Author: moepea

I like lilacs, mist and cold air.

Paloose Pounding: Cal blown out by WSU, 82-51, stays in last place in the Pac-12

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By Morris Phillips

The uncertainty of which players would be available for Cal’s visit to Washington State was quickly replaced by the certainty of the outcome, an 82-51 runaway victory for the host Cougars.

Noah Williams led WSU with 32 points in the absence of Isaac Bonton, the Cougars leading scorer who was a gametime decision but sat out his second consecutive game with an ankle injury. Williams, the team’s second leading scorer, added nine rebounds and seven assists in just 31 minutes of floor time.

Cal trailed 21-10 with 9:38 remaining before halftime and never recovered. The Bears shot 36 percent from the field, and trailed 48-26 at halftime. The 31-point loss marked their biggest margin of defeat this season, one game after they registered their biggest win, an upset at home of NCAA Tournament hopeful Colorado.

Matt Bradley–in an unexpected lineup change–came off the bench and led Cal in scoring with 16 points. Ryan Betley replaced Bradley in the starting lineup but scored just six points in 28 minutes, missing five of his seven 3-point attempts. Andre Kelly had 10 points, five rebounds.

The Bears afforded WSU way to many scoring opportunities by being outrebounded 39-26, and committing 11 turnovers to the Cougars seven.

Not that Washington State (13-10, 6-10) needed any additional help from Cal. WSU shot 52 percent for the game, making 12 threes in the process as Cal’s defense, especially on the perimeter, was severely lacking.

WSU coach Kyle Smith spoke in the leadup to the game about Cal’s recent competitiveness, as well as a rough stretch for his Cougars, which has them playing five games in nine days. But in the end, none of Smith’s fears were realized.

Cal (3-14, 8-16) continues its northwest road swing on Saturday in Seattle against Washington, which lost to Cal earlier this season in Berkeley, and were beaten soundly by Stanford on Thursday night.

Cal breaks losing streak with 71-62 win, and hands Colorado a damaging blow to its NCAA aspirations

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA — A month ago, Colorado handed Cal its worst loss. On Saturday night, the Bears returned the favor.

Matt Bradley scored a career-best 29 points to lead Cal past Colorado, 71-62, snapping their seven-game losing streak in the process. Makale Foreman converted a pair of free throws with 16:58 remaining and the Bears never trailed again, a stunning reversal after the Bears lost by 29 points at Boulder on January 14.

“We played as well as we have all year,” coach Mark Fox said.

Buffs coach Tad Boyle tried to impress upon his club beforehand the sneaky challenge Cal presents in that they’ve piled up the losses while becoming increasingly competitive which they were in losing to Utah 76-75 on Thursday.

Apparently, Boyle’s club didn’t get the message.

“Cal is a team that’s playing better,” Boyle said. “They’re a helluva lot better than their record, I can tell you that. With that being said, this is a game we should have won, but we weren’t good enough tonight.”

“We did a lot of standing around,” said McKinley Wright IV. “The coaches had the perfect scouting report and we just didn’t execute.”

Colorado allowed the Bears to impose their plodding tempo, a task that became a lot easier with Cal getting off to a rare, fast start. The Bears led 10-4, 14-13 and after a long drought, recovered to lead 36-33 at the break. It was freshman Jalen Celestine, making his second start in place of Ryan Betley, that came up big for Cal in that regard.

Celestine scored nine of the Bears’ first 22 points–on three 3-pointers–to energize Cal while also taking the challenge of guarding Wright, a candidate for Pac-12 Player of the Year. While Celestine sizzled, Wright was held in check, finishing with 13 points (on 3 of 11 shooting) and two assists.

Bradley seamlessly followed Celestine’s lead with 15 before the break, and 14 after including a critical 3-pointer with 40 seconds that increased Cal’s lead to 65-60. The junior guard was 9 for 17 from the floor and 9 of 10 from the line in surpassing the 20-point mark for the fifth time in his last six games.

