Author: moepea

I like lilacs, mist and cold air.

No King? No Kings Either: Promising start devolves into a 117-92 loss against the Lakers without LeBron

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By Morris Phillips

SACRAMENTO–Alvin Gentry’s not settling for this.

The Kings’ hard earned double-digit, first half lead over the Lakers evaporated into a 25-point loss and the team’s interim coach was embarrassed.

Gentry’s been around: he was an assistant for the world champion Warriors, he’s led successful, playoff teams in New Orleans and Phoenix, and what he saw Tuesday hurt his eyes.

“They don’t deserve what they got tonight,” Gentry conceded. “As the coach of this team I want to apologize to every Kings’ fan out there.”

Worse than an embarrassed coach, the Kings had their two most recent outings as examples not to follow (loss at Memphis) or keep that blueprint (3OT win at the Lakers) and they couldn’t choose, mixing in each for one half of Tuesday’s roller-coaster.

In the first half, the Kings fought through screens defensively, controlled the glass, then backed it with 56 percent shooting and all the smart ball possession decisions they could muster. The result: a 59-50 lead at the half in which they led by as much as 13. Conversely, the Lakers looked slow, disinterested and leaderless without LeBron James, who was placed on COVID protocols earlier in the day.

But it turned out, the visitors, led by Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis and wild card Malik Monk were surreptitiously waiting for the Kings to fall flat, and they did just that in a third quarter that was so lopsided it could decide 90 percent of all NBA games.

That was the prelude to a 67-33 wipe out, a second half that enlivened every Lakers fan who walked into Golden 1 Center and left the Kings and their crowd spent.

“A team goes on a run, you punch back and if there is no punch back, you’ll get run out the gym like we did,” Richaun Holmes said.

Holmes was actually the only Sacramento player to lift his fists in the third. The undersized center who returned after missing the three, previous games made all three of his field goal attempts while his teammates were 1 for 15. The Lakers shot 58 percent and with the Kings flailing, they needed just seven minutes to pull even at 72. But their run was just beginning: with the Kings in the midst of a stretch where they missed 17 of 18 shots, the Lakers ended the third on a 15-2 run to lead 87-74.

“We weren’t giving the necessary effort to transition defense and with our pick-and-roll coverages,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “Sometimes you have to let them hear about it.”

Davis had 10 of his team-best 25 in the third, and Russell Westbrook 11 of his 23. Monk came up with the 41-foot, buzzer beater to end the first half, then got nine more in the third, finishing with 22 points.

Holmes led all scorers with 27, missing just one of his attempts from the floor. Chimezie Metu was just as integral with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the absence of the injured, front court trio of Harrison Barnes, Marvin Bagley and Moe Harkless. But all four Sacramento guards had nights to forget.

De’Aaron Fox had 17 points, but his five assists and seven turnovers were telling. Buddy Hield missed six of his seven shots and finished with five points. Rookie Davion Mitchell was a demon defensively in the first 24 minutes, but he missed 11 of his 14 shots and turned it over three times. Tyrese Haliburton missed eight of his 10 shots and finished with six points.

Rookie Louis King, a significant name from the Kings’ summer league push, got his most significant NBA minutes to date by doing a bang up defensive job on Carmelo Anthony. But King too was fallible; he shot 1 for 6 and committed four fouls in 14 minutes on the floor.

The Kings get little time to regroup, they’ll travel to Los Angeles on Wednesday to face the Clippers.

Cal Puts Hands On Fresno State: Defensive effort keys Bears’ 65-57 win at Haas

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Active hands, defensive intensity and limiting second chances, the Cal Bears had some admirable phrases attached to their performance against Fresno State on Sunday night.

And one more: salting it away late which the Bears did in getting past the Bulldogs, 65-57 at Haas Pavilion.

Jordan Shepherd scored 17 points, and the Bears used a 13-4 run with eight minutes remaining to pull away from Fresno State. The Bulldogs were forced into uphill mode from the outset, falling behind 11-2 then suffering a lackluster effort on the glass combined with some untimely turnovers.

