Jaylon Tyson (20) guard for the Cal Bears was key against the Washington State Cougars on Sat Jan 20, 2024 at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley in the Bears overtime win (file photo by Cal Bears)

Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024

Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, California

Washington State Cougars 75 (13-6 Overall; 4-4 Pac-12)

California Golden Bears 81 (7-12 Overall; 3-5 Pac-12)

By Stephen Ruderman

BERKELEY–After blowing an 11-point lead, and trailing by seven with two minutes and three seconds to go in the second half, the Bears bounced back, and they beat the Washington State Cougars in a thriller in overtime, 81-75

The Bears were looking to bounce back after a pair of devastating losses. They blew a massive lead against the Oregon Ducks in Eugene on Jan. 13, and then they lost a wild seesaw battle to the Washington Huskies on a buzzer beater Thursday night.

Today, the Bears were up against another strong Pac-12 force in the Washington State Cougars, winners of three in a row coming in. The second of the three wins was a 73-70 win over the eighth-ranked Arizona Wildcats, and the Bears were once again going to have their hands full.

The Cougars won the tip, and got on the board right away on a jump shot by Isaac Jones. There then wouldn’t be any scoring for a minute and a half. The Bears missed three shots; the Cougars missed one shot, and had a turnover. Fardaws Aimaq then got Cal on the board with a jumper.

The Cougars had some early momentum, particularly with the three-ball, as Adrej Jakimovski responded to Aimaq’s jumper with a three. Keonte Kennedy hit a jumper, but Jaylen Wells hit a three to give the Cougars an 8-4 lead. Following a free throw by Aimaq and a layup by Jaylon Tyson, Jakimovski hit another three to make it 11-7.

Jalen Cone hit a three, and then Rice Myles hit two from the line after being fouled. Aimaq laid one in; Myles hit one of two from the line; and Grant Newell hit a three to give Cal their first lead of the day.

The Bears caught fire, as Newell’s three was the beginning of a 13-2 run that fueled the Bears to open up a 27-16 lead with 8:26 to go in the first half. Tyson, Aimaq, Gus Larson, Jalen Celestine and Cone all scored during the run.

Myles hit a jumper to make it 27-18 with 7:41 remaining, and then there wasn’t any scoring for nearly three minutes. The teams traded points in the final few minutes of the first half. Jaylon Tyson and Jaylen Wells traded layups; Jakimovski hit a jumper to make it 29-24; and Cone and Jakimovski traded threes to make it 32-37 with 2:51 to go.

The Cougars were able to claw back into the game, as a jumper by Rueben Chinyelu made it a three-point game at 32-29. However, the Bears went into half up 36-29 after dunks by Tyson and Aimaq.

The Bears were able to maintain a semi-steady lead as the second half got underway, and a dunk by Aimaq made it a nine-point lead at 42-33.

Then, the Cougars came storming back, and in what has been an unfortunate recurring theme for the Bears this season, they blew another big lead. Rice Myles was fouled, and hit one of two from the line, which started a 9-0 run by the Cougars to tie the game.

Jakimovski was also fouled, and hit one of two from the line. Rice and Jakimovski both made layups, then Rice hit a jumper, and tied the game from the line after he was fouled.

Just like that, the Bears had blown yet another lead, and the Cougars were not done. Myles hit a three with exactly 10 minutes remaining in the second half to give Washington State a 49-46 lead, and they kept going. Oscar Cluff hit a pair at the line, and then he made a layup and a free throw after he was fouled on the play to open up a 54-48 lead for Washington State.

Jaylon Wells hit a three with 4:20 left to give the Cougars their biggest lead at 59-52, and the game appeared to be over. However, the Bears, who had blown many big leads this season, had also come back from a fair share of deficits this season, and they had another comeback in them.

The teams traded points for the next two minutes, and a jumper by Myles Rice had the Cougars up 65-58 with just 2:03 to go. Aimaq laid one in, and hit a free throw after he fouled on the play; Rice missed a three; and Jaylon Tyson hit a three to suddenly make it a one-point game.

Tyson laid one in, and Jalen Cone hit two from the line after being intentionally fouled to give the Bears a 68-65 lead, but Myles hit a three at the buzzer to send the game into overtime notched at 68-68.

Overtime began, and after three missed shots by the Bears, Jalen Celestine hit a three to put Cal back ahead. Tyson was fouled, and hit one of two from the line; and Keonte Kennedy slammed one down to open Cal’s lead to 74-68.

Fittingly, the Cougars were not going to make it easy. Andrej Jakimovski hit a three, and Isaac Jones dunked on to make it a one-point game with 2:13 to go.

However, the Bears did not give in this time. Tyson hit a jumper with 1:51 to go, and then no points were scored for a minute and one second. That was Tyson was fouled, and sent to the line, where he made both shots, as the Bears let it 78-73 with 50 seconds to go.

Jakimovski went for a layup, but was rejected by Tyson. After the Cougars rebounded, the Bears called a 30-second timeout. Rice Myles missed a jump shot, and the ball was rebounded by Keonte Kennedy. Kennedy passed to Cone, who was intentionally fouled, and Cone made both shots to put the game away at 80-73.

Jakimovski missed a three with 12 seconds to go, but the Cougars still intentionally fouled Jalen Celestine, who made one of two from the line to make it 81-73. Jakimovski laid one in to trim the deficit to six with two seconds remaining. The Cougars appeared ready to commit another foul, but they realized that there was no use in doing so, and the Bears had somehow miraculously won it, 81-75.

Blowing big leads has indeed been an unfortunate and recurring theme for the Bears in a season that has also featured some incredible wins, and that has been a clear night-and-day difference from last season. The Bears haven’t had the best season, but to bounce back from a 3-29 season to what the Bears have done thus far this season has been no small achievement.

The Bears will now welcome their hated rivals, the Stanford Cardinal, into Haas Pavilion for a 7 p.m. tip Friday night.