By Morris Phillips

The Bears found more contributors, but the expanded mix didn’t add up to an elusive first win.

Cal returned to the hardwood after an eight-day break for final exams but couldn’t pass their test at Santa Clara, falling 71-62 to the Broncos.

Cal (0-12) is now the only winless team in 363-member Division I, and their 15-game losing streak dates back to February.

The Bears were competitive early but went quiet offensively in the five minutes before halftime, then finished the game without leading scorer Devin Askew, who suffered an ankle injury.

“We had a little drought at the end of the half that we didn’t recover from,” coach Mark Fox said.

The Bears trailed 34-25 at the break and by as many as 13 early in the second half before rallying to gain some competitiveness with the host Broncos.

Eight Bears scored in the first half, and a season-best nine scored in the game led by Joel Brown’s 13 points. Five Cal players made a 3-pointer, but ultimately Santa Clara’s 47 percent shooting from the floor was too much to overcome.

“Our defense has to get better. We’re just giving up percentages we can’t withstand,” Fox said.

Brandin Podziemski, the sophomore transfer from Illinois, led all scorers with 20 points. Santa Clara also got 17 from rim-running big man Parker Braun on 8 of 9 shooting and 13 from Keshawn Justice.

Afterwards, SCU coach Herb Sendek lauded Podziemski for his play at both ends, including taking charges that resulted in offensive fouls on Brown and Sam Alajiki in the game’s final minute as well as picking up his defensive intensity when teammate Jaden Bediako was limited to 13 minutes due to foul trouble. Bediako’s misfortune gave opportunities to reserves Camaron Tongue and Jacob Holt, and they delivered for the hosts as well.

“It’s so great to see a total team effort because that’s the nature of our sport,” Sendek said. “That’s the beauty of what we’re blessed to have an opportunity to do.”

Can Cal break through and win one with so much scrutiny and focus on their troubled, injury-marred season? Consider this: the Bears will likely be favored to win in their final non-conference game on Wednesday at Haas Pavilion against Texas-Arlington. After that, conference play will mean far more capable opponents with NCAA and NIT aspirations.

Over the weekend, UCLA, USC, and Arizona scored huge wins against ranked Southeastern Conference opponents in Kentucky, Auburn, and Tennessee. Utah, Arizona State, Colorado, and Washington have eye-opening, non-conference wins as well, and Oregon State is vastly improved and clearly ahead of the Bears at this point as well.

Whatever Cal gets in Pac-12 play will be hard-earned.