“We didn’t do what we needed to do to score and make the stops that we needed to on the road,” Fresno State coach Justin Hutson said. “We didn’t play a mature game to be able to come out and get a win on the road in front of a crowd. We just didn’t get the job done tonight.”

Conversely, Cal was ready to go from the start, and backed their early lead with an inspired defensive effort that kept the Bulldogs off the foul line and held to a season-low 57 points. Fresno State shot 36 percent in the first half and 43 percent for the game.

Credited with just three offensive rebounds, Fresno State was kept from second opportunities, and they got burned on their 12 turnovers which Cal used to fashion a 15-4 edge on points off turnovers. Orlando Robinson, Fresno’s 7-foot, junior center led them with 25 points, nine rebounds, but he didn’t get a lot of help from his teammates combating the Bears in the paint.

Isiah Hill was the only other Bulldog to score in double-figures but he was held to 10 points, missing his nine of his 13 shots from the floor.

A 16-9 run to open the second half got the Bulldogs even at 37. But after the game was tied at 40, Cal responded with their run to put the game away as Grant Anticevich scored six of his 13 points as Cal went up 53-44 with 3:19 remaining.

Andre Kelly contributed 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting, and his scoring was instrumental in Cal’s fast start.

The Bears are 3-4 on the season after consecutive losses accumulated in Florida. Next, they open Pac-12 competition with a home game against Oregon State on Thursday, and a trip to Salt Lake City on Sunday to face the upstart Utah Utes.

The match-up with the Beavers undoubtedly gives Cal its most favorable scheduling break of the season thus far with Oregon State on a six-game losing streak, including consecutive losses to Tulsa, Samford and Princeton.

While the Bears may sense a team in disarray, Oregon State is simply a team defined by returning experience as well as a completely-retooled backcourt that has been outplayed in parts of the team’s seven games. OSU is poised for improvement sooner rather than later.

The Beavers may also sense something well: that the Bears, picked to finish last in conference, might be just what coach Wayne Tinkle’s team needs to see this Thursday in order to end a losing skid and open conference play in style.

Cal’s Best Effort: Bears see late lead evaporate in 62-59 loss to No. 21 Seton Hall

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By Morris Phillips

This time the present-and-accounted-for Cal Bears made plays and got stops at the Fort Myers Tip-Off… with the exception of the final 83 seconds.

Cal–in their best performance yet–pulled even with No. 21 Seton Hall on Grant Anticevich’s made free throw only to lose 62-59 seconds later when they couldn’t convert on any of their last three possessions.

“I thought we played really, really well,” coach Mark Fox said. “We just didn’t close it.”

The Bears got big performances from Anticevich and Andre Kelly who combined for 38 of their 59 points, but they allowed their second consecutive ranked opponent to escape what would have been an embarrassing defeat.

“No matter what, you get out of here 1-1 and two months from now it’s not going to matter what the score was,” Pirates coach Kevin Willard said.

The Bears needed Seton Hall to struggle offensively in part due to the Pirates’ misfortune, but also attributable to Cal’s defense along with their deliberate, offensive pace. And all three transpired along with Cal’s two leaders having big nights. A 10-2 run in the first ten minutes after halftime, gave Cal a 39-38 lead, and put Seton Hall on their heels.

A pair of made free throws from Kelly with 4:39 remaining gave Cal its biggest lead, 56-51, but they couldn’t sustain it. When Cal went scoreless for two minutes plus, Ohio State transfer Bryce Aiken strung together five points in 6-0 run that allowed the Pirates to regain the lead.

Two more made free throws from Kelly put Cal in front again, and seconds later Anticevich’s first of two free throws got Cal even at 59. But Anticevich missed the second, and a three with seven seconds left. Jalen Celestine missed a three early in a shot clock with 42 seconds to go. And with three seconds remaining, Joel Brown could convert his first free throw before purposely missing the second. Brown ended up on the charity stripe when Seton Hall elected to foul leading by three and less than 10 seconds left.

