By Morris Phillips

The strategy in the final minutes of a close contest for the trailing team is universal: foul, stop the clock, put your opponent on the foul line, hope for misses and lengthen the game.

But what if the referees are swallowing their whistles and letting both teams play? And your opponent is No. 24 UCLA who routinely defends without fouling?

Well, that strategy won’t work as Cal found out Thursday night at Haas Pavilion when their upset bid fell short in a 61-57 loss to the Bruins.

Jules Bernard’s 3-pointer with 2:08 remaining proved to be the pivotal basket, and gave UCLA a 59-55 lead in a game that was back and forth throughout the second half. Misses by Jarred Hyder on Cal’s ensuing two possessions brought Cal no closer. Finally, Hyder scored with 13 seconds remaining, but the Bears had to foul three times to regain possession. With just eight seconds remaining–and Cal again trailing by four after Johnny Juzang made two free throws–UCLA used one of their fouls to give to prevent a Cal 3-point attempt.

A pair of meaningless shots in the final seconds fell short for Cal, quietly ending their bid to upset the Bruins, who are now 8-0 and alone in first place in the Pac-12.

“We got the lead there late, tried to get our best defensive lineup in, and we kept them off the foul line,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “It was an advantage down the stretch. We knew we had fouls to give with the way we were trying to play defense, so that helped us.”

“We just couldn’t get to the foul line in the second half,” said Cal coach Mark Fox, who saw his team limited to 21 points after halftime after leading 36-32 at the break.

UCLA has now committed fewer fouls than all 14 of their opponents. They committed just 11 fouls in the game and only 20 were whistled prior to the furious final seconds. While Cal slowed the pace, the referees sped the game along. In a game that was completed in well under two hours, the undermanned Bears got few chances to catch their breath.

Grant Anticevich led Cal (7-9, 2-7) with 21 points and perfect 5 for 5 shooting from distance. While UCLA stopped the Bears near the basket, they allowed Cal 10 made threes, seven of those in the first half. That alone kept the Bears in a game in which they were outrebounded 38-23 and wilted as the game progressed.

Cal’s defensive effort against the ranked Bruins was commendable, but even Fox admitted his team controlled tempo better than they defended, and leaving Bernard open for his late three was their biggest mistake.

“To beat a high-level opponent, you have to play a little more mistake-free than we did today,” Fox admitted.

Matt Bradley tested his injured ankle in pre-game warm-ups but was ruled out, missing his fifth straight game. That again left Cal scrambling for offense from other sources that couldn’t deliver. Fox pointed out that Bradley’s absence has affected guard Ryan Betley, who missed his first seven shots and finished 1 for 8 in 33 minutes of floor time.

“Were asking too much of Ryan, and I think he’s worn down,” Fox said.

The Bears are scheduled to host USC on Saturday but COVID issues within the Trojans program has put the game in question. The USC-Stanford game on Thursday was canceled.