By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Against the USC Trojans, the first pass was difficult, and the second pass nearly impossible.

Cal’s deliberate pace didn’t move the defense an inch but instead left the Trojans more rooted in the paint. Devin Askew, the Bears’ nearest thing to a catalyst, was then left to put up a bunch of difficult shots.

And that was the opening half, and Cal’s best 20 minutes of the evening, after which they trailed 27-22.

To recap, the hosts, buoyed by their most enthusiastic crowd of the season, totaled one assist, 28 missed shots, and one made three in the first half.

The Bears got as close as 46-43 in the second half, only to see the Trojans score 20 consecutive points to turn a close game into a rout.

The lengthy USC run to close the game exposed the Cal bench, which had four guys play a combined 35 minutes, but shoot 0 for 8 and go scoreless. The quartet of ND Okafor, Obinna Anyanwu, Marsalis Roberson, and Monty Bowser could be an area of growth going forward for Cal, but none have the experience or breadth to impose their will at this point. Sam Alijiki, Cal’s most impactful frontcourt reserve missed the game due to concussion protocols.

Askew once again led Cal in scoring with 23 points, but missed 14 of his 21 shot attempts and committed three turnovers as Cal never gave USC a reason to veer its attention in other directions.

“You have to finish… you get a chance to lay the ball off the backboard, you have to finish it.” coach Mark Fox said.

Lars Thiemann had 10 for Cal, but he too was harassed by a collapsing Trojan defense.

Reese Dixon-Waters led USC with 17, Drew Peterson and Joshua Morgan added 14 each.

The Bears are 0-8 for the first time ever with a visit to Arizona up next. Among Power 5 teams, Cal surprisingly has company: the Louisville Cardinals are 0-7, and no team in the Power 5 Era has started 0-10.

Fox, in his 18th year as head coach at the Division I level, cited the miraculous rise of Bill Snyder’s Kansas State football teams from his youthful days in Kansas. Fox said he told his team the K-State story the other day in an attempt to get them to tap into the mindset needed to turn around their daunting circumstances.

“This team’s going to have to earn their right to win, and that’s going to be difficult,” Fox said.

“He’s been the most positive on the whole team. He refuses to let us quit,” Kuany Kuany said of Fox. “I feel like we’re all picking up from that. He’s very consistent with his energy. We look at him and don’t want to quit because we’ll let our coach down.”