By Morris Phillips

Being 10-1 to start a season for the first time since 1955 is obviously rare. So is winning immediately with a new coach, and doing so with expectations low due to losing key seniors. Add the confounding injury to one of your best returners, and you’ve been introduced to the 2014-15 Cal Bears.

It’s a story that’s even surprised Coach Cuonzo Martin.

“It’s not easy but they brought their heart out to practice and the game,” Martin said in an attempt to explain the team’s early success. “They battle, they compete and they get better as a team. They value each other on both sides of the floor, allowing the team to be successful.”

The Bears got a test from Eastern Washington on Friday night that was at moments even bigger due to the presence of the Eagles’ two capable scorers, Venky Jois and Tyler Harvey. But the Bears played unselfishly offensively, established an 11-point lead at the half, and won pulling away late, 78-67.

Tyrone Wallace led the Bears with 21 points and 11 rebounds while playing both guard spots. When Wallace wasn’t manning the point, Sam Singer did, adding 15 points on 7 of 9 shooting. While the assist total of 13 wasn’t particularly high, the Bears shared the ball with Christian Behrens, roaming the baseline, the beneficiary. Behrens had 20 for Cal and eight rebounds, again showing that he will unquestionably have the best of his four seasons in Berkeley this season.

EWU was led by Harvey who looked almost Curry-like in a 31-point scoring night in which he included six made 3-pointers. Jois was good as well for an Eagles’ team that will compete for the Big Sky Conference title. The undersized, but mobile post from Australia had 23 points on 9 of 14 shooting, but came up short when the Bears focused on bringing a second defender to help on his forays to the basket midway through the second half.

Martin singled out Behrens for his continued growth in his post-game comments, saying that the senior forward grew quickly from summer workouts to now with him establishing himself as a 30 minute-a-game player for the first time. Singer also lauded his teammate for his dedicated effort in practices. For himself, Behrens simply declared himself healthy, which may the biggest statement of all.

“In the summer, when Coach Martin challenged him, he said, ‘Christian, you can either come with us or we are going to leave you behind.’ Christian said, ‘I’m coming with you and I’m going to lead this team, I’m going to help lead this team,’” Singer recounted.

For a team that has already achieved rarities, another awaits on Monday, when the Bears highly-ranked and regarded Wisconsin, a team that was a Final Four participant in March and returns NBA lottery prospect Frank Kaminsky.