“Grant’s a great shooter and I want him to take that shot every time,” Fox said. “I thought we executed it well, it just didn’t go in.”

“I thought we played really well against a nationally-ranked team. We obviously had some possessions where we had some turnovers that lead to baskets, and those are costly errors. I thought we competed well.”

Jared Rhoden scored 21 points, and Kadary Richmond added 12 for Seton Hall. Alexis Yetna and Tyrese Samuel each scored 10 points as Seton Hall improved to 4-1.

The Pirates shot 34 percent from the floor, and 22 percent from three. They bailed themselves out by making 24 of 30 free throw attempts.

“We’re trying to make things happen instead of letting things happen,” Willard said.

The Bears fell to 2-4 and they return home to Haas Pavilion on Sunday to host Fresno State at 7:00 p.m.

Florida Sunshine Unkind: Hot-shooting Gators race past Cal, 80-60

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By Morris Phillips

The Cal Bears desperately needed to make it to halftime within striking distance with an opportunity to regroup. But the hot shooting Florida Gators wouldn’t let it happen.

No. 23 Florida closed the first half on an extended 33-12 run that saw them turn a two-point deficit into a 19-point halftime lead. The Gators cruised from there, winning 80-60 at the Fort Myers Tip-Off at Suncoast Credit Union Arena.

“Credit the guys, not the adjustments,” Florida coach Mike White said. “I thought our energy level picked up.”

“We just got overwhelmed the last eight minutes of the first half,” coach Mark Fox said. “They’re an excellent team, but we’re certainly very disappointed in how we played.”

The Bears needed a credible shooting performance and some measure of a grasp on their opponent’s explosive offense, but they got neither. The Gators made 54 percent of their threes and 14 of 15 free throw attempts before halftime. Offensively, the Bears struggled with Florida’s quickness that made passing lanes disappear soon after they opened.

Jordan Shepherd, Cal’s leading scorer was limited to 15 points in 28 minutes on the floor, and Andre Kelly, coming off a 29-point, 15-rebound effort against San Diego, was limited to four shot attempts, and finished with nine.

“We didn’t get the ball entered as cleanly as we would like to,” Fox admitted.

The Bears committed 18 turnovers, and shot 41 percent in the first half when the game was decided. If shooting threes was the Bears’ method to stay close it never materialized. They attempted just four, and made one before the half.

Colin Castleton, the UF spindly big man, led the Gators with 16 points, eight rebounds. Tyree Appleby had 15, with a perfect performance from the line (7 for 7). Myreon Jones added 13, and Phlandrous Fleming Jr. had 11 off the bench.

“He created those shots,” White said of Castleton. “Outside of him, being prolific on the block, I do think we shared and moved it pretty well.”

The Bears got eight points from Lars Thiemann, and seven from Jalen Celestine, with both players coming off the Cal bench.

These two schools with big-time graduate journalism programs aren’t big on visiting the other’s campus. It’s never happened. This meeting was the third in the series, and all three have taken place in neutral buildings around the holidays. Cal won both previous meetings at the 1986 Rainbow Shootout in Honolulu, and the 1988 Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage.

Cal concludes its Florida swing with a meeting with Seton Hall on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. The No. 21 Pirates lost the tournament opener, 79-76 to unranked Ohio State.

Cal In The Clutch: Bears trail by double digits but win in double overtime, 75-68

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Andre Kelly tallied 11 of California’s 18 overtime points, and the Bears escaped with a 75-68 double overtime win over Southern Utah at Haas Pavilion on Thursday.

Kelly finished with 29 points, 15 rebounds to pace Cal with John Knight III leading Southern Utah with 31 points. While Kelly heated up late to rescue Cal from an offensive standpoint, Knight was held scoreless over the final 3:41 of regulation, and the first 9 minutes, 32 seconds of the two overtime periods. When Knight was cooking–he had 12 of his 31 in the second half–the Thunderbirds built a 44-34 lead with 13:41 remaining, necessitating a furious run and come back by the Bears to force overtime.

