Month: December 2018

Roadrunners’ late goal edges Barracuda 4-3 for series split

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Jordan Gross might want to pencil in a vacation to Silicon Valley during the off-season as he had a weekend to remember. He scored the game-winning goal with under two minutes remaining in the game to help the Tucson Roadrunners defeat the San Jose Barracuda 4-3 on Saturday evening at SAP Center.

Gross rifled a shot from the right point for the game-winner at the 18:06 mark of the third period that beat Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (6-4-3) over his left shoulder for his fourth goal of the season. It was his second goal of the night and third in the two-game series. Before this weekend, Gross hadn’t scored a goal in 17 straight games.

San Jose (17-5-1-3) drew first blood early in the first period. Jeffery Truchon-Viel sent in  shot from the left-wing and Evan Weinger cleaned up the rebound, putting the puck past Roadrunners goalie Merrick Madsen (5-3-0) for his sixth goal of the season at the 2:48 mark.

Tucson (16-8-3-1) tied it up just under two minutes later when Jordon Gross scored the first of his two goals. He was able to beat Bibeau from the right corner of the point after Lane Pedersen won a face-off draw. Gross’ third goal of the season came at the 4:43 mark. Brayden Burke also received an assist on the goal.

Dylan Gambrell regained the lead for San Jose halfway through the opening frame when he was set up by captain John McCarthy and Rourke Chartier. He moved into the slot and wristed one past Madsen for his eighth goal of the season came at the 10:37 mark.

Tucson continued the see-saw battle once again getting the tying goal two minutes later when Kyle Capobianco scored his fourth goal of the season when his shot beat a screened Bibeau at the 12:38 mark. Laurence Dauphin received the assist.

In the second period, Tucson gained their first lead of the game when Trevor Cheek scored his fourth goal of the season at the 3:20 mark. Keaton Middleton coughed up the puck in his own zone which resulted in a breakaway for Cheek whose shot was poked checked away by Bibeau, but it deflected off his back and into the net. Robbie Russo and Capobianco received assists.

A key moment in the game came half way through the middle frame when the Cuda were able to kill off a double-minor penalty for high-sticking to Maxim Letunov.

Pederson then went off to the sin bin for holding and San Jose were able to take advantage. Truchon-Viel scored the equalizer seconds after the power play expired on the rebound. The rookie forward’s sixth goal of the season came at the 11:23 mark. Alex True and Thomas Gregoire received assists.

Madsen made 29 saves on 32 shots to earn his fifth win. Bibeau make 33 saves, including three breakaway attempts (two of those were short-handed), on 37 shots in the tough luck loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/2 on the power play. Tucson was 0/4.

San Jose suffered its first regulation home loss since mid-October. They’re record is now 10-2-0-1 at the Shark Tank.

The announced attendance was 4,609.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return to action on Thursday, Dec. 27 as they host the Colorado Eagles in a matinée match up at 1:15 pm at SAP Center.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Bruins, despite injuries, win 5-2 over Preds; CBJs get a 4-3 OT win against Philly; Habs-Knights games turning into a rivalry; plus more

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@NHLBruins: The Boston Bruins had plenty to celebrate as Patrice Bergeron (37) scored twice once in the first and another in the third period to help the B’s get a two goal 5-3 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Boston Bruins (20-12-4) took care of business with a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators (22-13-2), First period goal from the Bruins Patrice Bergeron (10) and a third period goal–number 11 for the season.

#2 Columbus Blue Jackets (20-12-3) got a 4-3 win past the Philadelphia Flyers (14-16-4) Zach Werenski gets his sixth goal and Cam Atkinson gets his 21st and 22nd in the one-goal win for the CBJs.

#3 Florida Panthers (14-14-6) get a 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings (15-17-5). The Panthers got a first period goal from Mike Hoffman (16) at 3:09 and Evgenii Dadonov (17) at 17:21.

#4 The Montreal Canadiens (19-13-5) got a 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights (20-15-3). For the Habs’ Phillip Danault got goals three, four and five for a hat trick.

