Category: Cal Bears

By Morris Phillips

Dissecting a loss is never fun, and it wasn’t for Cuonzo Martin on Saturday.

The Cal coach rightly had an expectation of better things given his Bears had won five of six, and had almost a full week to hatch a plan to upset rival Stanford   But Cal simply didn’t play well enough to damage the Cardinal’s NCAA hopes in a 72-61 loss at Maples Pavilion.

“We just didn’t get stops defensively,” Martin admitted.  “We had breakdowns, missed box-outs.  I don’t think we defended well.”

And that was just the coach’s insights on the final 20 minutes that saw the Bears grow frustrated with Stanford’s double-digit lead that they maintained for all but 90 seconds of the half.  Stanford’s size and experience in the paint were a problem, but so was Chasson Randle.  The Cardinal’s senior leader didn’t do much early, but he was a handful after halftime, finishing with 19 points and eight assists.

Randle’s final act of the afternoon—a beautifully executed in-bounds play where he caught the pass over the top from the baseline in the paint, and quickly shuttled the ball to Stefan Nastic for the lay-up—showed that Stanford’s experience is a tough thing for youthful Cal to overcome at this point.  Repeatedly, the Bears were a step slow while Stanford was patient and purposeful, content to methodically wear down their most notable opponent.

“It was more so just about our standards and what we want to do for the rest of the year, NCAAs or not.  We just wanted to go out the right way,” Randle said.

The Bears shot 35 percent in the first half in which they were basically a one-man show, with senior David Kravish accepting the challenge with 16 of his career-best 23 points.  The rest of the Bears missed makeable shots, and couldn’t summon a critical stop with Stanford within reach in the final minutes of the half.

Leading 28-23, Randle penetrated the lane but threw up an air ball, wide right.  But Stanford freshman Michael Humphrey was in the right place, scooping up the miss and laying it in.  A few seconds later—after a Cal turnover—Anthony Brown used a well-timed screen to knock down a 3-pointer as Bears’ freshman Kingsley Okoroh was a step slow on the closeout.

Brown’s big shot not only exposed Cal’s perimeter defense, it gave Stanford their first 10-point lead.

While Cal’s “it takes a village” approach to stopping Randle worked initially, Stanford’s similar approach to slowing the Bears’ leader Tyrone Wallace seemed to have a more lasting effect.  Wallace missed eight of his first ten shot attempts, and couldn’t lift his team as he has all season.  In the final moments, when Cal got as close as eight down, Martin elected to keep Wallace on the bench in favor of freshman Brandon Chauca.

Jabari Bird didn’t manage many good looks nor did Jordan Mathews, who appeared slowed by an ankle issue.  The indispensable pair missed 11 of their combined 16 shots and made just one 3-pointer.

And without the injured Christian Behrens, the Bears were outmanned in the paint.  Stanford was without 6’9” Roscoe Allen but it didn’t seem to matter.  Freshmen Humphries and Reid Travis were just as tough to handle for the Bears, who elected to start undersized Dwight Tarwater on their front line, bringing the hobbled Mathews off the bench.

The Bears (16-11, 6-8) get an opportunity to even their Pac-12 record in their final two home games this week with Oregon up first on Wednesday night, followed by Oregon State on Sunday afternoon.

By Morris Phillips

Utah’s superb defense figured to test Cal and their unlikely five-game win streak, but at least for a while the Bears had the Utes on their heels thanks to Tyrone Wallace.

Wallace scored 17 of his game-best 26 points in the first half, but an 11-minute stretch spanning the halves in which Cal made just one basket tipped the scales for Utah in their 76-61 win on Sunday in Salt Lake City.

“We just didn’t make plays down the stretch of the first half and they did,” Jabari Bird said.  “That gave them the boost they needed and they used that to their advantage in the second half.”

Had Cal maintained their early lead, and upset No. 11 Utah, it would have marked the biggest win of their season, and given them a tremendous boost to their post-season aspirations.  But the Utes haven’t allowed more than 72 points to any opponent all season, and their early struggles on defense didn’t seem likely to last.

“We just didn’t have much energy and they were playing a heck of a lot harder offensively than we were defensively,” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak.

But Utah’s energy issues didn’t last, after Cal shot 54 percent and led by six after the first 15 minutes.  From that point, the Bears scored just 25 points the rest of the way, and never led after halftime.  As usual, the stingy Utes started the run with a steal, and a big boost from their sellout crowd.

Utah won at the historic Huntsman Center for the 17^th consecutive time.  Utah has been dominant in conference play, winning all six previous Pac-12 home games by an average of 23 points.  A 16-point win over Cal Sunday ranks at the closest of the bunch.

