By Morris Phillips

How good are the No. 5 Virginia Cavaliers?

Good enough to shoot an unsightly 18 percent from the field for an entire first half, trail for nearly 40 of 45 minutes, lead for only 32 seconds, and win by the slimmest of margins against a Cal Bears team that appeared to grow by leaps and bounds on Wednesday night.

Excruciatingly, leaps and bounds weren’t enough to give unranked Cal their biggest win of the season. But all that watched—California Coach Cuonzo Martin, Virginia Coach Tony Bennett, the ESPN broadcast crew and a national television audience—could see that the youthful Bears are rounding into shape.

“We came up short, but we will learn from it,” Martin said. “I thought our guys did enough to win the game. But it was another lesson that down the stretch of the game you need to execute what you are trying to do.”

“You just keep playing,” Bennett said. “I want to credit Cal for how talented they are, how hard they played, and how well they played. We didn’t start well; we had a hard time. We were a little impatient offensively and were not dialed in defensively. We thought we prepared well for it but were not.”

Coming in, Martin and the Bears had the right mindset to pull a major upset. Cuonzo’s former team, Tennessee, had smoked the Cavaliers in Knoxville two seasons ago exploiting Bennett’s defensive system that has traditionally been one of the most physically intimidating in all of college basketball. Against the Hoos, teams accustomed to their familiar spots on the offensive side of the floor often lose interest in finding those spots once bumped, pushed and bruised by Virginia’s muscle-bound defenders.

So what was Martin’s directive for his Bears? Don’t back down, make some outside shots early, and be relentless on the glass at both ends.

And for all but 32 seconds, Martin’s strategy had Cal even or ahead.

Virginia came up empty on its first six offensive possessions of the night, and fell behind unable to get its leaders—Malcom Brogdon, London Perrantes and Anthony Gill—untracked offensively. The Cavaliers’ early struggles allowed Cal to establish a lead, neutralize the crowd of 13, 265 assembled at John Paul Jones Arena, and gain traction by relying on their athleticism and competitiveness.

At halftime, the Bears held a surprising 27-20 lead, but it could have been worse for the home team. Virginia had just four made baskets at the half, only one of those from Brogdon, Perrantes and Gill, and Cal was plus nine on the glass. The Bears’ perimeter guys—Jabari Bird, Tyrone Wallace and Jordan Mathews—didn’t light it up, but they combined for four made threes, and that loosened the Virginia defense ever so slightly.

Martin’s lineup adjustment implemented just a few games ago—bringing Bird off the bench, starting 7’0” Kameron Rooks—was benefitting freshman Ivan Rabb beautifully. With Rooks or 7’1” Kingsley Okoroh on the floor for 38 of the game’s 45 minutes, Rabb managed a career-best 42 minutes alongside one of his big men, which kept him out of foul trouble, and made him a real factor on the glass with 12 rebounds, five of those on the offensive end.

But as soon as Cal felt comfortable, Virginia changed the tone after halftime.

The Bears would enjoy their final double-digit lead—46-35—with 11 minutes remaining. After that Cal would be held scoreless by Virginia for nearly seven minutes, then score just one basket after leading 50-43 with nearly eight minutes remaining.

But instead of a surge, Virginia methodically chipped away.

“We were running harder offensively with our cuts and guys were attacking at the right time,” Bennett recalled of his team’s comeback. “I just kept saying, ‘Get a score, get a stop, score, stop, there is still time.”

Down the stretch, with driving lanes closing, and shots errant, the Bears turned to Jaylen Brown, working the middle of the floor against a smaller defender. Brown’s free throws with 42 seconds remaining in regulation got the Bears even, but working against Brogdon in the middle of the floor with 5 seconds remaining and a chance to win, Brown was stripped by Brogdon right as the 6’7” freshman made his move.

In overtime, the Bears led by six, but Virginia, again, didn’t quit. Rabb’s tip-in gave Cal a 60-54 lead with 2:23 remaining, but they would score just two more points.

On the game-winning play, with Cal ahead by two, the Cavaliers ran a play that freed Perrantes for the game-winning three with 10 seconds left. Wallace immediately rushed the ball up the floor to the basket, but missed with two seconds remaining.

The Bears fell to 9-3 while Virginia improved to 11-1, with 10 wins a row since their early loss at George Washington. The Bears will look to regroup for their home game December 28 against Davidson.