#5  The last place Los Angeles Kings (13-20-2) picked up an overtime win over the San Jose Sharks (19-12-6). For the Sharks, it was their second straight loss after winning five straight. The Kings’ IIya Kovalchuk scored his seventh goal for the overtime winner.

Join Matt each Saturday for the NHL podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Protecting Mullens Key to a 49ers’ Victory

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Photo credit: @NBCS49ers

By: Joe Lami

The final home game of the season is here for the 49ers and their chance of a three-game winning streak is on the line. Unfortunately, they’ll have an extremely tall task in front of them with the NFC North champs in town.

Chicago rolls into Levi’s on Sunday with a 10-4 record, already owning a playoff spot and must win to keep up with LA or New Orleans for a first-round bye.

Their breakout season is powered by their defense, which ranks top-five in nearly every statistical category. After the acquisition of Khalil Mack, they’ve turned into a powerhouse that can compete for the Lombardi Trophy come February.

Mack will return to the Bay Area and face the team that tried to trade for him at the beginning of the year, currently sixth in the NFL with 12.5 sacks. His pass rush leads to a bunch of forced turnovers, as the Bears lead the NFL with 35 takeaways on the year and a +13 differential.

The Niners are on the complete opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to turnovers. The red and gold defense has just five takeaways all season and is competing with the 1982 Houston Oilers for the least amount of takeaways ever.

Forcing second-year quarterback Mitch Trubisky to make an error or two can help the Niners offense that has been decent of late. Trubisky has thrown 12 picks on the year, seventh most in the NFL. The 49ers secondary needs to step up and finish a play.

Nick Mullens is coming off back-to-back 100+ QB rating games. Protecting him is a must, as the Bears pass defense is allowing 227 yards per game, 10th in the NFL and their greatest weakness.

His main target, George Kittle, is continuing a career year. After being the first Niners’ tight end to break the 1,000-yard receiving plateau, he currently stands 10th in the NFL in yards and has earned his Pro Bowl bid.

Sharks Fall to Kings 3-2 in OT; Kovalchuk Scores 2 Goals

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By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks lost 3-2 in overtime to the visiting Los Angeles Kings Saturday. Ilya Kovalchuk, just returned from a 10-game absence, scored twice for Los Angeles, including the overtime game-winner. Alex Iafallo also scored for the Kings, while goaltender Jonathan Quick made 29 saves in the win. For the Sharks, goals came from Lukas Radil and Joe Pavelski, and goaltender Martin Jones made 28 saves in the loss.

The Sharks’ special teams were both defeated by the Kings, though each team only had one power play in the game. The faceoffs were fairly even through the game at 51% to 49% for the Sharks. It is worth noting that the Kings blocked 29 shots to the Sharks’ 11.

The first goal for Los Angeles came on a power play at 4:28 of the first from Ilya Kovalchuk. Timo Meier was in the box for hooking Jake Muzzin when Brendan Leipsic carried the puck behind the Sharks net to send it back up to Alex Iafallo at the point. His pass found Jake Muzzin in the slot, but he didn’t have a clear shot. So he passed it to Kovalchuk at the bottom of the faceoff circle, and his shot beat Jones on the short side. It was Kovalchuk’s sixth of the season, with assists going to Muzzin and Iafallo.

The Kings led the Sharks in shots in the first period, 15-8.

At 8:09 of the second period, Oscar Fantenberg had a goal taken away for goaltender interference by Dustin Brown. Brown was in the blue paint, behind the Sharks’ Brenden Dillon. He could have argued that Dillon kept him in the paint, crowding Jones, but he got into that paint on his own.

The Sharks had a power play opportunity near the end of the second period, but did not score. The Los Angeles penalty kill did an excellent job of controlling the puck and play in general.

The Sharks did outshoot the Kings during the second period, 13-6, but still trailed 1-0 to Los Angeles.

