Category: Cal Bears

Bouncy Bears: Cal gets the jump on UNLV down the stretch, wins 79-75 in overtime

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, Calif. — Down nine points with less than eight minutes remaining, the Cal Bears needed a few elements in their game on Tuesday against UNLV.

Composure. Togetherness. Defense.

“I said the first team that starts playing defense is going to win,” California coach Mark Fox said. “I didn’t think either team particularly was great defensively in the first half. But in the second half, both teams decided to start playing defense so I think what the difference in the game was, was the turnovers. In the second half, they had 12, we had five. I thought that was really what was the deciding factor. We just kept battling, we just kept playing hard and found a way to win.”

“I think we just picked it up,” said guard Kareem South, one of four Bears in double figures with 14 points. “When it was the moment of truth, we locked it in and got stops.”

Through 30 minutes, the meeting of Rebels and Bears couldn’t have been any more even. UNLV led by two at the half (40-38) and there were 20 lead changes in the game. The teams even appeared similar in dimensions: both teams relied heavily on their guards attacking the paint against smallish, front lines.

But the game turned in the final minutes for the home team. The Bears created offense from their defense, and rode a 16-2 run spanning the end of regulation and the beginning of overtime for a 79-75 victory. After consecutive 20-loss seasons, and a coaching change, Cal is 2-0.

Donnie Tillman led UNLV with 17 points, Elijah Mitrou-Long added 16, but the Rebels couldn’t maintain their 59 percent shooting from the first half. The turnovers and missed shots down the stretch may have partially been the product of fatigue and the Rebels’ lack of depth. Four of their five starters played more than 40 minutes, Mitrou-Long and reserve Nick Blair fouled out.

“In the second half, our defense kicked in but then we had too many turnovers,” UNLV coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “We have talked a lot about it–for us to be successful we need to do those things night in and night out.”

Matt Bradley led Cal with 23 points after he scored 25 in the opener against Pepperdine. Joel Brown added 12, and Paris Austin 10 points as the Bears relied heavily on dribble penetration, shooting 21 for 36 inside the 3-point arc.

Juhwan Harris-Dyson made his season debut playing 20 minutes, contributing five points and two rebounds. His defense and veteran presence will be critical for a young team that has so little veteran experience.

The Bears next play California Baptist Friday night in the opener of the 2K Empire Classic, a series of games against scheduled opponents that will see Cal play four games in eight days, including a matchup with Duke in Madison Square Garden in New York on November 21.

Cal Bears football podcast with Morris Phillips: Cal scrapes together enough 4th quarter offense to get by WSU 33-20

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calbears.com photo: Jaylinn Hawkins hauled in his eighth career interception in the first quarter

On the Cal Bears football podcast with Morris:

#1 From looking at the score frames it looked as if the Bears played small ball and beat Washington State by a 1000 cuts on Saturday 33-20

#2 The Bears big quarter was the fourth quarter when they scored 13 points to over come the Cougars

#3 The Bears quarterback Devon Modster went 16-24 for 230 yards and three touchdowns Modster threw just well enough to beat the Cougars.

#4 For the Cal touchdowns Modster had a keeper, Christopher Brown Jr and Malai Polk both had touchdowns.

#5 With the USC Trojans coming this Saturday to Memorial this will be one of Cal’s biggest challenges and a win could help their post season chances.

Morris does the Cal podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Healthier, Wealthier: Bears finally cash in with 33-20 win over WSU ending four-game slide

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, Calif. — Well, we knew coming in that previously ranked Washington State and Cal are pretty good football teams except when they aren’t.

The Cougs look bad when they can’t stop anybody, and when the Bears struggle they can’t score.  Those two storylines grew old in Pullman and Berkeley with all the losing. Since late September when WSU and Cal were both undefeated and nationally ranked, the two clubs combined for a 1-8 record.

So Saturday’s matchup offered redemption for one of the two teams, and more of the same for the other.

Who gained the upper hand?

Cal did, winning 33-20, as they welcomed back injured, offensive starters Michael Saffell, Kekoa Crawford and Devon Modster, three big reasons the Bears put up a season-best 33 points, one game after they were shutout in Salt Lake City.