Colorado (16-5, 10-5) blew past Stanford on Thursday for their ninth win in 11 games, a run that has them in good standing with the NCAA Tournament selection committee. But should the Buffs falter in games against USC, UCLA or Oregon in their final stretch, earlier losses to Washington (167 in the Pomeroy ratings) and Cal (134) will receive greater scrutiny as bad losses.

“It gives us our fifth (Pac-12) loss and we’re back in the pack,” Boyle said. “Thought we had a chance to compete for a championship. We’ve just got to figure out how win our next one.”

Beating one of the conference’s best teams after nearly a month of losing typified the season for Cal (8-15, 3-13). Not particularly talented by Pac-12 standards, nor tall or deep, the Bears have confounded by staying engaged, when other teams might have splintered. Fox deserves credit for that along with his staff that hasn’t hesitated to shake things up. Celestine’s emergence is one of those moves. After not playing in seven games, and never seeing more than 18 minutes of action in any one game, the freshman played 33 minutes against Colorado.

“We felt like in the game today we could use him defensively against McKinley Wright because he has athleticism and size and he’s got great balance and so defensively I thought he was really good,” Fox explained.

The Bears travel to Washington next with their Pullman stop to face Washington State on Thursday. The battle not to finish last in conference play comes Saturday in Seattle against UW.

Buzzer Beat: Missed free throw leaves Cal short in 76-75 loss to Utah

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Six consecutive losses didn’t leave Cal resigned to a seventh.

Instead the Bears battled visiting Utah in a tense second half only to miss a potential game-winning three with a second remaining and a critical free throw after Andre Kelly was fouled grabbing an offensive rebound with 0.7 remaining.

Kelly missed the first–then while trying to miss the second intentionally–converted, preventing the home team from coming up with a miraculous tip-in for the win.

“We had a tip-in play ready to go,” coach Mark Fox said. “It’s just hard to intentionally miss.”

The Bears trailed by ten at the half only to tie the game at 50, then lead 57-55 with 8:48 remaining. The Utes responded with the game’s next six points and never trailed again. But with Cal trailing 75-68 and 37 seconds remaining, the Bears didn’t quit.

Grant Anticevich’s steal led to Matt Bradley hitting two free throws to bring Cal within 75-70 with 33 seconds to go. After Timmy Allen made one of two from the line for Utah, Kelly followed his own miss and scored with 17 seconds left.

Allen was fouled again, but missed both free throws and Bradley’s layup got Cal within 76-74 with six seconds. Bradley was the trigger man on the potential game-winner setup by the Utes’ botched inbounds pass, but it rattled out.

Fox appeared to display displeasure with the referees after Utah paraded to the line in the final four minutes, in which they didn’t attempt a single shot from the floor. The Utes made nine of the first ten from the line to build a seven-point lead, but missed three of the next four free throw attempts to open the door for Cal.

Quite frankly, we got beat at the free throw line,” Fox said. “And that’s a hard place to defend”

The Bears showed tremendous character in making game of it, but put themselves in a hole by allowing Utah to shoot 58 percent in the first half. Also Utes’ reserve guard Ian Martinez was hard to handle, scoring 16 points, including nine in the final six minutes.

“My mentality is to just go out there and be helpful to the team however they need me,” said Martinez.

Allen led Utah with 18 points, and never came out the game, playing all 40 minutes. The junior forward wasn’t flawless however with five turnovers and the three late misses from the line.

The Bears led 31-30 in the first half only to see the Utes score 12 of the final 13 points before the break.

Bradley had 20 points to lead Cal (7-15, 2-13). Anticevich added 18 and Kelly 17. The Bears’ 31-21 edge on the boards was negated by 14 turnovers and 23 fouls committed.

“I told the team it’s not the last 30 seconds you stay up at night thinking about. It’s the first 39 and a half minutes. There’s a couple of mistakes in there we need to clean up,” Fox said.