The Kings started the third period mostly playing keep away from the Sharks, to good effect. For good measure, they scored a second goal at 5:15. Dustin Brown carried the puck below the goal line, then sent it to Iafallo for a perfect shot over Martin Jones. It was Iafallo’s eighth of the season, with assists to Brown and Nate Thompson.

The Sharks finally got one by Jonathan Quick at 10:18 of the third period. Lukas Radil, skating across the goal mouth, deflected Timo Meier’s shot from the boards. The puck went over Quick’s shoulder and off the crossbar for Radil’s third goal of the season. Assists went to Meier and Erik Karlsson.

San Jose left the tying goal until the final minute. With the Sharks net empty, Erik Karlsson passed the puck to Brent Burns, waiting just below the blue line. He sent the puck to the net, where Joe Pavelski was waiting to deflect it in. It was Pavelski’s 23rd goal of the season, with assists to Burns and Karlsson.

The overtime period lasted 2:29, at which point Kovalchuck put the puck behind Jones to end the game.

Erik Karlsson could possibly hear from the Department of Player Safety regarding a hit he made on Austin Wagner during the second period. Wagner did not return to the game after that hit.

That question will be answered before the Sharks next play, on Sunday at 5:00 PM PT, when they will host the Arizona Coyotes.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: After winning five straight, were Sharks tired or just slipped up against Jets?

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 The San Jose Sharks (19-12-5) came into SAP Center with a five-game win streak, but took a 5-3 two-goal loss to the Winnipeg Jets (23-10-2) on Thursday night.

#2 The Jets’ Nikojai Ehlers got a hat trick and scored the tie-breaking goal to help the Jets get a road win in one of the toughest places to play in the NHL, San Jose.

#3 The Sharks’ Evander Kane said after the game Thursday that the Sharks made a couple of mistakes that they would like to take back.

#4 San Jose outshot Winnipeg 34-13 and the Sharks outshot the Jets in the  period 14-4, but still the Sharks couldn’t figure out the Jets goaltender Conner Hellebuyck, who stopped 41 of 44 shots in the 5-3 Jets win.

#5 The Sharks have a matinee at SAP Center with the Los Angeles Kings (12-20-3), a 1 PM start. The Sharks will be coming off a tough loss and will battle to get back in the win column.

Len Shapiro does the SJ Sharks podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Fantasy Football Doctors Podcast Week 16: Championship Weekend

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FF1Fantasy Football Belt

Your hosts: Dr. Vasu Vaddiparty & Dr. Charlie O

  • Is Aaron Rodgers a solid start vs. the Jets?
  • How will Tom Brady perform without Josh Gordon?
  • Will Russell Wilson will give you the points you need?
  • Andrew Luck is on tap for a big week against the Giants
  • Matt Ryan could be ready to shred the Panthers defense
  • Will Baker Mayfield lead the Browns over the Bengals?
  • Will Christian McCaffrey be 100% on Sunday?
  • You must play Jaylen Samuels
  • Sony Michel will have a huge workload versus Buffalo
  • Julio Jones should also have a big week in Carolina

The doctors have news and views to help you win your fantasy football championship or at least “finish in the money.” Give them a listen right now!

It was an ugly win, but it was a win: Kings beat Grizzlies 102-99 Friday night

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GrizSac Title
Graphic@SacramentoKings

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings held the lead over the Memphis Grizzlies just twice in their game on Friday night at the Golden 1 Center. SAC took the first lead of the game 2-0 and would not lead again until there was just 1:17 remaining to play in the game when they would retake the lead over the Grizzlies 98-97.

The Kings (17-15) would hold on to win the game 103-99 to hand the Grizzlies (16-16) their fifth consecutive loss. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak by Sacramento.

Memphis brought their “Grind House D” to SAC

GrizSac Team win
Photo@SacramentoKings

The Grizzlies love to slow the game down and get physical with their opponents under the bucket. The “new” Kings want to get out and run the floor in order to drive the opposition into exhaustion.