“It just shows a lot of grit, coming off of a four-game losing streak,” said Modster, who threw for three scores and ran for another. “Our spirits didn’t die. We came out to work every day, and I think it showed tonight.”

The Bears scored just 24 points total in their previous three losses, but needed all of 45 seconds to find the end zone on Saturday night. Jaylinn Hawkins picked off Anthony Gordon’s first pass attempt of the game, and Christopher Brown Jr. covered 27 yards on a touchdown run one play later.

Any illusions that Cal was going to erase all its ills immediately were wiped out on the extra-point attempt when WSU’s George Hicks III scooped up a blocked kick and raced the length of the field for two points for the Cougars.

When is a touchdown not worth seven points on the scoreboard? In this case, when the Bears’ faulty place-kicking game gets involved. In that case, seven points is effectively reduced to four.

Defensively, the Bears were on point from the start, not only with Hawkins interception, but by getting off the field in a timely matter on Washington State’s next two possessions. But after tight end Gavin Reinwald fumbled trying to get extra yardage after a catch, WSU had a short field, and drew within a point on Drew Mazza’s 30-yard field goal.

Giving away points to a normally prolific WSU offense could have spelled disaster. Trailing only 6-5 after a lackluster beginning may have been the Cougars signal to bury Cal offensively, but it wasn’t. WSU committed too many penalties (10), couldn’t run the ball (16 yards on just 14 attempts) and didn’t do enough in the pass game despite racking up 407 yards passing on Gordon’s 58 pass attempts.

Instead, Cal limited WSU’s receivers after the catch, came up with Hawkins’ pick and a fumble recovery, along with a key stop early in the fourth quarter that preserved Cal’s 20-14 lead.

Meanwhile, the Bears took after halftime, as the Cougs imploded, building on their 13-11 lead at the break with a couple of big plays, most significantly, Makai Polk’s 52-yard catch-and-run that put Cal up 26-14 with 6:15 remaining. Polk, the freshman from Richmond, had just three catches all season prior to his touchdown, a moment of brilliance that saw Modster recognize the defense pre-snap, then have Polk take advantage after catching a simple screen pass.

“They were (in) cover zero and I knew it was going to be a big gain, but I didn’t know if it was going to be a touchdown or not,” Modster recalled. “But right when I threw it I saw a huge hole and Makai just did all the rest.”

The Bears are back in the postseason mix if they can gain at least one more win in their final three games. USC comes to Berkeley on Saturday, then the Bears visit Stanford. Both teams have been vulnerable at points this season, and Cal could benefit greatly if that resurfaces for either opponent. Bringing to an end the nine consecutive losses to Stanford probably is especially enticing to the Bears.

 

Bears start Coach Fox off with an impressive 87-71 win over Pepperdine

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY — After a pair of last place finishes in the Pac-12, a coaching change, and a great deal of personnel upheaval, the Cal Bears looked like a breath of fresh air in dispatching Pepperdine 87-71 in their season opener.

Coach Mark Fox, how about that improvement from last year’s 8-23 nightmare?

“I don’t know what happened last year,” Fox said emphatically. “We won’t even look at it.”

If anything can be learned at this early stage about Fox, who coached previously at Nevada and Georgia, he’s exceedingly positive while being extremely demanding. So far, 17 players, none of them new to the program–or old–according to Fox, have bought in.

Simply, the Bears are an empty slate, neither doomed to their recent past or promised to be improved. So far, improvement appears to be the path based on their come-from-behind win against the Waves.

Matt Bradley scored 25 points, and Paris Austin came up with 14 points, three assists keying a 52-point second half that carried the Bears after they trailed Pepperdine 37-35 at the half.

Andre Kelly, the beneficiary of some nifty passes from Austin, and newcomer Kareem South were Cal’s two other double-digit scorers, coming up with 16 points and 14 points respectively.

