By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–Markelle Fultz, the fabulous freshman for Washington, is plenty familiar to the Cal Bears’ coaching staff.

Coach Cuonzo Martin recruited the Washington D.C. metro product only to see the 6’4″ guard land in Seattle with conference foe Washington.  Since joining the Huskies, a very curious, but telling pattern has emerged.

The youthful Huskies have struggled, Fultz has played well, not great, and the youngster’s draft prospects have climbed through the roof, with almost all projections seeing him as the first overall pick in the June NBA draft.

That incongruous combination of fortunes–along with the broken finger suffered by UW’s Malik Dime in their previous game against Oregon State–put the Huskies in a precarious spot for their visit to Berkeley,  where they haven’t won since 2013.

Martin’s defensive strategy for Washington, in particular Fultz, took it from there.

“We just felt like we should do everything in our power to hold him 10 points under his average, and that was our focus,” Martin recounted.  “We talked to our guards about this, and I think between Dontae, Charlie, Ivan and Stephen, they did a great job of blanking him.  Our bigs had to corral him and do their job, because one guy just can’t stand in front of him.  He’s too big of a guy.”

Fultz, harassed into missing 12 of his 15 shots from the field, finished with 12 points–10 points below his average of 22–and the Bears held on for a 69-59 victory Wednesday at Haas Pavilion.

Washington (8-8, 1-3) came in averaging 83 points a game and was held to as few as 59 for the first time this season. Throughout, the bigger Bears bothered Fultz and his teammates, who were further hampered by the absence of the 6’10” Dime, their one inside scoring presence.

“We were not patient enough to attack that type of defense tonight,” UW coach Lorenzo Romar conceded.  “They had a lot to do with that.”

The Bears improved to 3-2 in conference play, keeping them within hailing distance of undefeated, conference leaders Arizona and Oregon.  Ivan Rabb led Cal with 20 points, 14 rebounds, and Jabari Bird added 16, including four made threes.

Cal enjoyed a 45-40 edge in rebounds, and supported that with seven blocked shots and four steals.  Those numbers helped the Bears offset their poor shooting, which saw them miss 25 of their 39 shots in the first half.

“At the end of the day, in the moment, as long as we win, I’m happy,” Bird said.  “The next day we will look at film and see where we can do better, but as of right now, the W is the biggest thing for me.”

The Bears led at halftime by six, and maintained that lead until Washington surged to tie the score at 40 with 11:48 remaining.  Down the stretch, Cal’s defense imposed its will as they broke open a close game, forcing the Huskies to miss six of their final seven shots.

On Saturday,  the Bears (12-5, 3-2) host Washington State at Haas Pavilion starting at 1pm.