On Friday night, the Grizzlies controlled the pace. Memphis set the pace and forced the Kings to play the Grizzlies style of basketball until the fourth quarter. In the final 12-minutes, Sacramento changed the dynamic.

Memphis held the Kings to a field goal percentage of just 37.5% (33/88). It is incredibly rare for an NBA to walk away with a victory when they shoot under 40% in a game.

Sacramento turned in a respectable performance from behind the 3-point line. They hit 15-of-41 attempts from downtown (36.6%). The Kings also had a decent night at the charity stripe, converting 21-of-29 free throw attempts (72.4%).

The Grizzlies outscored the Kings in the paint 34-32. Sacramento won the battle of second chance points 10-8. To no one’s surprise, the Kings won the battle for fastbreak points 21-13.

Memphis outrebounded the Kings 44-42.

Key stats that tell a big story

GrizSac FlyingFox
Flying Fox @SacramentoKings

The Kings committed just 10 turnovers in the contest and those miscues resulted in 16 points for the Grizzlies.

Memphis recorded 18 turnovers that resulted in 27 points for Sacramento. The Griz will look at the turnovers and cringe for some time to come because they may well have cost them the game.

The Kings also won the battle of steals. SAC made 10 thefts in the game while MEM was able to steal the ball just seven times.

Key Performers

GrizSac Guards
Photo@SacramentoKings

Kings

  • Buddy Hield was the game’s leading scorer posting 28 points for the game. He shot just 9-for-24 from the field, but hit 6-of-13 from 3-point land. Hield also added eight rebounds.
  • De’Aaron Fox recorded 14 points and eight assists for Sacramento in the victory. Fox also made five steals in the game. His defense in the final period was a real difference maker.
  • Bogdan Bogdanovic also scored 14 points in the contest but shot just 3-for-9 from the floor. However, all three of his baskets were 3-point buckets. Bogdanovic also went 5-for-8 from the free throw line.
  • Willie Cauley-Stein recorded a double-double in Kings victory. He scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds versus the Grizzlies. He also dished out four assists.
  • Iman Shumpert and Nemanja Bjelica each scored 11 points in the game.

Grizzlies

  • Mike Conley was the Grizzlies leading scorer with 23 points. Conley hit a career-high seven 3-point baskets in the game.
  • Former King Garrett Temple added 17 points for Memphis.
  • Marc Gasol put 12 points and eight rebounds in the book.
  • All five of the Memphis starters scored in double figures.

Up Next

The Kings will wrap up their 3-game homestand on Sunday afternoon when they will host Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Grizzlies travel to Los Angeles and will face the Lakers on Sunday.

Cal Bears basketball podcast with Michael Duca and Morris Phillips: McNeil and Kelly lead the way in Cal’s 88-80 win over SJSU

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calbears.com photo: The Cal Bears Darius McNiel (1) led Cal in scoring with 22 points against the San Jose State Spartans at Haas Pavilion Friday night in Berkeley

On the Cal Bears basketball podcast with Michael and Morris:

In a Christmas-break clash between two local rebuilding programs, the California Golden Bears and San Jose State Spartans met at Haas Pavilion Friday evening in front of a small but enthusiastic crowd. Cal prevailed, 88-80. Darius McNeil (season-high 22 points) and Andre Kelly (21 points and 10 rebounds, both career highs) led Cal, while Oumar Barry had a career-high 18 points, one of four Spartans in double figures.

Michael and Morris do the Cal Bears podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Perron scores game-winner, Barracuda beat Roadrunners 4-3 in OT

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Francis Perron continues to be the San Jose Barracuda’s best clutch player as he scored the game winning goal in overtime to defeat the Tucson Roadrunners 4-3 in a Pacific Division battle on Friday evening at SAP Center. The Cuda came back from a two-goal deficit and scored the game’s final three goals.

Alex True started a 2-on-1 odd man rush in the neutral zone. He fed a pass over to Perron at the blue line and skated in fired a wrist shot that went off the blocker of Roadrunners goalie Hunter Miska and into the bottom left corner of the net for his team-leading 12th goal on the season a the 1:48 mark of overtime.