The Bears trailed by as many as seven points in the first half, and were still behind 49-46 with 14:35 remaining when Pepperdine went scoreless for five minutes and Cal took control. Bradley and Austin each scored six points in a 17-0 run that put the Bears up 63-49 with 10:05 remaining. The Waves banked on their 3-point shooting and lost, missing 19 of their final 25 attempts from distance.

Bradley experienced foul trouble in the opening 20 minutes and sat for a long stretch. But the second half was all his. The sophomore finished 8 for 11 from the field and made 5 of his 7 attempts from distance.

“I said, `Now you’re not in foul trouble. You can go and be aggressive and just play like you’ve practiced,'” Fox said of his halftime directive to Bradley.  “And to his credit he did just that.”

“When I came back in the second half it was second nature,” Bradley said. “I wasn’t really thinking much, I was just playing and felt really good.”

If the Bears have a focal point offensively, it undoubtedly would be the burly Bradley. The 6’4″ guard has started his Cal career by making 55 of 113 3-point attempts. On Tuesday, Bradley matched his career-best with five made threes.

Austin came off the bench and repeatedly burned the Waves with his dribble penetration and ability to finish. Remarkably, Austin registered just three assists even as it seemed had much more with his composed approach and pinpoint passing.

Colbey Ross led the Waves with 19 points, seven assists, but 17 of those came before halftime. Sophomore Kessler Edwards paced Pepperdine in the second half, scoring 15 of his 18 points after the break.

The Bears appear to be a much deeper and more balanced team than they were in 2018-19 as nine players saw action Tuesday.  They also expect to get big contributions from forward Kuany Kuany and big guard Juhwan Harris-Dyson, neither of whom played against Pepperdine. Fox hinted that the pair could return from injury rather soon with the Bears next scheduled to host UNLV on November 12.

Headline Sports podcast Pt. 2 with Barbara Mason: Warriors just a bad club or a rebuilding year?; Kings put together two wins in a row; plus more

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Photo credit sfgate.com: San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) is tackled short of the goal line by Arizona Cardinals safety Deionte Thompson (35) during the first half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. 

On the Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason:

#1 Are the Warriors 2-5 just down on their luck or are they just outright a bad ball club since their offseason mass exodus?

#2 How much would would you allude to the Sacramento Kings’ struggle and their recent two straight wins? Were the wins looked at as encouraging for the Kings?

#3 The Cal Bears opened up their men’s basketball season against Pepperdine tonight at Haas Pavillion. The Bears are looking to have a much better season than they did last year.

#4 The San Francisco 49ers might be facing their toughest challenge this season yet when they host the Seattle Seahawks for Monday Night Football on Nov. 11th at Levis Stadium.

#5 The Oakland Raiders just got by the Detroit Lions with a 31-24 win on a Hunter Renfrow fourth quarter touchdown that help put the Lions away at the Oakland Coliseum.

Headline Sports with Barbara Mason is heard each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal Bears podcast with Morris Phillips: With Washington State coming, will Bears be ready after the Utes experience?

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calbears.com: Cal Bears Bednarik Semifinalist Award candidate Evan Weaver (89) goes in for the tackle as Weaver and the Bears prepare for the Washington State Cougars Saturday, November 9th.

On the Cal Bears podcast with Morris:

#1 The Bears (4-4) were dismantled in their last game on both sides of the ball in Utah (7-1) 35-0, a shutout, a beating the Bears haven’t experienced this season.

#2 In the game in Utah, Bears quarterback Spencer Brasch threw 7-19 for 47 yards and the Bears simply didn’t get any yardage in the game in Utah.

#3 On the defensive side of the ball, the Bears defense was like butter for the Utes, who scored five touchdowns on the Bears in the first three quarters.

#4 In the fourth quarter, the Utes didn’t score a touchdown and played the bench. Was it their version of the mercy rule since the score was already 35-0?

#5 The Bears host the Washington State Cougars (4-4). It could very well be the Bears best chance at getting back in the win column. They haven’t won since Sept 21st against Ole Miss.

