Month: March 2018

Aztecs and Lobos advance to the Mountain West Championship

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Photo credit: @UNMLOBOS

By: Ana Kieu

LAS VEGAS — This year, the San Jose State Spartans were handed a first-round exit for the third year in a row, but most, if not all, Spartan fans and alumnus were understanding of first-year head coach Jean Prioleau’s struggle because who reaches perfection in their debut year?

Anyways, let’s take a look at the semifinals of this year’s Mountain West Tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center. Both games were broadcast live on CBS Sports Network: No. 1 Nevada Wolf Pack faced the No. 5 San Diego State Aztecs on Friday at 6:00 pm PT, while the No. 7 Utah State Aggies took on the No. 3 New Mexico Lobos at 8:30 pm PT.

No. 1 Nevada vs. No. 5 San Diego State
The Nevada Wolf Pack were seeking revenge against the San Diego State Aztecs and what better way to do it than battling it out on the court in the semifinals of the MW Tournament?

Just five minutes into the opening half, Nevada trailed San Diego State 15-9. Aztecs guard Trey Kell put his defender in the popcorn machine and then found fellow guard Devin Watson for a 3-pointer.

The Aztecs continued to pour in the points in a successful attempt to suppress the Wolf Pack. Watson got his third triple and later stepped in for the jumper. Meanwhile, Kell hit a couple of threes. Wolf Pack forward Jordan Caroline led his team in scoring with seven points, but they continued to trail 34-16 with 7:55 to go in the half.

The Aztecs carried a whopping 55-25 lead over the Wolf Pack at the half. According to Stats by STATS, SDSU led No. 22 Nevada by 30 points, which marked their largest halftime lead by an unranked team against a ranked opponent since the Butler Bulldogs led 43-10 at the half against the No. 23 Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the 2001 NCAA Tournament.

The Wolf Pack got on the board first in the second half. Wolf Pack guard Kendall Stephens hit a layup just 14 seconds into the half. Yet, Nevada continued to trail SDSU 55-27 and basically succumbed to a large deficit throughout the half.

Aztecs center Kameron Rooks made some notable moves in the paint to help his team to a 70-43 lead with 9:55 to go in the half. Also, Aztecs forward Malik Pope threw down a dunk in a stellar completion of a tremendous play just a little over 40 seconds later.

The Aztecs had this semifinal game from start to finish and advanced to the championship game with a 90-73 win over Nevada.

Final stats: SDSU–FG%: 28-54 (51.9%); 3FG%: 8-23 (34.8%); FT%: 26-34 (76.5%). Nevada–FG%: 27-68 (39.7%); 3FG%: 7-29 (24.1%); FT%: 12-17 (70.6%).

No. 7 Utah State vs. No. 3 New Mexico
The Utah State Aggies upset the Boise State Broncos, but were they able to repeat against the New Mexico Lobos in the semifinals of the MW Tournament?

These two teams went back-and-forth in the opening minutes of the first half. However, New Mexico had the upper hand as they led Utah State by one (9-8) at the 14:16 mark of the half.

These two teams were tied at 12 apiece midway through the half. Then, USU went on a 11-0 run since the 14-minute mark and went ahead of UNM during a span of 4:01. Lobos guard Troy Simons hit a 3-pointer to end the Aggies’ lengthy run.

The Lobos went on a massive 17-0 run and closed out the half with a free throw from forward Sam Logwood. Meanwhile, the Aggies went cold out of the blue. The Lobos led the Aggies 37-25 at the half.

The Aggies continued the cold streak in the second half. The Lobos went on a 6-0 run to start the half.

After Makuach Maluach threw down a dunk, USU snapped out of their pointless streak and went on an 8-0 run that was ended by a jumper from Joe Furstinger at the 11:52 mark.

There was a timeout on the floor and the Lobos led the Aggies by 16 points, 75-59, with 3:56 to go in the half. The Lobos continued to hold onto its lead and guard Antino Jackson added a three with 18 seconds left in regulation.

