Category: Cal Bears

Cal Bears basketball podcast with Morris Phillips: Cal shoots an upset on undefeated Fresno for third win of the season

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Cal Bears guard Jordan Shepherd led Cal in scoring on Sun Nov 28, 2021 handing the Fresno Bulldogs their first loss of the season at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley (image by Cal Bears Athletics)

On Cal Bears basketball podcast with Morris:

#1 Morris’ after Cal Bears (3-4) loses to the Florida Gators (6-0) and the Seton Hall Pirates (5-1) there’s nothing like some home cooking and beating a pretty decent team the Fresno Bulldogs (5-1) 65-57.

#2 Prior to the loses to Florida and Seton Hall the Bears had back to back victories over San Diego and Southern Utah which isn’t the 1972 UCLA Bruins but that was showing much more than the kind of season they had last year.

#3 Total team effort you can see the distribution of the ball three players in double figures guard Jordan Shepherd 17 points, forward Andre Kelly 14 points, and forward Grant Anticevich with 13 points.

#4 Morris, if you had to point to one or two things that head coach Mark Fox has changed to get this team on track what are some of those changes.

#5 Cal hosts the Oregon State Beavers (1-6) on Thu Dec 2 at Haas Pavilion. The Beavers were beaten in their last game by the Penn State Nittany Lions (4-2) on Saturday night. The Beavers on a six game losing streak haven’t won a game since their opener Nov 9th against Portland State 73-64. Morris break down this match up on Thursday night.

Join Morris for the Cal Bears podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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.

UCLA blows out Golden Bears 42-14, ends Cal’s bowl hopes

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Cal Bears quarterback Chase Garbers (7) is sacked and at the bottom of the pile brought down by UCLA defenders defensive back Cameron Johnson, right, and linebacker Mitchell Agude at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Sat Nov 27, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, November 27, 2021

California’s slim hopes of playing postseason football were dashed Saturday night at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., when UCLA used a big second half to bury the Golden Bears 42-14.

The Pac-12 Conference loss eliminates the Golden Bears (4-7 overall, 3-5 Pac-12) from bowl eligibility. UCLA (8-4, 6-3) ended its regular season tied with Arizona State for second place in the Pac-12 South. Cal is assured of its second straight losing season, and a losing Pac-12 record for the 12th straight season.

Bruins quarterbaack Dorian Thompson-Robinson completed 19 of 28 passes for `64 yards and three touchdowns, while not being intercepted or sacked. He also gained 102 rushing yards on 13 carries. Zach Charbonnet led the Bruin rushing attack with 106 yards and a touchdown on 22 attempts.

Charbonnet, Greg Dulcich and Kyle Phillips each caught six passes for UCLA.

Cal signalcaller Chase Garbers had a tough evening, being picked off twice and sacked four times. He finished 16 of 31 for 125 yards and no touchdowns. Christopher Brooks ran 12 times for 61 rushing yards, and Kekoa Crawford and Marcel Dancy each caught five passes for the Golden Bears.

The Bruins gained 282 rushing yards against the top run defense in the conference. Cal was held to 91 total rushing yards.

UCLA opened the scoring with a 41-yard field goal by Nicholas Barr-Mira at 9:47 of the first quarter. The Bruins extended their lead to 10-0 on the first play of the second quarter, when Phillips hauled in a 4-yard touchdown pass from Thompson-Robinson.

The Bears broke through six minutes later, when Brooks scored on a 14-yard run, and, at 7:34 of the second period, Garbers ran in on a 1-yard quarterback sneak, giving Cal a 14-10 lead,

But the Bruins responded with a 64-yard scoring drive that consumed 6 minutes and 29 seconds. With 32 seconds left in the first half, UCLA surged back ahead to stay at 17-14 on Kazmeir Allen’s 8-yard touchdown run.

From there, the Bruins scored 25 unanswered points throughout the second half to blow the game open. Dulcich snared a 29-yard scoring pass from Thompson-Robinson, and Barr-Mira kicked a 46-yard field goal, giving UCLA a 27-14 lead after three quarters.

Early in the fourth quarter, Charbonnet’s 1-yard TD run, and Phillips’ second scoring pass reception from Thompson-Robinson – this time for 4 yards – gave the Bruins a commanding 42-14 lead.

Cal closes out its season next Saturday, when the Bears host Southern California in a game that was postponed from an earlier date due to Cal’s team COVID outbreak. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.

Cal Bears football podcast with Daniel Dullum: After Crushing win against Stanford last week Bears face a tough Bruins offense Saturday in the Southland

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Cal Bears quarterback Chase Garber (7) throws against the Stanford Cardinal defense in first half action on Sat Nov 20, 2021 at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto (AP News file photo)

Cal Bears football podcast with Daniel Dullum:

#1 Daniel, the Cal Bears (4-6) last Saturday in the Big Game crushed the Stanford Cardinal (3-8) 41-11 after Cal has won three of it’s last four games do you view this game as one more brick in the wall a good push toward getting a bowl game birth?

#2 Daniel, Cal quarterback Chase Garbers threw 17-26 for 246 yards, two touchdowns, one interception. It was his first game back since the two week hiatus when over 24 players were out for Covid 19 protocols forcing Cal to play red shirts and call ups against the Arizona Wildcats (1-8) in a game they lost Nov 6th 10-3 and to cancel the following week’s game and win the Big Game last Sat Nov 20th.

#3 It was pretty much landslide game for the Bears last Sunday getting scoring 14 points in the second quarter, 13 points in the third quarter, and 14 points in the fourth quarter. The Cardinal defense just couldn’t stop Cal on their home field.