Bears’ coach Mark Fox turned to 6’7″ freshman Sam Alajiki during this stretch to guard Knight. That prompted a 8-0 run to get Cal within two, and also got the Bears some relief from Knight’s hot shooting.

“We were having a real hard time with that kid’s strength,” Fox said of his decision to insert Alajiki. “Sam is a real strong and powerful guy, we went with that lineup and he did a great job.”

The Bears drew even at 46 with 8:48 remaining, and again at 51 on Kelly’s layup with 4:40 remaining. But they didn’t experience a lead in the second half until Grant Anticevich hit a jumper with 28 seconds left. Maizen Fausett followed with a layup to force overtime for Southern Utah. Joel Brown’s layup attempt at the buzzer was blocked by SUU’s Dre Marin.

Cal had not experienced an overtime game since February 2020 when they beat Utah 86-79. The Bears moved to 4-0 in overtime contests with Fox as their coach.

Southern Utah hadn’t endured a two-overtime game since their 2019 victory over Nebraska. Knight led the Thunderbirds in floor time with 49 minutes. Three other Southern Utah starters logged at least 44 minutes, and coach Todd Simon only got three points all evening from his bench.

Kelly was a gametime decision due to an ankle injury, but he responded with 11 of 16 shooting from the floor. He also buried a 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining in the second overtime to give Cal its biggest lead, 73-65.

Andre had a very productive night,” Fox said. “I still think he can play a lot better.”

Anticevich had 15 points, eight rebounds and Brown played a team-most 46 minutes. He had seven assists, five rebounds but struggled with his shot. Brown finished with four points on 1 of 7 shooting.

Southern Utah got 14 points, eight rebounds from Fausett and Tevian Jones had 11 points, five rebounds. Jones was 0 of 6 from three, part of a subpar team effort from distance in which SUU missed 22 of 27 three attempts.

The Bears continue competition in the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off in Florida on November 22 where they will meet No. 24 Florida. The Gators won easily on Thursday, defeating Milwaukee 81-45.

Bears In the Win Column: Cal holds off San Diego, 75-70

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Five made 3-pointers in a span of less than three minutes–an anomaly for the 2021-22 Cal Bears–fueled the host club to their first win of the season, 75-70 over San Diego.

“(Jordan) Shepherd made a great play, I was open and shot it with confidence,” Joel Brown said of Cal’s first half run that fueled Cal’s evening. “From there, it opened up everything.” 

Grant Anticevich led Cal with 17 points, shooting 5 for 8 from the floor, and making all three 3-point attempts. The fifth-year senior has lead the Bears in scoring in two straight games.

The other three Cal Bears that have been in heavy usage thus far this season: guards Brown, Shepherd and forward Andre Kelly produced complimentary, balanced numbers as well. Leading scorer Shepherd had 14 points, three assists, Kelly had 13 points, eight rebounds, and Brown had 12 points and seven assists.

This time out the Bears weren’t tentative offensively or bereft of made buckets, they shot 50 percent from the floor for the first time. And they backed that with a 10 for 15 clip from three and 69 percent success at the free throw line. After the game was tied at 32 at halftime, the Bears pulled ahead in the first seven minutes after the break, using an 8-0 run that saw them down 43-38, then up 46-43. They then led for the final 13 minutes, 24 seconds of the game.

The Bears hadn’t been this efficient shooting threes since the 1996-97 season, and again, they weren’t expected to be dialed in like Steph with this group, this season.

“We made enough shots to win,” Coach Mark Fox said.

“The thing that probably drives me crazy more than anything is especially when it’s guys we deem as snipers,” said USD coach Sam Scholl, who obviously wasn’t fooled by Cal’s 28.1 percent shooting from three coming in. “Their snipers got off a few too many 3s.”

