Category: Cal Bears

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.