“The D-guy (Tucson defender) made a great play actually, a great dive,” said Perron. “I wanted to pass it at first. Then I kinda hesitated after that. Saw the hole on the short side and it went in.”

Lane Pedersen drew first blood for the Roadrunners (15-8-2-1) on the power play. Tyler Steenbergen sent in a shot on goal that hit off Nick Merkley and onto the stick of Pedersen who buried the puck past Cuda goalie Joesef Korenar (11-1-1) for his seventh goal of the season at the 11:01 mark of the first period.

Dylan Gambrell took advantage of a turnover in the Tuscon defensive zone and skated in all alone on Roadrunners goalie Hunter Miska (7-4-4) and put a deke on Miska and scored into an open net to tie the game up at 1-1. The unassisted goal, Gambrell’s seventh of the season came at the 12:29 mark. He has now scored a point in four out of his last five games.

Hudson Fasching gave Tucson the lead just 12 seconds into the second period. Steenbergen fed a pass over to Fasching along the left boards and he skated behind the net and his wraparound backhander beat Korenar top-shelf for his ninth goal of the season.

Jordan Gross put Tuscon up by two goals, thanks to a fortunate bounce. Darik Angeli’s pass from the blue line hit a Cuda defender’s stick and bounced right over to a wide open Gross, who pinched in from the point, and snapped in a wrist shot past Kornear to the short side of the net for his second goal of the season at the 5:33 mark.

Jon Martin brought San Jose (16-4-1-3) right back into the game when he raced in from the left side of the blue to retrieve a loose puck sent in from the neutral zone by Francis Perron. Martin skated in with a backhand, forehand move that deflected off of Miska into the back of the bet for his third goal of the season at the 14:06 mark.

San Jose scored the equalizer when Keaton Middleton pounced on a loose puck and slammed it home for his third goal at the 6:40 mark of the third period. Maxim Letunov and Manny Wiederer were trying to jam in the puck in a mad scramble out in front of the net. The puck leaked out in between the face off circles where Middleton pinched in and cleaned up the rebound. Anti Suomela and Wiederer were credited with assists.

“It tells you something about this group in there when they’re done 3-2,” said head coach Roy Sommer. “Not a lot of teams come back going into the third (period) especially against a team like Tucson. To come back like that, it was fun.”

Merkley had a breakaway opportunity with under two minutes left in the third period after stealing the puck from Middleton at the Cuda blueline, but his chance was stoned away by Kornear.

Korenar made 20 saves on 23 shots to earn his 11th victory of the season. Miska, who had an outstanding game in his own right, made 29 saves on 33 shots in the tough luck loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/3 on the power play. Tucson was 1/5.

Gambrell’s goal also sparked a flurry of teddy bears being tossed onto the ice as it was the annual Teddy Bear Toss Night at SAP Center. The hundreds of stuffed animals caused about an eight minute delay as the team and it’s staff helped put them in bags and get them off the ice so the game could resume.

“We’ve had that game in juniors and college”, said Gambrell. “That was the first time I got that one so it was pretty exciting.”

San Jose currently has the best home winning percentage in the AHL with a record of 9-1-0-1.

Perron now has scored a point in 10 of his last 12 games including three multi-point games over that stretch.

The announced attendance was 4,455.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda and Roadrunners go back at it again on Saturday, Dec. 22 at 6:00 pm at SAP Center.

Cal prevails over San Jose State to win 88-80

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Photo credit: @CalMBBall

By: Michael Duca

BERKELEY, Calif. — In a Christmas-break clash between two local rebuilding programs, the California Golden Bears and San Jose State Spartans met at Haas Pavilion Friday evening in front of a small but enthusiastic crowd. Cal prevailed, 88-80. Darius McNeil (season-high 22 points) and Andre Kelly (21 points and 10 rebounds, both career highs) led Cal, while Oumar Barry had a career-high 18 points, one of four Spartans in double figures.