The Lobos advanced to the championship game, where they will take on the Aztecs.

Final stats: USU–FG%: 24-57 (42.1%); 3FG%: 7-24 (29.2%); FT%: 13-16 (81.3%). UNM–FG%: 28-54 (51.9%); 3FG%: 7-24 (29.2%); FT%: 20-25 (80.0%).

Notes
Wolf Pack’s projected lineup: Charlie Todley, John Jones, Elijah Cooks, Caleb Martin, Cody Martin, Elijah Foster, Hallice Cooke, Lindsey Drew, David Cunningham, Kendall Stephens, Jordan Caroline, Josh Hall and Justin Brent.

Aztecs’ projected lineup: Devin Watson, Adam Seiko, Trey Kell, Michael Sohikish, Jalen McDaniels, Max Montana, Matt Mitchell, Jordan Schakel, Malik Pope, Nolan Narain, Jeremy Hemsley and Kameron Rooks.

Lobos’ projected lineup: Chris McNeal, Sam Logwood, Antino Jackson, Mike Mondragon, Joe Furstinger, Makuach Maluach, Jachai Simmons, Dane Kuiper, Vladimir Pinchuk, Troy Simons and Anthony Mathis.

Aggies’ projected lineup: DeAngelo Isby, Koby McEwen, Sam Merrill, Crew Ainge, Julion Pearre, Quinn Taylor, Alex Dargenton, Justin Bean, Brock Miller, Daron Henson, Diogo Brito, Dwayne Brown Jr. and Abel Porter.

Up Next
The Wolf Pack and Lobos will meet for the final of the Mountain West Tournament on Sunday at 3:00 pm PT.

Blazers’ Lillard and McCollum send Warriors down to a 125-108 defeat

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Portland Trail Blazers’ backcourt duo of Damien Lillard and C.J.McCollum combined for 58 points and beat the Warriors 125-108 at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore., on Friday night.

The Warriors, coming off a tough win over San Antonio Thursday night, were led by Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson and nobody else. The Warriors were without Steph Curry, David West, Andre Iguodala, Jordan Bell, and Patrick McCaw.

The Warriors trailed for all of the first half. The Blazers led by six after the first 12 minutes of play and increased the lead to nine (61-52) when they went on a 9-2 run to end the second quarter. The Warriors took the lead 75-73 midway through the third quarter, but the Blazers finished the period on a 10-0 run to finish with a four-point advantage 87-83 and had momentum on their side heading into the final 12 minutes of action.

The Blazers’ Lillard and McCollum were lights out in the final stanza. The Blazers outscored the Warriors by 13 to blow out the Warriors by 17 points (125-108).

Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson led the Warrior attack with 40 and 25 points each. The only other Warrior in double figures was JaVale McGee with 10. Draymond Green had 7, and Quinn Cook added 8. The Warrior contributed just 18 points.

The Blazers’ bench, on the other hand, had four players in double figures and recorded 45 points in the win.The Blazers had a total of seven players in double figures. McCollum led the club with 30 and Lillard had 28.

Klay recorded his 200th 3-pointer of the season early in the game. Draymond Green picked up his 15th technical foul of the year, and if he gets one more, he will receive an automatic one-game suspension.

The Warriors were outshot 89-78, and Portland made six more buckets than the Warriors. The Warriors shot 48.7% from the floor while Portland shot 49.4%.

The Warriors were outrebounded 46-33, and they recorded just 20 assists.

The Warriors turned the ball over 12 times, but they did not have the firepower to keep pace with the Blazers.

The Blazers won their ninth in a row and snapped the Warriors win streak at seven. The Warriors are now 51-15 and trail the Houston Rockets by half a game in the race for best record in the NBA.