The Bears host Colorado on Saturday at 7pm.

Cal more competitive but too repetitive in 76-70 rematch loss to Stanford

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By Morris Phillips

In order to make the most idiotic tip time in televised sports history make any kind of sense, the Cal Bears had to do one thing:

Stay competitive with Stanford for the first 15 minutes of Sunday night’s game, enough time for Tom Brady to accept his latest Super Bowl MVP trophy and then have insatiable sports fans (and gamblers) turn their attention to the Bay rivalry and–with Cal making a game of it–keep their attention.

Guess what? At roughly 7:45pm PST, the Bears were doing their part.

And then they weren’t.

Tied at 22 with 4:24 remaining before halftime–after Joel Brown’s high-difficulty flip in at the rim–Cal went to a dark place, not unlike Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. A 22-4 run spanning the halves put the visiting Bears in an insurmountable hole, with the result, a 76-70 loss that a got a prettier final score in the frantic, final two minutes.

In a repeat of Thursday’s loss at Haas Pavilion, the Bears were overmatched inside where Stanford scored 42 of their first 66 points in the paint on drives, dump-ins with a few dunks mixed in between. With Cal’s defense providing little resistance, a late run and a spirited effort was rendered as a footnote.

“Our defense is not at the level it needs to be to win, especially on the road,” coach Mark Fox said.

“We just can get enough stops consecutively to get us over the hump.”

Stanford made 60 percent of their shots over the first 30 minutes of the game before finishing at 58 percent. In what is now a six-game losing streak for the Bears–the longest skid under Fox–their opponent made at least half their shots from the floor for the fourth consecutive game.

Worse was Cal’s rudder less offense which shot 37 percent after a 36 percent mark on Thursday. The Bears again settled more often than not, with no free throws attempts in the first half and 16 misses from 3-point range.

An 11-4 edge in offensive rebounds for Cal seemed impressive, but ultimately it just added to their missed shot total.

“I thought we played hard,” Fox said. “It’s the intelligence we have to attach to that effort.”

That effort showed in the final two minutes when Cal cut a 15-point deficit to six, but even that push had to do with Stanford missing just enough free throws to irritate bettors who had Stanford minus 10.

Matt Bradley led Cal with 15 points. Jarred Hyder had 13 (in his best scoring output as a Bear), Ryan Betley and Brown added 12 each.

Oscar da Silva, the Pac-12’s leading scorer, led Stanford with 19 points.

Cal hosts Utah–the last team they beat three weeks ago in Salt Lake City–on Thursday afternoon.

“

Stanford makes themselves at home in Berkeley, stops Cal, 70-55

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–In a season of postponements, personnel changes and COVID, Stanford’s the national leader in making uncomfortable comfortable.

They just played their first home game–after 16 away from Maples Pavilion–on Tuesday. They showed up at Cal Thursday weary from rescheduled games that made this their fourth game in eight days. And once again, for the fifth straight game the Cardinal didn’t have Daejon Davis, Bryce Wills or Ziaire Williams, their NBA-aspiring freshman.

Never mind and no problem, said coach Jerod Haase.

“We don’t know who’s going to be out there, but we do know we’re gonna compete,” Haase promised in his press conference earlier this week.

In short, Stanford minimized its problems which made Cal’s issues loom larger coming in to Thursday’s Big Game on the hardwood at Haas Pavilion.

And the Bears–mired in a five-game losing streak–couldn’t get untracked offensively in a 70-55 loss in which they shot just 36 percent from the floor and watched the Cardinal’s Oscar da Silva take over with 24 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

“We had no answer for him. He was just too big, too quick, too long,” coach Mark Fox said of da Silva, the Pac-12’s leading scorer.

With da Silva, and without their next three best players in Wills, Davis and Williams, Stanford’s become bigger and more stubborn. Against Cal, they took the ball to the rim persistently and effectively, shooting 63 percent in the game’s first 17 minutes to lead 36-29.