All-conference guard Delon Wright started the rush with a steal and breakaway basket and Cal almost immediately was stuck in the mud.

Consequently, the Bears spent much of the second half trailing by double digits and failed to make Utah uncomfortable at any point.

The Bears fell to 6-7 in Pac-12 play with the loss, but they get another big game on Saturday at 7-6 Stanford, who have seen their NCAA hopes take a hit with losses in three of their last four games.

Cal’s 3-point shooting during their win streak was dramatically better than it was over the balance of their schedule, and it was the first to go in the loss to Utah.  The Bears missed 10 of their 14 attempts and that surely made any hopes of another buzzer beater shot on Sunday. Also, they lacked the scoring balance that normally would be essential to beating a highly-ranked opponent.

The Bears got 21 of their 26 made baskets from Wallace and Bird.  The other seven Bears missed 23 of their combined 28 shots.

Besides Wallace’s 26 points and Bird’s 21, the Bears got seven from backup point guard Brandon Chauca.  The Utes were lead 7’0” center Jakob Poeltl with 18 points.

By Morris Phillips

This time the Cal Bears didn’t seem particularly excited about summoning last second dramatics to pull out a win.  So instead, they ran their tried-and-true offensive look with leading scorer Tyrone Wallace attacking from his left between the circles facing the basket.

Wallace’s runner with 21 seconds left followed by Sam Singer’s steal iced the Bears 68-61 win at Colorado, their fifth straight.  Cal had dropped six in a row at Boulder–and never won at the Coors Event Center under Coach Mike Montgomery–a drought dating back to December 1974.

“To beat a team of this magnitude on their home floor with this energy and passion is a real credit to our guys,” Cuonzo Martin said.

The loss was a bitter one for the Buffs.  Colorado had their three top players—Askia Booker, Josh Scott and Xavier Johnson—available for the first time since early January, but they didn’t look healthy.  The 6’9” Scott struggled to run and missed eight of his 13 shots.  Booker wasn’t his  usual explosive self and did not shoot daggers through the Bears as he has in the past, and Johnson failed to make half his shots for the fourth straight game upon his return from injury.

“We knew that the energy and emotion would be there but like I said to our guys, ‘all we have to do is be sound’ because there is a chemistry that you are trying to get when so many guys have been out,” Martin said.

Colorado shot just 36 percent from the floor and lost consecutive conference home games for the first time since 2009.  Unless the Buffs can resurrect themselves from their 4-7 Pac-12 record, they’ll miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four seasons.

“We’re down right now, but we’re not out,” CU Coach Tad Boyle said.

The Bears hurt Colorado with long range shooting, continuing the hot streak from distance that has been a constant during their win streak.  Cal was 10 of 22 against CU with Jordan Mathews and Dwight Tarwater combining for seven of the makes.  Cal led by one at the half, and extended their lead to double-digits early in the second half.  But when that comfortable lead evaporated to two in the final minute, the Bears seemed visually perturbed, and Martin called Wallace’s number.

Wallace’s unique ability to turn his hips, deceive with his eyes, and speed through a pair of pick-and-roll defenders on his way to the basket is quite simply world class.  Similar to how Dywane Wade operated in his prime, a bigger Cal teammate runs back from the free-throw line extended and sets a high screen for Wallace, forcing his defender to run away from the basket to meet the screen.   Wallace picks the precise moment to engage the screen, often circling his teammate with a head of steam almost always eliminating the primary defender.  Then with his eyes and hips, he navigates the bigger defender, who is at a disadvantage needing to quickly reverse ground to keep Wallace from getting into the paint.

The fact that Wallace is narrow, fast and can turn his hips and dribble ahead of his body with his dominant right hand makes the play deadly.  The path taken also leads the 6’5” guard directly to his sweet spot in the mid-lane area where he has a variety of shots and release points.

Up 63-61 with 21 seconds left, Wallace saw a pair of bigger screen defenders in the 6’7” Johnson and Scott and both retreated in tandem, seemingly stopping Wallace at the free throw line.  But Wallace proved resourceful, first hesitating, then penetrating into the lane with Johnson and Scott still retreating, and lofted a five-footer that was perfect.

The Bears have battled back from a 1-6 start in Pac-12 play to get to .500, but their NCAA hopes would still have to be considered a long shot.  A win over either ranked Arizona or ranked Utah would have to be a must, but Cal may also have to beat all four of their other remaining opponents—with a trip to better-positioned Stanford included.

The Bears (16-9, 6-6) get their opportunity to upset No. 11 Utah on Sunday afternoon in Salt Lake City.