After the game, Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr commented about the team’s performance: “We’ve got a deep team. That’s one of the hallmarks of our group the last few years,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before the game. “We’ve played without Steph, I think probably 15 times this year, or so, and we’ve gotten to know the formula. We know what to do. It’s a different game, but we’ve got to defend and take care of the ball, play a really solid game against a team that’s on fire.”

Up Next: The Warriors meet the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday in Minneapolis at 12:30 pm PT.

McCarthy’s hat trick powers Barracuda over Monsters 6-2

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The two worst two scoring teams in the AHL put on a fireworks show on Friday evening at the SAP Center. Led by captain John McCarthy’s first ever career hat trick, as well as the franchise’s first, the San Jose Barracuda (25-22-3-3) dominated the Cleveland Monsters (20-30-4-3) in a 6-2 victory. Coming into the game, San Jose had scored a league worst 128 goals while Cleveland only had 138.

The Monsters would draw first blood early in the first period when Nathan Gerbe was able to score his second goal of the season at the 4:47 mark. Sam Vigneault carried the puck into the Cuda zone and passed the puck over to Gerbe who fired a shot from the left point that slid past the five-hole of a screened Antoine Bibeau (17-11-2) for a 1-0 lead.

The power play would be good to San Jose on this night. The Cuda tied the game up on their first power play opportunity when Jacob Middelton needled a pass to Brandon Mashinter who, in a spin-o-rama motion, made a behind the back pass to a wide-open Adam Helewka, who buried the puck past Monsters goalie Matiss Kivlenieks (11-17-2) for his eighth goal of the season at the 9:18 mark of the first period.

Just under three minutes later, the Cuda would strike again on the power play when McCarthy was the fortunate recipient of a Rourke Chartier shot that deflected right to McCarthy after hitting Kivlenieks. McCarthy snapped the puck in the back of the net for his eighth goal of the season at the 12:10 mark. It was McCarthy’s first goal since coming back from the Olympics in South Korea.

“It’s been kind of a thorn in our side all year,” said head coach Roy Sommer on his team’s power play futility. “They kind go in waves, the power play (goals). It’s like the Sharks, I thought their power plays looked real good. They hadn’t scored in 10 games (until last game). They weren’t getting any bounces. We had a couple of bounces tonight.”

The lead wouldn’t last longer than 41 seconds when the Monsters were able to take advantage of a bad clearing attempt that resulted in a turnover to Brady Austin, who immediately fired the puck that hit Bibeau resulting in a big rebound that found the stick of Justin Scott, who buried the puck past Bibeau for his fifth goal of the season.

McCarthy gave the lead back to the Cuda early in the second period with his second goal of the evening. Rudolfs Balcers raced down the left wing and was able to make a spectacular pass between two Monster defenders from just behind the net over to a wide-open McCarthy, who was left all alone in the middle of the slot to snap the pack over the right shoulder of Kivlenieks for his ninth goal of the season at the 3:28 mark.

“One of our strengths is our speed,” said McCarthy. “Every game we’re looking to drive wide (along the boards) and generate chances that way. For whatever reason, we had more success with it tonight. So it was good to see.”

Cleveland had a chace to get back in the game when they started the third period on the power play that carried over from the second period. Terry Broadhurst walked in all alone and deked out Bibeau only to have his back hand attempt sail over the net early.

The Cuda took control of the game with two goals in 50 seconds. Their fourth goal of the game was a result of a battle along the right boards by won by Alexander True. He fed the puck over to McCarthy, who quickly fired a pass over to Balcers in the right slot and snapped home a shot past Kivlenieks for his team leading 15th goal of the season at the 4:40 mark.

Sam Warning skated down the right boards making a pretty cross-ice feed through the crease to a wide open Brandon Mashinter who fired it into an empty net for his eighth goal of the season at the 5:30 mark for a 5-2 lead.

“It was great to see,” said Mashinter regarding his team’s offensive outburst. “We haven’t had one of those in a long time. For me to get that (the goal) it was a huge monkey off my back.”