Freshman Noah Taitz finished off a near perfect half for Stanford with three straight baskets, the second a breakaway dunk after Cal’s Ryan Betley was stripped by Spencer Jones.

Cal rallied briefly in the second half, getting within 46-43 at one point, only to fade. For stretches, Stanford went with four freshman and da Silva, and experienced no drop-off. That Stanford was able to gather 40 of their 70 points in the paint said everything regarding the talent disparity between the rival programs.

“Even though we’re better in some areas than we were last year, we still have a talent deficiency,” Fox admitted, “and we have to accept that and play a certain way.”

Stanford hounded Cal with on-ball pressure on the perimeter, then doubled any Bears with the ball on the block. That left Cal with few options. They missed mid-range shots, and played carelessly with the ball, contributing to eight Stanford steals and two blocks. The 3-point line wasn’t kind either, Cal missed 16 of 22 attempts there.

Had Stanford not squandered 10 of their 24 free throw opportunities, things could have gotten worse.

Given Stanford’s success at both ends, Fox said the Bears will play with a more deliberate pace in Sunday’s rematch at Stanford as they try to avoid a sixth straight loss.

“This team can be maybe a little prettier (than last season’s group) but it’s still going to have to be really ugly for this group to win,” Fox said.

Matt Bradley led Cal (2-11, 7-13) with 24 points. Andre Kelly added 15, while the trio of Grant Anticevich, Makale Foreman and Betley saw their struggles extend from Saturday’s loss at Arizona with 4 of 23 combined shooting.

Jaden Delaire added 14 and Taitz 10 for Stanford (11-7, 7-5).

In another Pac-12 scheduling head scratcher, Sunday’s rematch will tip at 7pm, right when Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes duel down the stretch in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl.

Talk about not giving these two teams a chance to draw a television audience.

Desert Downer: Cal suffers worst offensive showing of the season at Arizona, loses 71-50

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By Morris Phillips

Slow starts and frustrated opponents seeking redemption–those are your Golden Bears’ themes for the now completed, annual trip to the Arizona desert.

Warning: these themes aren’t filled with positivity.

Oakland native James Akinjo had 20 points, eight assists and no turnovers to lead Arizona to a wire-to-wire 71-50 win over Cal on Saturday. Once again, the Bears were lethargic offensively at the start, falling behind 10-2 and 19-7, then trailing by as many as 29 in the second half. The lack of execution was reflected in the numbers as Cal shot 38 percent from the floor with a paltry eight assists and 16 turnovers.

“I thought Arizona was the aggressor from the jump ball,” coach Mark Fox admitted. “I thought they dominated the paint. I felt like we were playing uphill all day, which we really were.”

Being the least-affected team by COVID protocols in the Pac-12 hasn’t benefitted Cal much. They’ve played a league-high 19 games with just one postponement in league play, but Saturday’s loss keeps the Bears in the conference basement at 2-10 and 7-12 overall.

Also, Cal’s 50 points against Arizona (13-4, 7-4) marked their lowest offensive output of the season.

The host Wildcats didn’t figure to be in a giving mood after losing on Thursday to Stanford, who was without three of their four best players. In that one, UA’s defense slumped, and they couldn’t get anything easy in the paint against the Cardinal’s size and double teams. Coach Sean Miller sensed something was amiss.

“We weren’t the together, hard-playing, unselfish group that this team has been throughout the year,” said Miller. “We let our guard down. Not sure how or why it happened but we were just not good in those areas.”

Those issues never surfaced against Cal.

Depending on your perspective, Arizona’s size harassed Cal into numerous bad shots, or their quickness kept Cal from dribble penetration while forcing numerous explosive turnovers. In either case, Cal couldn’t run their offense–a reoccurring theme–from botched inbounds plays to errant entry passes. The perimeter-leaning trio of Grant Anticevich, Ryan Betley and Makale Foreman suffered the most, combining to miss 14 of 18 shots from the floor.

