By Morris Phillips

At its conclusion, Coach Cuonzo Martin would term his Bears’ overtime victory over UC Irvine among the best he’s had in his career, but it wasn’t shaping up that way after a first half in which Cal shot just 26 percent with only six made baskets to show for 20 minutes of work.

Martin’s conundrum at halftime was simple, just difficult to resolve: Cal was without four of its best offensive players in preseason All-American Ivan Rabb, Jabari Bird, transfer Grant Mullins and reserve guard Brandon Chauca.  Among those healthy enough to play, none could be termed a gifted offensive player except freshman Charlie Moore, Cal’s shifty, quick ballhandler recruited out of Chicago.

What did Martin cook up at halftime to keep No. 25 Cal in the win column?  The third-year coach demanded better defense, increased ball movement, and despite his freshman’s obvious lack of experience, a whole lot more of Moore.

“I feel like we had a major advantage with Charlie working the ball screen, force those big guys to come out and defend him, just letting Charlie make plays,” Martin said.

And with Moore becoming more emboldened on every trip down the floor, the strategy worked as the freshman poured in 27 points after halftime, setting the school’s freshman scoring record in Cal’s come-from-behind 75-65 win.

Moore provided the game-tying basket and ensuing free throw with 1:53 remaining in regulation that got the Bears even after trailing by as many as 13 points early in the second half.  Then in overtime, with the visiting Anteaters losing steam, Moore capped the Cal victory with six-for-six foul shooting in the final 2:28 of overtime.

Moore’s 38-point explosion, breaking the school record set by Shareef Abdur-Rahim with 33 points in 1995, was surprising in that the freshman struggled in the Bears’ opener against South Dakota State in which he shot 1 for 8 from the field and finished with six points.  For Moore, the encouragement of Martin and his teammates was all it took for the transformation.

“I just think I was more comfortable on the court,” Moore said.  “Last game, I was just pretty much getting a feel as this is all a new thing to me.  My teammates helped me out today, just telling me to stay aggressive and not worry about the misses.”

Moore finished 10 of 20 from the field with three made 3-pointers and 15 of 17 shooting from the foul line.  Repeatedly, Moore slithered his way to the basket to either score or get to the foul line, even as the Anteaters knew Cal had little else to turn to offensively.  But that was the magic of Cal’s 5’11” star in the making once he was unleashed.

“Charlie is a great player,” Kameron Rooks said.  “You can see it in practice.  You can see how hard he works and how scrappy he is.  He is an all-around great player.”

Cal’s miraculous comeback was also UC Irvine’s depressing collapse.  The Anteaters led 62-55 with 3:07 remaining in regulation after big man Ioannis Dimakopoulos calmly sunk an open 3-pointer.  But Cal would score the final seven points of regulation, then put UC Irvine away with 13 of the 16 points in overtime.

“I’m proud of our guys, but to be what I think we can be, we will have to finish better than that,” Coach Russell Turner admitted.

UC Irvine was attempting to upset a ranked team for the first time since 2005.  Instead they suffered their fourth consecutive loss to the Bears, all since 2001.  While the Anteaters shot it well early, they were porous defensively, allowing the Bears 13 offensive rebounds leading to 18 second-chance points.

Rabb has missed both of Cal’s games thus far due to a toe injury, but he did practice prior to Wednesday’s game making it a strong possibility that he will make his season debut on Monday against San Diego State in Sacramento.  Mullins was scratched as a precautionary measure due to a neck strain issue, even as he was thought to be ready to go prior to the tip.  Bird was pulled due to back spasms, and Chauca is still recovering from a broken bone in his hand.

Without that quartet, Rooks, Moore and Stephen Domingo each established career-bests in points.  Rooks finished with 15 points, 8 rebounds before fouling out in overtime.  Domingo contributed 11 points, including the big three in overtime to give Cal a lead.

The Bears won despite shooting 36 percent from the field, and having five of their nine players that saw action go without at least one made basket from the field.  But the Bears kept the Anteaters without a made basket in overtime after the UC Irvine shot 48 percent from the field in regulation.