The Cuda finished out the scoring when McCarthy won a clean face off and sent the puck back to the point where defenseman Zach Frye, who was making his debut with the Cuda, wristed a shot that McCarthy positioned himself perfectly in the middle of slot to tip the puck past for Kivlenieks to complete hat trick. His 10th goal came at the 14:58 mark.

Bibeau, who didn’t allow another goal in the final 47:09 of the game, made 30 saves on 32 shots for the victory. Kivlenieks suffered the defeat making 32 saves on 38 shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 2/3 on the power play and perfect on the penalty kill with Cleveland going 0/4.

Frye, who just signed out of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks this week, scored 11 goals and a career high 34 points his senior season for the Nooks. Helweka suffered a lower body injury with over 12 minutes remaining in the third period. He was injured on a hit along the boards. He left the game under his own power. He is listed as questionable for tomorrow’s game. Colby McAuley and Garret Cockerill spared off with each other early in the third period after McAuley took exception to Cockerill’s high hit near the boards on Chartier.

The announced attendance was 3,684.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda conclude their four-game homestand on the back end of their weekend series against Cleveland on Saturday at 5:30 pm PT.

San Francisco Giants Podcast with Michael Duca: Posey’s ankle just fine–rips two doubles on Friday; plus more Giants news

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Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael:

1 San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey is suffering an ankle injury that has kept him out of Thursday’s game. Posey had enough rest he looks regular season ready as he hit two doubles in Friday’s game.

2 Former Giant and current Texas Ranger pitcher Matt Moore offered to give his number 55 to incoming pitcher. Also, former Giant Tim Lincecum, who signed with the Rangers. Lincecum chose #44 instead and reflected on his late brother Sean, who passed away last month.

3 Lincecum sold his $2 million condo in downtown Seattle so he can go back to being a regular guy. Lincecum is now living in a house in Madison Park.

4 Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija said he’s a big fan of Giants centerfielder Steve Duggar. Samardzija says Duggar “is fun to watch. What has been the biggest thrill about Duggar– his hitting or fielding?

5 San Francisco’s Mark Melancon has said he’s going through some discomfort when he throws. The Giants will be counting on Melancon to get healthy and close games.

Michael Duca does the San Francisco Giants podcasts each Friday for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Podcast with Joe Lami: Hawks’ Rutta signs extension through 2018-19; Lightning’s Cirelli goal and two assists lead to 5-3 win; Panthers’ Luongo stops 40 shots in shutout

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Photo credit: @theScore

On the NHL Podcast with Joe Lami:

1 Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Jan Rutta signed a one-year extension through 2018-19. How important is Rutta considering some of the tough loses the Blackhawks have gone through?

2 The Tampa Bay Lighting’s Anthony Cirelli had a great offensive night against the New York Rangers in a 5-3 win. Cirelli scored and had two assists as the Bolts win their eighth in nine games.

3 Florida Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo still has it. He stood on his head against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night for a 5-0 shutout. Luongo stopped a personal best 40 shots.

4 Los Angeles Kings’ Trevor Lewis who missed 12 games before Thursday night’s game with an upper body injury. Lewis scored his own rebound that gave the Kings the lead over the Capitals 3-1.

5 The San Jose Sharks got a 2-0 shutout and snapped a power play drought when Mikkel Boedker scored on a power play goal. It took 30 tries to make it happen.

Joe Lami does the NHL Podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

 

Sharks’ Power Play Slump Snaps After 30 Attempts as They Blank Blues 2-0

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Jerry Feitelberg

The San Jose Sharks finally snapped their power play drought, and it came at the most opportune time. Mikkel Boedker broke a scoreless tie with 7:48 left in regulation, scoring on the man-advantage for San Jose’s first extra strength goal in 13 games. Tomas Hertl added an empty-net goal and San Jose limited the St. Louis Blues to a season-low 16 shots on goal in a 2-0 win. Martin Jones picked up the shutout, helping San Jose leapfrog the Anaheim Ducks into second place in the Pacific Division with a game in hand.