Matt Bradley was back to being his hard-charging self, leading Cal with 21 points, including 5 of 6 from three. But Bradley wasn’t perfect: he had six turnovers, two of those in the first seven minutes, a period in which Cal scored just one basket and buried themselves from the start.

Meanwhile, Akinjo was the latest Pac-12 lead guard to give Cal the business in what Miller said was his best game yet in an Arizona uniform. A year ago, Akinjo was dismissed from the Georgetown team as coach Patrick Ewing issued a brief statement without elaborating. Big East journalists cited the smallish guard’s below average defense as a major reason the Hoyas struggled.

But this season, Akinjo’s been fantastic, while leading the Pac-12 in assists in conference play. He’s been the leader of an inexperienced team, he’s beefier from time spent in the weight room, and Miller–a point guard in his playing days–has coached Akinjo on all the finer points.

A talented playmaker from Oakland that went to high school in Richmond?

Cal could really use him.

The Bears host Stanford on Thursday at 6pm with the return engagement on Sunday at 7pm at Maples Pavilion, the second true home game for the nomadic Cardinal this season with the first on Tuesday against USC.

NOTES: The Bears had no steals or blocks in the first half on Saturday. Arizona shot 55 percent in the period and enjoyed an 18-4 advantage in points in the paint.

The Wildcats improved to 116-15 in the last 131 home games at the McKale Center, a mere 101 games above .500.

The Bears dropped Thursday’s contest to Arizona State, which snapped ASU’s six-game losing skid.

The Bears have lost eight straight to Arizona State, and nine consecutive to Arizona. The last Cal coach to beat either school? Cuonzo Martin in 2016. Mark Fox and his predecessor Wyking Jones are both 0-4 against the Arizona schools at Cal.

“

Sloppy Sun Devils clean up in time to nip Cal, 72-68 in Tempe

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By Morris Phillips

Simply put, the Cal Bears don’t need to see Remy Martin ever again, and Arizona State anytime soon. Just the possibility of another meeting in March at the Pac-12 Tournament is frightening news.

Martin covered for his inconsistent teammates in the game’s final 10 minutes, lifting the Sun Devils to a 72-68 win that ended their six-game losing streak. ASU’s senior point guard scored nine of his team-best 19 points after Cal held its final lead of the evening, 54-52 with 9:10 remaining.

Martin has been perfect against Cal, going 8-0 in his career dating back to his freshman year when he was a spunky reserve known more for his lengthy, wild hair and Filipino heritage than his considerable skills on the court.

On Thursday, Martin made the mundane plays like drawing fouls in the paint against Cal’s over-anxious defenders as well as the spectacular ones like his circus shot while falling on his back to put ASU up 60-56 with 7:02 left.

Meanwhile Cal missed makeable shots in falling behind 9-3 and then 15-5 only to rally and lead 30-29 at halftime. Eventually Cal’s 39 percent shooting–including 17 missed 3-point shots–and their 15 turnovers leading to 20 points for ASU was too much to overcome.

“We didn’t play stable enough throughout the game,” Cal coach Mark Fox said. “Good teams will make you pay.”

ASU wasn’t completely stabile either as they surged to sizeable leads in both halves only to allow Cal to recover. The Sun Devils’ questionable shot selection was the biggest culprit, something they fell prey to in the six-game slide that included back-to-back, narrow losses to Arizona and an overtime loss to USC.

Still ASU prevailed, shooting 57 percent in the second half to create some distance between themselves and Cal (7-11, 2-9).

Matt Bradley led Cal with 26 points–just off his career-high–but he needed 20 shots from the floor and 11 free throw attempts to get there. Clearly favoring his two injured ankles, the junior guard wasn’t at his explosive best, but he battled in the absence of any other scoring sources outside Andre Kelly (16 points, 13 rebounds).

