By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Andre Kelly tallied 11 of California’s 18 overtime points, and the Bears escaped with a 75-68 double overtime win over Southern Utah at Haas Pavilion on Thursday.

Kelly finished with 29 points, 15 rebounds to pace Cal with John Knight III leading Southern Utah with 31 points. While Kelly heated up late to rescue Cal from an offensive standpoint, Knight was held scoreless over the final 3:41 of regulation, and the first 9 minutes, 32 seconds of the two overtime periods. When Knight was cooking–he had 12 of his 31 in the second half–the Thunderbirds built a 44-34 lead with 13:41 remaining, necessitating a furious run and come back by the Bears to force overtime.

Bears’ coach Mark Fox turned to 6’7″ freshman Sam Alajiki during this stretch to guard Knight. That prompted a 8-0 run to get Cal within two, and also got the Bears some relief from Knight’s hot shooting.

“We were having a real hard time with that kid’s strength,” Fox said of his decision to insert Alajiki. “Sam is a real strong and powerful guy, we went with that lineup and he did a great job.”

The Bears drew even at 46 with 8:48 remaining, and again at 51 on Kelly’s layup with 4:40 remaining. But they didn’t experience a lead in the second half until Grant Anticevich hit a jumper with 28 seconds left. Maizen Fausett followed with a layup to force overtime for Southern Utah. Joel Brown’s layup attempt at the buzzer was blocked by SUU’s Dre Marin.

Cal had not experienced an overtime game since February 2020 when they beat Utah 86-79. The Bears moved to 4-0 in overtime contests with Fox as their coach.

Southern Utah hadn’t endured a two-overtime game since their 2019 victory over Nebraska. Knight led the Thunderbirds in floor time with 49 minutes. Three other Southern Utah starters logged at least 44 minutes, and coach Todd Simon only got three points all evening from his bench.

Kelly was a gametime decision due to an ankle injury, but he responded with 11 of 16 shooting from the floor. He also buried a 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining in the second overtime to give Cal its biggest lead, 73-65.

Andre had a very productive night,” Fox said. “I still think he can play a lot better.”

Anticevich had 15 points, eight rebounds and Brown played a team-most 46 minutes. He had seven assists, five rebounds but struggled with his shot. Brown finished with four points on 1 of 7 shooting.

Southern Utah got 14 points, eight rebounds from Fausett and Tevian Jones had 11 points, five rebounds. Jones was 0 of 6 from three, part of a subpar team effort from distance in which SUU missed 22 of 27 three attempts.

The Bears continue competition in the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off in Florida on November 22 where they will meet No. 24 Florida. The Gators won easily on Thursday, defeating Milwaukee 81-45.