The Sharks entered the game on an 0-28 power play skid, the absence of prolific passer Joe Thornton (out with a knee injury) evident in every missed opportunity.  A second period Blues penalty didn’t yield better results. It wasn’t until Kyle Brodziak picked up a holding the stick infraction with 9:30 left in the final frame to put San Jose up a man.

Joonas Donskoi went to work, dangling along the boards before working the puck to Dylan Demelo on the blue line. Demelo tapped the puck right back to Donskoi who worked his way up the boards to the faceoff dots. From there he fed a pass to Boedker who was cocked in the slot. Boedker’s quick-release snapshot beat Blues goalie Jake Allen over his blocker shoulder for the Dane’s 13th goal of the season. Demelo picked up the second assist on the goal, notching his fifth point in three March games.

Allen played an otherwise spectacular game, making 34 saves to keep the Blues in the game despite being greatly outshot. It was a performance made all the more impressive by the fact that Allen wasn’t expected to start. As early as morning skate, backup goalie Carter Hutton was expected to get the nod against his former team. An injury forced Allen into net, giving Palo Alto native Ben Wexler the chance to suit up as emergency backup goaltender. Wexler’s highest level of play before tonight was club hockey at the University of Illinois.

Tomas Hertl punched in an empty-netter with 15 seconds left, with Brent Burns picking up an assist on the Czech’s 16th goal of the year. San Jose pulled ahead of the Ducks, losers 4-2 in Nashville, but couldn’t gain ground of Los Angeles. The Kings beat the Washington Capitals 3-1 at home Thursday.

Up Next: The Sharks host the Washington Capitals on Friday afternoon at 1:00 pm PT.

Durant’s 37-point effort rallies the Warriors to a 110-107 victory over Spurs after Curry injures his ankle again

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The Golden State Warriors won their seventh game in a row, but it was not easy as the San Antonio Spurs played their hearts out but could not prevail. The Warriors needed the win to keep their hopes alive for winning homecourt advantage for the playoffs. The Rockets lead the Dubs by one-half game and own the tiebreaker. The Warriors lost their star, Steph Curry, early in the first quarter when he tweaked his right ankle. He was able to two free throws, but the Warriors sent him to the trainer’s table for treatment and Steph was done for the night. Three other players were not available Thursday night. David West missed his second game in a row with an infected cyst on his arm. Andre Iguodala was out with a sprained left wrist, and Jordan Bell was sidelined when he re-injured his right ankle. Steve Kerr had to use Kevon, Looney, Omri Casspi, Quin Cook, and Nick Young and hope that the Warriors could beat the Spurs. The game was not pretty, but they were able to come back late in the fourth quarter and beat the Spurs 110-107.

Both the Spurs and the Warriors were cold to start the first quarter. The Spurs led 3-0 when Steph Curry was fouled as he attempted a layup with just 2 minutes and 32 seconds played in the game. Steph turned his right ankle when he landed. He tried to walk off the injury, but it was apparent that he would not be able to continue. Steph went to the free throw line and made the two free throws, and that finished his night. The Warriors got the offense going late in the quarter, and they outscored the Spurs 28-21.

The Warriors could not get anything going in the second quarter. They scored just 13 points against Brooklyn Tuesday night, and the Warriors were cold again in the second quarter. The Spurs took advantage. The Dubs built the lead to nine 34-23, but San Antonio went on a 14-2 run to take the lead 37-35. The Spurs outscored the Warriors 29-18 and finished the half with a 4-point lead 50-46. The Spurs LaMarcus Aldridge had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Kevin Durant scored 14, JaVale McGee 7, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green each had 4.

