Cal Bears guard Jaylon Tyson (10) takes the ball up the floor against the Montana State Tigers at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley on Thu Nov 16, 2023 (Cal Bears photo)

By Steve Ruderman

Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023

Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, California

Montana State Bobcats 63 (2-1)

California Golden Bears 60 (2-2)

By Stephen Ruderman

The Bears were unable to capitalize on their big win Monday, as the Montana State Bobcats, led by Brandon Walker and his 26-point performance, came into Haas Pavilion to prevent Cal from getting a thrilling comeback win, as Montana State held on to win, 63-60.

Jalen Cone hit an early jumper to give Cal a 2-0 lead. Montana State came back to take a 4-2 lead, and a three ball by Fardaws Aimaq gave Cal the lead back at 5-4. A layup by Brandon Walker, who would just be getting started, put the Bobcats back ahead at 6-5, and they would hold the lead the rest of the night.

Montana State looked poised to pull away with the game early, as they opened their lead to 12-5, but Cal scored six unanswered points to close it to 12-11. Despite that, the Bobcats maintained a steady lead throughout the rest of the first period, never leading by more than six.

The Bobcats led 33-27 at the half, and they started to open up their lead again at the start of the second period, as a 9-3 run gave Montana State a 44-30 lead with 15:09 remaining.

Cal slowly chipped away into the latter half of the second period, but they got even closer, as a pair of free throws by Aimaq cut the deficit to 51-49 with 4:49 remaining.

There was a lot of scoring in the final few minutes. The Bobcats pulled out to a 57-51 lead with 3:19 remaining, but Jaylon Tyson, who shined for the Bears tonight with 27 points, led the charge for, and Cal came back to make it 63-60 with just 16 seconds remaining.

Following a foul by Cone, and a pair of missed free throws by Robert Ford for Montana State, Cone missed a three that would’ve tied the game with four seconds, and that would be it, as the Bobcats won it, 63-60.

Cone’s missed three-pointer highlighted a game in which the Bears made just three three-balls, down from 13 against Bakersfield Monday. Cone, who hit seven threes on Monday, hit just one tonight. Cone was 1-for-10 from beyond the arc, and scored just eight points.

Cal ends up going 2-2 on the opening homestand, and they will head to San Juan Capistrano for the SoCal Challenge starting Monday night, when they will take on the UTEP Miners for a very-late 9:30 tipoff.