Wallace hit one of two free throws, Kennesaw St missed a shot and Cal’s Jabari Bird hit a jumper. After a missed 3-pointer by the Owls, the Bears’ Kingsley Okoroh finished a dunk with an assist from Dwight Tarwater. Another miss by the Owls and Tarwater hit a three at the other end to finish a quick 8-0 run in 90 seconds, forcing Kennesaw St to call a timeout at 5:36. Cal finished the first half on a 21-6 run to lead 41-15 at halftime. The Bears shot 55% from the floor in the first half while holding the Owls to 24% shooting and forced 10 turnovers. They also held an 18-9 advantage on the boards.

Coming out to start the second half, both teams pushed the tempo more, with Cal hitting their first 7 shots, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Jordan Mathews and Tarwater, to open up a 55-20 lead at the 16:24 mark. While Kennesaw St was more competitive in the second half, Cal continued its torrid shooting pace and lead, 79-43, with 6:32 left in the game. Shortly afterwards, Wallace threw a high lob to Roger Moute a Bidias for a resounding dunk with 5:58 to go and Cal leading 81-46. Cal extended its biggest lead to 87-50 with 3:52 to go.

The Bears finished the game shooting 60% from the floor, including 7 for 12 from 3-point range. They also outrebounded the Owls, 43-25. Coach Martin, while pleased with the effort, pointed out that Cal turned the ball over 15 times, something they will need to cut down on when the competition gets stiffer. The Bears had a balanced scoring attack with 4 players in double figures led by Mathews, who finished with 18 points on 7 of 10 from the floor along with 7 rebounds. Wallace added 16 points to go with 9 rebounds and 7 assists with Bird chipping in with 15 points on 7 of 10 from the floor along with 7 rebounds. Tarwater came off the bench to score 10. The Owls were lead by Nigel Pruitt with 16 points and Delbert Love, off the bench with 11.

Cal improved to 2-0, while Kennesaw St dropped to 0-2. Up next for the Bears will be Syracuse, as they travel to Madison Square Garden in New York for a semifinal game in the 2K Classic on Thursday, November 20th, at 6pm.