The Warriors played better in the third quarter. They have owned the third quarter, but on Thursday night, that did not happen as they were outscored 37-32 The game was tied at 78 when the Spurs went on a 9-0 run to finish the quarter leading 87-78. In the fourth quarter, the Spurs met every Warrior challenge and led 103-96 with under 3 minutes to play. The Warriors vaunted defense came through, and Kevin Durant scored 14 straight points to tie the game at 105. Draymond Green made a fantastic layup with his left hand to put the Dubs ahead by two 1:30 left. Klay Thompson made two free throws, and they led 109-105.  The Spurs scored and trailed by two 109-107. They fouled KD but he missed one, and the Spurs had a chance to tie if they could make a three-pointer. The Spurs got the ball to LaMarcus Aldridge, and he was fouled attempting a three. He made the first free throw but missed the second. He made the third, and the Spurs trailed 110-107. They got the ball back with 2.3 seconds left and, after a timeout, took the ball out from mid-court. Bryn Forbes missed a three-pointer with 0.01 seconds left, and the Warriors celebrated the win.

Game Notes and Stats. After the game Warrior head coach Steve Kerr announced that Steph Curry will travel with the team to Portland but will not play Friday night.

The Warriors won their 7th in a row and improved to 51-14. The Spurs dropped to 37-28.

LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 30 points and 17 rebounds. Kyle Anderson had 12, Davis Bertrans 13, DeJounte Murray 14, Tony Parker 11, and Rudy Gay 10. The Warriors were led by Kevin Durant’s 37 points, 4 assists, 11 rebounds, and four blocked shots. Draymond Green had a triple-double with 11 points, 10 assists,12 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots. JaVale McGee added 13, Nick Young had 12, and Shaun Livington had 9 points, 7 assists, and seven boards. Klay Thompson had a tough night. The Warriors needed a big night from Klay the ball was not going down for him. He finished the night with 12 points. He made two 3-point shots in 7 attempts.

The Warriors play the Portland Trail Blazers Friday night in Portland.

Holiday, Bruins oust Cardinal from Pac-12 tournament with 88-77 win

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Photo credit: gostanford.com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, March 08, 2018

UCLA guard Aaron Holiday sliced and diced Stanford to the tune of a career-high 34 points, eight assists and seven rebounds Thursday, as the Bruins defeated the Cardinal 88-77 in the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament quarterfinals in Las Vegas.

Holiday made 12-of-25 field goal attempts, including 5-of-9 behind the arc. Thomas Welsh added 18 points and 11 rebounds for UCLA, which advances to the semifinals against No. 15 Arizona.

KZ Okpala led Stanford with 23 points. Reid Travis added 17 points and a team-high 14 rebounds for the Cardinal (18-15).

The Bruins (21-10) started quickly, withstood a late first-half Stanford run and maintained a consistent lead over the Cardinal in the second half. UCLA hit seven of its first 11 shots, building a 30-17 lead before Stanford responded with a 15-2 run to tie the game at 32-32.

Stanford closed its deficit to 44-40 by halftime, but, with point guard Daejon Davis in foul trouble, never could make a sustained comeback. Davis committed his fourth personal foul one minute and six seconds into the second half.

Going into the game, UCLA was considered a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament, and Stanford had a slim chance to reach the bubble. The Cardinal won their first meeting with UCLA in double overtime, and the Bruins won by 16 at Pauley Pavilion in the teams’ last meeting.

Welsh became the 14th player in Pac-12 history to reach the 1,000-rebound plateau, now with 1,003 – fourth most in UCLA history. He passed the 1,000-point mark in December.

Stanford, whose chance to reach the NCAA Tournament dimmed considerably with the loss, is likely headed to the National Invitation Tournament.

Cal ends season with huge 76-58 loss to Stanford in Pac-12 Tournament

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Photo credit: @CalMBBall

By Joey Friedman
March 8, 2018
Sports Radio Service

College basketball fans were treated to a third installment of the Cal-Stanford men’s basketball rivalry series this season on Wednesday in which the No. 5-seed Stanford Cardinal beat the No. 12-seed California Golden Bears 76-58 to end the Bears’ 2017-2018 campaign, while the Cardinal simultaneously collected their first Pac-12 tournament win since 2015.