San Diego was paced by senior Joey Calcaterra with 18 points, and four made threes. Jase Townsend had 16 points, four assists and Terrell Brown 11 points, 11 rebounds, five blocked shots in a spirited performance for San Diego.

Jalen Celestine and Makale Foreman comprised the biggest co-conspirators for Cal off the bench, as both played extensive minutes for a second game after both were absent in the opener. Foreman was 3 of 4 for 8 points in 20 minutes, while Celestine went scoreless in 12 minutes. Lars Thiemann picked up the slack with Kelly in foul trouble, playing 12 minutes and scoring four points.

“We had a couple too many breakdowns on their good players and they made us pay,” Scholl said of his Toreros, who could have started the season 3-0 for the first time since 2013.

Cal hosts Southern Utah on Thursday evening at 7:00 pm with television coverage on the Pac-12 Network. Southern Utah has already gained a foothold in the Bay Area, losing to St. Mary’s in Moraga on Monday, 70-51.

Rebel Rebel: Cal falls short at UNLV, 55-52 with Bears’ Shepherd held to 9 points

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By Morris Phillips

The Bears visit to the Vegas bright lights, and a meeting with the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, hinged on one aspect: 3-point shooting.

The Runnin Rebels attempted more, made more and that allowed them to get past Cal, 55-52 at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Rebels were 10 of 29 from three, the Bears 4 of 14. That and some critical defensive stops in the game’s final two minutes decided a close game.

On Cal’s final possession, leading scorer Jordan Shepherd, who scored 27 points in Cal’s loss to UCSD was rushed into a lengthy 3-point attempt that drew iron but bounced away. Shepherd had a rough afternoon, missing 14 of his 17 shot attempts, and was held to nine points.

“We had about three actions we thought they might do,” UNLV coach Kevin Kruger said. “They guarded it absolutely perfectly.”

Shepherd missed a second 3-point attempt, and had his attempted layup blocked with 27 seconds left. All three stops were part of the Rebels big defensive stand that kept Cal scoreless in the final two minutes.

“We had a layup to win the game. I don’t know if there was contact or not,” coach Mark Fox said.

“That’s the final step for us. Learn how to close a game like this. Certainly I thought our defense was much better than it was the other night.”

Grant Anticevich led Cal with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and Andre Kelly had eight points, eight rebounds and Joel Brown started, and saw 29 minutes of floor time, but finished with seven points, four rebounds.

Cal was limited to 36.8 percent shooting from the floor. The Rebels with their constantly changing personnel groupings, which included four transfer players, stuck with man-to-man principles throughout. The Bears were just as good at their end by harassing UNLV into rushed shot attempts. They played zone predominantly and limited the Rebels to 37.5 percent shooting.

Jalen Celestine and Makale Foreman made their season debuts for Cal, but neither got it going offensively. Celestine played 24 minutes, scoring four points and Foreman was scoreless in six minutes, missing both his shot attempts.

UNLV got 12 points, five rebounds from Bryce Hamilton, and Michael Nuga contributed 10 points, six rebounds.

“We were picked, what were we picked, eighth? We wear UNLV on our chest with pride. We’re here to bring it back to what it once was.”

The Bears host the University of San Diego Toreros on Monday night at Haas Pavilion at 6pm.

Oh-Oh Opener: Cal upset at Haas by upstart UC San Diego, 80-67

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Defend and start the season in the win column were the objectives for the Cal Bears, and neither were met.

Toni Rocak, the 6’8″ senior from Switzerland, had 27 points, eight rebounds as the UC San Diego Tritons, in year two of their four-year transition from Division II to Division I, pulled the upset on the Bears at Haas Pavilion, 80-67. The Tritons trailed 37-33 at the half, but took the lead in the first five minutes after the break, and maintained it, in a 47-point outburst that was littered with Cal defensive breakdowns.