“I thought he played super-hard,” Fox said of Bradley. “A lot of those things he’s always finished didn’t quite go in tonight. He’s a little bit out of rhythm and still got to get some conditioning back.”

Grant Anticevich and Makale Foreman each made just one basket finishing a combined 2 for 12 from the floor. With Cal trailing 72-66 with 18 seconds left Anticevich was stripped by Martin as ASU’s defensive quickness gave Cal fits throughout the game.

“We’ve been knocking on the door in several games over the last couple of weeks,” ASU coach Bobby Hurley said. “Glad we were able to break through.”

The Bears finish their trip in Tucson on Saturday where they will face Arizona, which lost to Stanford on Thursday.

Cal finds themselves looking up to visiting USC in 76-68 loss

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–USC’s length and persistence in the paint found its match in Cal’s grit and grind for stretches on Saturday at Haas Pavilion. In the end however the Trojans’ size never relented in their 76-68 win over the Bears.

Evan Mobley had 17 of his game-best 25 points in the second half allowing USC to seize control of a close ballgame in the final minutes as Cal couldn’t capitalize on leading scorer Matt Bradley’s return to action.

The 7’1″ Mobley, currently the third highest ranked NBA prospect in the 2021 draft, consistently challenged the Bears on the block resulting in dunks, offensive rebounds or fouls. Andre Kelly and D.J. Thorpe both fouled out inside five minutes remaining as the freshman knocked down 12 of 15 from the line along with five offensive boards and one don’t blink-fast putback dunk.

“I try to catch it mid-post, drive hard if the lane’s open. If not jab step, shot, create the help, kick out, just make plays for my teammates,” Mobley said in a brief description of his expansive game.

“I think you saw an improved Evan Mobley today than he was early in the week” USC coach Andy Enfield said. “He’s getting better and we demanded that of him this week and he responded in a huge way.”

Cal’s deliberate pace which made UCLA antzy and turnover-prone on Thursday played perfectly for the Trojans who wanted Mobley, his 6’10” brother Isaiah and three other regulars–all 6’8″ or taller–on the floor as much as possible. Evan Mobley seemingly never sat, playing 35 minutes and 19 of 20 after halftime.

Meanwhile, Cal started slowly (trailed 15-4 after five minutes) then bought Bradley off the bench in his first action after missing five games with an ankle injury. His appearance acted as a stabilizer as he along with Grant Anticevich and Joel Brown started to find some gaps in USC’s defense. At the break–and after the horrific start–the Bears trailed just 35-34.

But one early, second half sequence typified Cal’s inability to sustain any momentum as they followed Jarred Hyder’s four-point play with an airball, then a shot clock violation on the next two possessions.

In the final minutes, Ryan Betley’s three brought Cal within 68-66 with 3:02 remaining. But the Bears would score just once more–Betley’s layup–with 28 seconds left.

Anticevich and Brown led Cal with 15 points each, and Bradley added 11, but showed his rust with 1 of 6 shooting from distance. Both teams were 24 of 58 from the floor (41 percent) with the deciding factors the free throw line and the glass where Cal was outscored 21-13 at the foul line and outrebounded 41-32.

The Bears resume their schedule Thursday in Tempe with the rematch against Arizona State.

Cal’s upset bid fails in the final minutes of a 61-57 loss to No. 24 UCLA

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By Morris Phillips

The strategy in the final minutes of a close contest for the trailing team is universal: foul, stop the clock, put your opponent on the foul line, hope for misses and lengthen the game.

But what if the referees are swallowing their whistles and letting both teams play? And your opponent is No. 24 UCLA who routinely defends without fouling?

Well, that strategy won’t work as Cal found out Thursday night at Haas Pavilion when their upset bid fell short in a 61-57 loss to the Bruins.

