by Michael Duca

Jordan Mathews, 2-for-11 in regulation, scored 11 of his 14, and 11 of Cal’s 16 points, in overtime, as the Golden Bears defeated a very young, very determined underdog Wyoming Cowboys team 78-72 in overtime at Laramie’s 7220 foot elevation. The loss snapped a 17-game win streak for the Cowboys on their home floor.

With both of Cal’s super freshmen having fouled out in regulation, the big question was who would lock down Wyoming’s, and the Mountain West Conference’s leading scorer, Josh Adams. Adams finished with a game-high 32 points on 10-for-21 shooting with five 3-pointers, but he was held to 2-of-4 in the overtime.

On a night when Adams put up nearly half his team’s total, it may be hard to believe the game turned on defense, but when California head coach Cuonzo Martin put Roger Moute a Bidias into the game, at 12:56 of the first half, the game was tied 14-14 and Adams already had 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Adams scored just 2 more points before intermission. “When you compete as a team you find ways to win as a team,” said Martin. “I thought Roger gave us tremendous minutes defending Adams.”

Wyoming kept the game close throughout, and closed regulation on a 13-3 run, but a missed free throw in the final seconds by Adams gave the Golden Bears a second life.

This was Cal’s first overtime game of the season. “We had a bunch of older guys,” said Rabb, who had a courtside seat for the extra period. “They knew how to handle overtime. They had a couple of breakdowns and we took advantage of them.”

Tyrone Wallace’s 23 point effort propelled him past Jackie Ridgle into 17th place on Cal’s all-time list. Wallace now had 1,268 career points. It was also his 22nd straight game scoring in double figures.

Next up is a home contest against the Incarnate Word Cardinals of San Antonio, Texas, Wednesday evening at Haas Pavilion.

Michael Duca does the Cal Bears podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com