The Bears were led by Jordan Shepherd, the transfer from Charlotte, who had 27 points, and Andre Kelly with 17. The Bears started fast, building a 28-17 first half lead, but led by just four at the break, and scored just 30 points in the second half. Cal didn’t settle for threes, making five of 18, but they were most hurt at the free throw line where they missed 10 of their 24 attempts. Cal shot 45 percent from the floor during the opening 20 minutes, only attempting 10 3-pointers, making three.

Rocak paced the Tritons in the opening half with 16 points, including four of six from the line. Rocak averaged just 12.8 points in 2020-21 in 17 minutes per game, and apparently is enjoying a bigger role with UCSD this time around. The Tritons opened the second half on a run, gaining a 45-43 advantage with 15:05 remaining. They held only one lead in the game’s first 25 minutes–2-0.

“We stuck with what we know and what we do and kept trusting each other,” Rocak said. “In those moments it’s easy for everybody to try to do their own thing but we stuck with being in group and being unselfish, and great things happen when we share the basketball.”

The Bears were heavily dependent on the quartet of Joel Brown, Grant Anticevich, Kelly and Shepherd with 6’9″ Kuany Kuany the fifth starter who logged just 13 minutes. 6’3″ guard Jarred Hyder was the first reserve off the bench, playing 15 minutes, and holdover Dimitrios Klonaras along with 6’7″ freshman Sam Alajiki were the remainder of the eight-man rotation. Junior center Lars Thiemann and freshman Obinna Anyanwu saw five minutes of action each, with Jared Celestine and Makale Foreman as the two most conspicuous absences from the Cal rotation.

“We just have to be sharper,” Kelly said of his Bears. “It was the first time with this group together. We’ll bounce back. We’ll respond the right way.”

“I’m very disappointed in our team’s play today,” Cal coach Mark Fox said. “It’s my responsibility to get it cleaned up and make sure this doesn’t define our season.”

Further information could clear up the status of Celestine and Foreman, both of whom played extensively in 2020-21, and are expected to be significant contributors going forward.

The Tritons got 18 points from Bryce Pope, and 10 from Matt Gray, who received his first ever starting assignment. Freshman Francis Nwaokorie was the most significant UCSD reserve, scoring nine points before fouling out in his first collegiate game. The win was UCSD’s first against a Pac-12 opponent, they had been 0-12 against Pac-12 competition previously. They also captured their first ever road win since transitioning to Division I. They went 0-7 last season. The Tritons and the Bears had met just four times previously with the last meeting in 1985.

The Tritons welcomed six new faces to their roster but it mattered little when the game was on the line. The Bears shot just 40 percent for the game as their offense and defense wilted in the second half.

The Bears travel to Las Vegas on Saturday to face the UNLV Rebels at 5pm. The first road contest of their season will be televised on the Stadium network.

Jazz Interpretation: Utah wins a close one at home, beats the Kings 119-113

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By Morris Phillips

If you’re the Sacramento Kings, now 15 seasons removed from a playoff appearance, a trip to Utah to face the Jazz, the reigning champions of the regular season, turned out to be a good place to start if postseason play is still the goal.

While the Kings fell short, and dropped to 3-4 on the season, they played well enough to disrupt a Jazz team that’s now won 58 of their previous 79 regular season games, easily the best mark in the NBA dating back to the beginning of the truncated ’19-’20 season.

The Kings came up empty in the game’s final five minutes, losing a back-and forth contest 119-113 in which neither team held a double-digit lead. The Kings effectively put the Jazz on their heels by limiting their trademark made threes, but ultimately couldn’t respond as the home team dominated the glass, and picked up their defensive intensity down the stretch.

Essentially, a 7-0 run by the Jazz decided it, after the Kings’ Richaun Holmes hit a short jumper to tie the game at 104. After a two-minute scoreless drought, the Kings trailed 111-104 with 2:27 remaining.

A key sequence in the deciding run was a foul on Utah’s Rudy Gobert that was challenged by the Jazz, and overturned upon video review. The ensuing jump ball saw Holmes whistled for a violation, which awarded the ball to the Jazz. Ten seconds later, Donovan Mitchell scored on a driving layup to put the home team up five. After a Holmes miss, Gobert capped the surge by the Jazz with a pair of made free throws.