Jules Bernard’s 3-pointer with 2:08 remaining proved to be the pivotal basket, and gave UCLA a 59-55 lead in a game that was back and forth throughout the second half. Misses by Jarred Hyder on Cal’s ensuing two possessions brought Cal no closer. Finally, Hyder scored with 13 seconds remaining, but the Bears had to foul three times to regain possession. With just eight seconds remaining–and Cal again trailing by four after Johnny Juzang made two free throws–UCLA used one of their fouls to give to prevent a Cal 3-point attempt.

A pair of meaningless shots in the final seconds fell short for Cal, quietly ending their bid to upset the Bruins, who are now 8-0 and alone in first place in the Pac-12.

“We got the lead there late, tried to get our best defensive lineup in, and we kept them off the foul line,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “It was an advantage down the stretch. We knew we had fouls to give with the way we were trying to play defense, so that helped us.”

“We just couldn’t get to the foul line in the second half,” said Cal coach Mark Fox, who saw his team limited to 21 points after halftime after leading 36-32 at the break.

UCLA has now committed fewer fouls than all 14 of their opponents. They committed just 11 fouls in the game and only 20 were whistled prior to the furious final seconds. While Cal slowed the pace, the referees sped the game along. In a game that was completed in well under two hours, the undermanned Bears got few chances to catch their breath.

Grant Anticevich led Cal (7-9, 2-7) with 21 points and perfect 5 for 5 shooting from distance. While UCLA stopped the Bears near the basket, they allowed Cal 10 made threes, seven of those in the first half. That alone kept the Bears in a game in which they were outrebounded 38-23 and wilted as the game progressed.

Cal’s defensive effort against the ranked Bruins was commendable, but even Fox admitted his team controlled tempo better than they defended, and leaving Bernard open for his late three was their biggest mistake.

“To beat a high-level opponent, you have to play a little more mistake-free than we did today,” Fox admitted.

Matt Bradley tested his injured ankle in pre-game warm-ups but was ruled out, missing his fifth straight game. That again left Cal scrambling for offense from other sources that couldn’t deliver. Fox pointed out that Bradley’s absence has affected guard Ryan Betley, who missed his first seven shots and finished 1 for 8 in 33 minutes of floor time.

“Were asking too much of Ryan, and I think he’s worn down,” Fox said.

The Bears are scheduled to host USC on Saturday but COVID issues within the Trojans program has put the game in question. The USC-Stanford game on Thursday was canceled.

Bears catch fire after halftime, win at Utah 72-63

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By Morris Phillips

Without Matt Bradley, and after a lackluster first half, the Bears shocked Utah with a 50-point second half in their surprising 72-63 road win.

The Bears overcame a 15-point deficit and won for only the third time on an opponent’s home floor in the last three seasons. And they did it by sharing the ball, shooting from distance, and defending, three things they haven’t done well all season.

The Bears trailed 15-5 and 24-9 in the first half before exploding with 58 percent shooting after the break.

Grant Anticevich led the comeback with 10 of his 14 points durind a critical stretch that gave Cal a decisive advantage. All 10 came within three minutes in which Cal went from up two to leading 60-50 with 7:33 remaining.

“It was really uplifting for our entire team to see him make a few, and I think it took the pressure off of everybody,” said coach Mark Fox of Anticevich.

Utah got as close as down 69-63 with 2:04 remaining, but Cal held them scoreless the rest of the way. The Utes missed 11 of their 12 3-point attempts after the break while Cal buried six from distance, including consecutive threes from Anticevich.

Makale Foreman scored 12 points, Andre Kelly and Jarred Hyder had 11, and Ryan Betley nine in Cal’s balanced attack. Timmy Allen led Utah with a game-high 26.

The Cal women were also in Salt Lake City on Saturday awaiting their Sunday afternoon game against Utah when they announced that COVID issues within their team came to light in their most recent round of tests. The cancellation of their game created confusion that manifested itself with 20 text messages received by Coach Fox with people wondering if the men’s game had been postponed.

The Bears (7-8, 2-6) return home for a Thursday night meeting with first-place UCLA at 6pm.