Th Bears only had two conference wins this season, but one of them did come against the Cardinal in the conference opener. In an incredible comeback against their rivals on the road, Cal overcame a 17-point deficit with 10 minutes to go and 97.4% win probability for Stanford with three and a half minutes left to win by a score of 77-74 and to improve to an even record.

Coming off of what would prove to be one of the highlights of the season, Cal was looking to have a resurgent second half on the backs of senior Marcus Lee, junior Don Coleman, freshmen Justice Sueing, and Darius McNeill. Their only other win of the season came against Oregon State on February 3rd.

In round two against the Cardinal on February 18th, Cal tied the game up at 67 apiece with four and a half minutes left, but couldn’t hold on at home as Stanford evened the season series by winning 77-73.

In the third game, Stanford had the lead the whole way. As mentioned by Cal head coach Wyking Jones after the game, Cal started slow and was never really able to put together a run to gain momentum nor were they able to get enough of a rhythm going to chip away at the Stanford lead which was at 11 points at the half behind 13 points and five assists from Reid Travis and 10 points from Dorian Pickens. Travis would finish with 19 points and 13 rebounds, Pickens would finish with 16 points, as Daejon Davis and Josh Sharma would both contribute 12 points.

Darius McNeill added all 19 of his points to Cal’s total in the first half as Juhwan Harris-Dyson added seven in the second half to finish at 11 points. Justice Sueing finished with eight points and five rebounds to compliment Don Coleman’s eight boards. Darius McNeill shot 7-17 from the field and 5-10 from beyond the arc to send his season mark for threes to 67, a single-season freshman school record.

Cal was out-passed, out-rebounded, and out-shot all around by the Cardinal; however, they forced the Cardinal to turn the ball over more often than Cal turned the ball over. Unfortunately, Stanford capitalized more off of Cal’s fewer turnovers, collecting fourteen points off Cal’s 11 turnovers, while the Bears were only able to convert Stanford’s 16 turnovers into nine points.

What’s Next?
Stanford: The Cardinal look to keep their slim hopes for an NCAA tournament berth alive as they take on the No. 4 UCLA Bruins in the Pac-12 tournament.

Cal: This year’s performance can be viewed in a positive light when looking forward: a school record for losses in a season can only be improved upon. First-year head coach Wyking Jones looks to focus almost exclusively on individual player improvement during the offseason. With another year of experience for some exciting freshmen, a couple of four-star recruits already committed, and three more ESPN Top 100 recruits still considering Berkeley, next year could easily be a very successful one for the Golden Bears.

Tony Renteria Sports Headlines Podcast: Manning offered up to $10 million from Fox or ESPN; Jones’ rant and Goodell protest costs him $2 million; Is Aldon Smith done?

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Photo credit: @KNBR

On the Sports Headlines Podcast with Tony:

1 ESPN and Fox in a bidding war for Peyton Manning’s TV services the networks have offered as high as $10 million for Manning’s talents as an NFL analyst

2 Dallas Cowboys will have to pay the NFL $2 million for owner Jerry Jones speaking out on behalf of Ezekiel Elliott last season, who was suspended for six games last season. Because the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell would not lift or lighten the suspension and Jones went on a rant and also told the other owners not to renew Goodell’s contract which landed Jones and the Cowboys with a fine.

3 Oakland Raiders’ Aldon Smith–Will he be done or will he get another chance in football?

4 LeBron has selected four teams he is willing to considering during free agency the Cavs, Lakers, Rockets and 76ers where do you see LeBron ending up next season?

5 The Oakland A’s open their season at the Coliseum on March 29th a day game. It’s been years since the A’s played a home opener in the day time.

6 The A’s named former pitcher and Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers as special assistant to team president David Kaval.

Tony Renteria does the Sports Headlines podcast each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com