Mitchell led the Jazz with 36 points, and Mike Conley contributed 30. The dynamic Utah backcourt combined for 25 made baskets including 11 threes. Bogdan Bogdanovich had 20 for Utah.

The Kings were led by Harrison Barnes with 23 points. Buddy Hield was next with 19 points off the bench, but he was hit with two technical fouls and ejected with less than a second remaining.

Davion Mitchell, the rookie, had 18 as seven of the eight Kings to see action scored in double figures. Still the initial NBA meeting of the D. Mitchells went to the veteran.

“He hit shots. He hit tough shots. You can’t really do anything about that,” said Davion Mitchell of Donovan Mitchell.

The Jazz enjoyed a 58-39 advantage on the glass. That disparity helped off set an unusually poor shooting night from distance for Utah, in which they missed 34 3-point attempts.

“I love the fight of our team,” Kings coach Bill Walton said. “It’s really fun coaching these guys. We’re learning these hard lessons. I hope we figure it out soon, but the details of the game is what’s costing us right now. Tonight, it was defensive rebounding.”

The Kings return home on Wednesday to face the New Orleans Pelicans, the start of a four-game home stand.

How’s A Fast Start Sound?: Bears cruise past Cal State LA in exhibition opener, 92-58

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–No one knows if the Cal Bears will win enough to satisfy their fan base. No one knows how much time Coach Mark Fox will be afforded to turn things around in Berkeley. And no one knows if the Bears are talented or fortunate enough to win one game in the Pac-12, a conference that has gone from barren to loaded overnight.

But the Bears could grab uncertainty by the throat by winning early, and taking advantage of their one strength: continuity.

That process began on Monday night, in the wire-to-wire, exhibition win over Division II opponent Cal-State Los Angeles, 92-58.

Four of the five starters for Cal on Monday have at least one season in the program, as do 11 of the 14 players that saw action. Starter Grant Anticevich is in his fifth year, Andre Kelly his fourth, and Joel Brown his third. A fourth starter, Kuany Kuany and top reserve Jared Hyder are back for their second seasons.

That experience is key because none of the Bears are considered impact players and no one thinks anyone on the roster has an NBA future. That type of guy, guard Matt Bradley, transfered to San Diego State taking his team-best 18 points per game with him.

But Bradley was the only one to depart the program. So if anything, Cal has an opportunity to surprise more talented teams that might not be up to speed immediately due to them having to integrate a top freshman or key transfer into their starting lineup or core rotation.

The Golden Eagles of downtown Los Angeles typify the prevailing upheaval throughout the college game. They return only one contributor and essentially have an entirely new team. They lost their first exhibition to UC Riverside by 34 points, and they didn’t figure to be much more competitive against Cal.

They weren’t.

Cal shot 62 percent from the floor, led by as many as 39, and won by 34 as well. Anticevich missed just two shots and finished with a game-best 23. Kelly put up 17 points in 17 minutes of action, and he too only missed two shots.

Jordan Sheppard, the lone newcomer for Cal to start the exhibition, scored 11 points, and seven-footer Lars Thiemann added 10.

Sheppard, who spent the last three seasons at Charlotte of Conference USA where he averaged nearly 12 points per game, spoke highly of his new teammate Anticevich after the game.

“That’s the Grant we see every day,” Sheppard said. “It’s nothing new to us. There’s more to come. He played great, unbelievable.”

Freshmen Sam Alajiki and Obinna Anjanwu made their debuts, but for the most part, played tentatively. The pair combined to miss six of their eight shots.

Freshman Marsalis Roberson from Oakland was held out, and sophomore Monty Bowser did not see action.

The Bears open their regular season schedule on November 9, 2pm at Haas Pavilion again the UC San Diego Tritons. That occasion will be only the second time the Bears have actual fans in the building since February 2020 with Monday being the first.