By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Somehow, a sixth consecutive loss for the Cal Bears wasn’t a complete downer.

This time their shots fell, runs were made and the derisive cheers that had become commonplace throughout Haas Pavilion, ceased. The Bears fought through a 16-point first half deficit, getting within five points of No. 16 Arizona State with six minutes remaining, before falling 81-73.

“I was happy with the guys’ effort tonight on both ends,” coach Wyking Jones said. “I felt like we came out of the gates with a lot of energy defensively. Offensively I thought the guys did a better job sharing the ball, making the extra pass, moving without the ball and just had a much better flow.”

While the Bears appeared energized, the sharp shooting Sun Devils were focused on not falling completely out of the national rankings just weeks after they stood as the nation’s only, remaining undefeated team at 12-0. After falling short at Stanford on Wednesday, ASU got back to doing what they do best: making big shots from everywhere under the frequent pressure of an expiring shot clock.

Six different Sun Devils had at least one made 3-pointer, including Kodi Justice, who restored ASU’s double-digit lead with a turnaround, circus-like three over the outstretched arms of Juhwan Harris-Dyson with 12:59 remaining. The Bears would continue to fight, getting as close as down 62-58 with 7:28 remaining, but seemingly every Cal run, had an ASU three as an answer.

Eight of ASU’s 10 made threes came after halftime as Cal’s scrambling defense eventually left someone an open look. The Sun Devils’ bench was plenty productive as well with 25 points in the first half, and 41 for the game.

“You can’t be a Top 25 team if you don’t have a bench,” Jones said of ASU’s largesse from their reserves. “It’s not possible.”

“We just have to sustain this level now and try to be consistent about getting that type of production,” said ASU coach Bobby Hurley of his team’s production off the bench. “It may not be significant in terms of point total, but just getting solid, quality play. We’ve been in a lot of dogfights. We’ve had a lot of road games to start league play and we’ve been very competitive. I have no doubt that when we get home we’ll try to get things going for next week.”

Marcus Lee led Cal with a season-best 23 points on 10 of 13 shooting. But in a game where the Bears had few, statistical warts, free throwing stood out. Lee missed seven of his 10 attempts, and the Bears as a whole were just 12 of 22 from the stripe.

Tra Holder and Remy Martin led ASU in scoring, each with 13 points.

Cal travels to Southern California next week for rematches with the Bruins and Trojans, teams they saw–and lost to–just three weeks ago in Berkeley.