The Spartans, behind five players in double figures, were coming off a loss to Stanford where they gave the Cardinal all they wanted, and more, before succumbing 78-73.  Cal was coming off a 95-73 drubbing at the hands of Fresno State.

While both teams opened the game shooting poorly (a combined 2-for-11 in the first three minutes), the Golden Bears (4-6) rode runs of 5-0 and 7-0 to double up the Spartans (3-7), 14-7, in the first seven minutes of play.  It would be misleading to attribute the low scoring to defensive aggressiveness, and each team committed just one personal foul in the game’s first 10 minutes of play.

After the first media timeout, at 16:00, the Bears found the range, hitting 4 of their next 5 shots including 3-of-9 shooting from long distance to extended their lead from 5-4 to 17-9 at the second media timeout.

When the third media timeout rolled around, at 7:27, Cal, trying to solve the Spartans’ 3-2 zone, was riding a cold streak of nearly 5 minutes without a field goal, and more than eight minutes with just a single layup. It got so bad, usually reliable Matt Bradley came up with a steal in the Spartan paint and ran the length of the floor, only to miss the cripple layup. A minute later, San Jose State tied the game at 19 apiece.

The teams traded scores until intermission, which came with the Spartans holding a 32-30 advantage, despite having a less-than-stellar 4/10 assist/turnover ratio.  San Jose State out-shot Cal 48% to 35% and outrebounded them 18-14. Andre Kelly led the Golden Bears with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, and six rebounds. Post man Oumar Barry led San Jose State, also with 12 points (on 4-of-6 shooting) and six rebounds, en route to a career scoring high of 18.

Cal came out of the intermission smoking, shooting 70% in the first six minutes and opening a 14-point lead behind 9 points from Darius McNeil.

“They were packing in,” McNeil said, “they wanted us to shoot it (in the first half), we just started hitting them after halftime.”

“I talked to him at halftime,” noted Coach Jones, “and told him he needed to shoot the ball more.”

The Golden Bears were more aggressive to the hoop in a 26-11 run to start the half, and as a result were in the bonus with nearly 13 minutes left in the game.

“Coach had us start to press and we got some turnovers and opened a lead,” said McNeil.

The pesky Spartans refused to go away, however, cutting the lead back to 8 with 6:30 to play. A Matt Bradley block of a Michael Steadman layup at 5:00 produced the Bears’ third defensive stop in four possessions and led to a 12-point cushion with 4:46 to play, 77-65. The Spartans weren’t done yet, however. An 11-0 run in the game’s final three minutes saw the Golden Bears clinging to a 4-point lead inside a minute, after a 2:40 scoring drought.

San Jose State head coach Jean Prioleau said, “I think we have a very competitive group.  We are resilient, and in the beginning stages of building a program in the South Bay Area. I think we shot very well tonight, maybe the best in school history. We had a lot of live ball turnovers, and that’s very bad for us.  We switched up our man and zone, and they hit some threes, but we lost because of live ball turnovers.”

The Spartans committed 15 turnovers, while the Golden Bears had a season-low 5.

Paris Austin, who had a career-high 11 assists and zero turnovers, hit a pair of free throws with 36 seconds left, and a foul on Steadman on the ensuing possession all but sealed the deal, giving Austin another pair of free throws with a 6-point lead.  Austin netted both to give the Bears their final cushion. The 88 points are the most surrendered by San Jose State this season.

“It felt like this was a complete team effort,” said a smiling Coach Jones, “which is what you want. Paris Austin stands out, because we have been talking about sharing the ball, and 11 assists with no turnovers does that. He didn’t care about his points, but they took care of themselves.”

The double-double for Kelly was the first of his career.

“I just try to shoot a high percentage from the field,” Kelly said, “and I tried to make plays tonight. To be honest, I don’t look at the stat sheet, I didn’t know how good my night was.”

Coach Jones knew how good it was. “I would love to see him do that every night,” Jones said.

Next up for Cal is a December 29 game at Haas vs. the Seattle University Redhawks. Tipoff is at 5 pm.