#4 One of the luxories that Garbers had last Saturday against Stanford was he had time in the pocket to throw and he was able to find a target just about every time dropping back.

#5 Cal takes on the UCLA Bruins (7-4) the Bruins have done their own crushing on offense in their last two games taking out the Colorado Buffaloes (3-7) 44-20 and the USC Trojans (4-6) 62-33. UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson Robinson threw for 349 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions against the Trojans.

Join Daniel for the Cal Bears football podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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 Bears basketball podcast with Morris Phillips: Kelly the big difference in Cal’s win last Thursday; Bears face undefeated Gators in Florida tonight

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The one to watch the Florida Gators forward Colin Castleton who led the Gators in scoring against Milwaukee Panthers on Thu Nov 18, 2021. The Cal Bears will need to step up the defense against Castleton and forward Tyree Appleby for tonight’s game vs. the Florida Gators in Meyers Fl (AP file photo)

On the Cal Bears basketball podcast with Morris:

#1 Morris there was no doubt that the Cal Bears (3-2) Andre Kelly was nothing short of impressive with his 29 points in taking to the Southern Utah Thunderbirds (1-4) 75-68 last Thu Nov 18 at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley.

#2 Morris, how important was it for Cal’s defense to shut down Southern Utah’s John Knight III over the final 3:41 of regulation play who lead both teams in scoring with 31 points.

#3 One of the other keys to the win was how the Cal defense held Knight scoreless in overtime for the first 9:32 keeping a guy like that out of range certainly lends to improving your chances of winning.

#4 Talk about matching Cal 6’7″ freshman Sam Alajiki to defend Knight it must have worked while Alajiki was on Knight Cal got a 8-0 run to cut the lead down to two during the second half.

#5 Next up for Cal is the mighty Florida Gators (4-0) this will be a contrast from the Thunderbirds that the Bears just finished playing. The Gators have some scorers like Colin Castleton and Tyree Appleby. The Bears will have to come at the Gators will some top ranked offense tonight.

Join Morris for the Cal Bears basketball podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Golden Bears enjoy a big day for offense and defense in 41-11 win over Cardinal

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By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, November 20, 2021

California benefitted from a strong defensive effort, along with the offense hitting on all cylanders as the Bears won the 124th annual Big Gane 41-11.

The Bears (4-6 overall, 3-4 Pac-12) stopped the home team twice on downs inside their own 5-yard line. The Csl offense, was back to making big plays – three of them for 75 yards or more,

The second time Stanford failed to score from inside the Cal 5 early in the second quarte, the game remained scoreless until four plays later, when Chase Garbers fired an 84-yard scoring pass to Trevon Clark for Cal’s first touchdown. It was also the longest scoring pass play in Big Game history.

Altogether, the Bears rolled up a Big Game-record 636 yards of total offense, breaking the old Big Game record of 603 yards that the Cardinal accumulated in 2013. And, the 41 points was the most Cal has scored in the annual rivalry game since 2009.

It’s difficult to select a single player of the game, but you could split this one five ways and give it to the Cal offensive line.

Garbers, back after missing two weeks due to COVID-19 protocol, had plenty of time to in the pocket, and was not sacked. He completed 17-of-26 passes for 246 yards, two touchdowns and was picked off once. Garbers also ran for 59 yards and tossed a 1-yard TD pass to Christopher Brooks to make it 14-0 with 5:38 to play in the first half, and the rout was on.

Cal had its running game going as well. Brooks rushed for 131 yards and Marcel Dancy added 92 more – 76 of them on a third-quarter touchdown run – as the Bears gained 352 yards rushing.

The Bears even used a little razzle-dazzle in the third quarter when wide reciever Kikoa Crawford took a lateral from Garbers and connected with Clark on a 34-yard gain, putting the ball on the Cardinal 6, setting up a Dario Longhetto 24-yard field goal. Clark finished the game with 135 recieving yards on three catches.

With the win, the Golden Bears still have a slim chance of playing in a bowl game, but have to win out against UCLA and USC to do it.

Cal Bears football podcast with Daniel Dullum: Cal ready to battle Stanford for Axe in the Big Game Saturday

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On the Cal Bears football podcast with Daniel:

#1 Daniel, last week’s game against the USC Trojans (4-5) postponed due to Covid 19 protocol issues with over 24 Cal Bears (3-6) players infected with the Bears coming off a 10-7 loss to the Arizona Wildcats (1-8) on Nov 6th and canceled last Sat Nov 13 would you look at last week’s postponement a good rest period or a game that the team wanted to get out battle USC and try and get back in the win column.

#2 The Wildcats had had such a horrible season they went in against Cal 0-8 have won a game all season and starting quarterback Will Plummer had been struggling under center all season with a low ratio of completed passes but with Cal coming along using most of their bench the Plummer and the Wildcats were able to get some daylight and get in the win column.

#3 The game in Arizona offensively for the Bears was one of their worst outing on offense the Bears in the first half just couldn’t get any offense jelling. Bears starting quarterback Chase Garbers was missed and back up Ryan Glover couldn’t get in the end zone getting shutout in the first half. Glover threw for 94 yards and no touchdowns.

#4 The Bears have their whole team back after being quarantined since that Nov 6th game in Arizona and have Garbers and the starters back. Talk about how much of a relief that has to be for head coach Justin Wilcox.

#5 The Big Game for the Axe is on deck as the Golden Bears head to Stanford University to play the Cardinal (3-7) at 4:00 pm PST. Daniel it seems no matter how bad or how great either team is doing it’s always like a grudge match a real rivalry when these two teams face each other.

Join Daniel for analysis and commentary on the Cal Bears podcast each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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.