By Morris Phillips

photo credit: calbears.com Cal Bears Jabari Bird vs. Incarnate Word

The Cal Bears need to get better. But for a half against unheralded Incarnate Word on Wednesday, the Bears were clearly on the road to getting worse.

The undersized and overmatched Cardinals from San Antonio, Texas are known for forcing turnovers, leading the nation with better than 12 steals a game. Over the final nine minutes of the first half, Incarnate Word had Cal on its heels, leading by as much as five points and forcing Cal into numerous missed shots and turnovers.

That old bugaboo for Cal, the dreaded zone defense, was becoming the Cardinals’ best friend as they dared Cal to hit open jump shots. Over the final nine minutes of the half, Cal missed more than they made as their narrow 20-16 lead evaporated. Also, foul trouble once again claimed both Cal’s prized freshmen, Ivan Rabb and Jaylen Brown.

Thanks to junior Jabari Bird, who canned a three-pointer with five seconds remaining in the half, the Bears pulled even with UIW at the half. But the brief surge at the end of the half didn’t make as much of an impression on Bird as did his team’s struggles.

“We go (in) to games and we think too much,” Bird said. “We get stagnant. We need to get some flow to our offense. We need to play with some swag and shoot some better shots. We need to play with some flash, flash makes better plays in the zone.”

Brown was back on the floor for the start of the second half, and not surprisingly, things started to click. Brown, who is becoming a familiar presence at Haas Pavilion before—and after games—constantly practicing his shooting, got on a roll. Brown contributed two dunks, a layup, and a three-pointer in Cal’s 19-9 run that gave them a double digit lead with 12 minutes remaining.

Cal’s brief, but impactful surge didn’t run UIW out of the gym, but it did create some needed cushion. From there, the Bears relied on their defense and rebounding, holding Incarnate Word to 36 percent shooting and out-rebounding the visitors 46-25.

“We really lost in that four-minute period right after halftime,” UIW Coach Ken Burmeister said. “They are a very good team, and by the time they get experience playing with each other, they will be very tough to beat.”

Going from being talented to successful has proven to be quite a challenge for the Bears. With the win, they improved to 7-2 on the season with wins in all six of its home games. But more often than not, Cal’s had lapses, especially on the offensive end. Coach Cuonzo Martin again experimented with starting 7’0” Kameron Rooks, but the team didn’t play well in the opening stretch, even as Rooks played well.

Starting the second half, Martin opted to start Bird over Rooks, and the Bears offense ran much smoother.

“There’s no reason for us to be that close with this team at halftime,” Rabb said. “They did a great job, but at the end of the day, I think we should have done a better job of handling this team.”

All five of Cal’s second half starters scored in double figures led by first half reserve Bird with 15. Tyrone Wallace added 14, Brown had 13, and Rabb and Jordan Mathews had 12 each.

The Cardinals were led by Kyle Hittle with 18 points, and Shawn Johnson with 16.

The Bears get a jump in competition on Saturday at 12:30pm when St. Mary’s makes a rare visit from nearby Moraga. The Gaels are undefeated and looking to stay that way against the Bears. Guard Emmett Naar leads St. Mary’s at 16. 8 points a game.