By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–An unexpected and strange afternoon of basketball was best summed up by longtime Colorado Buffaloes radio announcer Mark Johnson:

“Joel Brown has looked like Michael Jordan,” Johnson snickerishly opined.

Brown’s upwardly, fully mobile impersonation of the greatest wasn’t visible to most, or many in a sparsely populated Haas Pavilion on Saturday afternoon, but it was effective. The senior guard lead Cal with 21 points in an eye-opening 80-76 win for the Golden Bears, their first Pac-12 win after three losses.

For Cal (2-13, 1-3), it was the needed progression from national laughingstock to something far more competitive with two wins in their last three outings. For Colorado and Coach Tad Boyle, it was something to abhor, as his frustration with his team’s effort highlighted his post-game remarks.

“Our guards can’t get through ball screens,” Boyle said. “We had nobody on our team who could even think about guarding Joel Brown. He took us off the bounce whenever he wanted.”

Brown, a senior with 105 games under his belt, had never scored 20 points in a game collegiately. Has he improved immensely from his freshman season? No doubt he has. But Boyle, the architect of the Buffaloes scouting report that materialized 48 hours after Cal scored a season-low 43 points against Utah with Brown limited to four points, two turnovers, and one assist wasn’t in the mood.

“We’re not good enough shot makers. We’re not good enough free throw shooters to rely on that night in and night out. So we’d better be able to rely on our defense and rebounding, which I talk about all the time, but this team hasn’t accepted that and put it in their DNA,” Boyle explained. “That’s on me. I’m not sure I’ve been part of a more disappointing loss from a defense and rebounding standpoint.”

Cal shot 58 percent from the floor, their best shooting effort in a conference game since February 2015. The outpouring of offense shocked the smallish crowd–and the Buffs–from the start. Cal took the lead 26 seconds in and used a 12-0 run to build a noticeable lead that they sustained until halftime, leading 39-27. Colorado did its part not only with spotty defense but 1 for 12 shooting from distance as well.

Brown attacked the basket throughout and emboldened his teammates with his success. All five Cal starters scored in double digits, which completely transformed their season-long dynamic with Devin Askew missing for a second straight game and the newly-healthy but rusty DeJuan Clayton starting in Askew’s place.

The Bears held a trio of second-half, 21-point leads, the last with 4:06 remaining after Kuany Kuany’s 3-pointer. But the Buffs and leading scorer KJ Simpson went bonkers in the final 2:51, scoring 20 points to get within 79-76 with six seconds left. But Brown was subsequently fouled, and his made free throw provided the final margin.

Brown abstained from any mention of his personal accomplishments in his post-game remarks, deferring to his teammates and the confidence the win instilled in the group. But Fox did headline Brown in his comments.

“It’s good to see him play as well as he did because he was terrific today,” Fox said of Brown.

The Bears opened 2022 with a conference win over Arizona State on January 2. After that, they nose dived to a 5-15 Pac-12 record and started this season with three more losses. But at 4-18 for the calendar year, the Bears have a recent win and hope for the New Year.

“I think this group being rewarded today hopefully will just magnify their desire to come to the gym everyday,” Fox said. “But that desire hasn’t really ever wavered.”

The Bears get a shot at Stanford at Haas Pavilion on Friday at 6pm in their next game which feels much more competitive than anyone could have imagined at the season’s outset.