Catch Morris on the Cal Bears podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal routs Saint Martin’s 98-75 in exhibition game

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Photo credit: calbears.com

By Ana Kieu

Cal men’s basketball opened the 2019-20 season with a 98-75 blowout over Saint Martin’s in an exhibition game Wednesday night at Haas Pavilion.

Graduate transfer Kareem South led the Bears with a game-high 23 points. Sophomore Matt Bradley added 18 points and 5 assists, junior Grant Anticevich had 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting along with 6 rebounds and freshman Lars Thiemann scored 9 points and 4 blocked shots.

Cal head coach Mark Fox told CalBears.com, “We tend to practice very unselfishly. I don’t think we have anybody that’s a ball-stopper … I think they enjoy making each other better. We talk about making each other better and I think tonight we were able to do that.”

The Bears used a 11-0 run to build a 10-point lead at the 14:02 mark of the first half and led by as many as 15 in the first 20 minutes before the Saints closed the half on a 7-2 run for a 44-41 lead at the break.

The Bears extended the lead back quickly after halftime and held a 57-45 advantage at the under-16 media timeout with 15:34 left in the game. Cal used a 10-1 run to take a 79-58 lead and Saint Martin’s was unable to pull closer than 17 the rest of the way.

Cal scored 22 points off of 15 Saint Martin’s turnovers, held a 44-22 advantage in points in the paint and outscored the Saints 21-0 in fastbreak points.

Fox told CalBears.com, “It was great to finally play a game. It is why we all fell in love with the game was the chance to compete and to play and it was really good for our team to actually have a chance to play … We did a lot of good things, we have a lot of teachable moments we can look back on.”

The Bears open the Mark Fox era on Tuesday, November 5 at 7 p.m. inside Haas Pavilion against the Pepperdine Waves. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.

Cal Bears football podcast with Morris Phillips: Too much offense gives Cal dizzy spells in lopsided shutout win at Utes

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photo from sfgate.com: Utah’s Zack Moss (2) reaches the end zone while scoring one of his two touchdowns in his a win over Cal in Salt Lake City.

On The Cal Bears Football podcast with Morris:

#1 In one of the most difficult games of the season for the Golden Bears (4-4) and no doubt their worst of 2019. The Utah Utes (7-1) went to work on the Cal scoring the opening volley with a touchdown. Running back Zack Moss carried for a 4-yard run at 4:50 in the first quarter.

#2 Cal would remain scoreless in the first half as the Utes would score three more touchdowns in the second quarter on a Utes quarterback Bryan Thompson 40-yard pass to Tyler Huntley, a Jason Shelly 1-yard run, and a Brant Kuithe 1-yard pass to Jason Shelly. At the half, Cal could have asked for the mercy rule. It was 28-0.

#3 In the second half, the Utes picked up one more score in the third quarter at 9:26. Zack Jones carried for ten yards to put the frosting on the cake as the Utes would win it 35-0.

#4 Morris, what best explains best why Cal just simply couldn’t get any offense going and did quarterback Spencer Brasch, who went 7-19 for 47 yards, lack enough time and protection to throw the ball?

#5 Washington State (4-4) is up next. Cougars lost to Oregon on Saturday 37-35 and are 1-4 in their last five games. Taking some of WSU’s defensive issues under consideration, do you see Cal with a light at the end of the tunnel to win this game this coming Saturday?

Morris Phillips is a Cal Bears beat writer and does the Cal podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Offensively Challenged: Cal’s makeshift lineup no match for Utah in 35-0 rout

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By Morris Phillips

Nothing went right for the Cal Bears on Saturday night.

With Utah leading 35-0 in the third quarter, and FS1 TV announcers Tim Brando and Spencer Tillman pulling out all the stops to hold their wandering, viewing audience, Brando referenced Joe Starkey and his 500th Golden Bears broadcast. The announcers quickly listed Starkey’s accomplishments with Cal, previously with the 49ers, and named Starkey’s broadcast partners including Lee Grosscup.

But when it came time to show Starkey at work, the TV camera found the iconic broadcaster blocked from view by a well-placed window frame in the pressbox. Only Starkey’s trademark bushy eyebrows were visible with color man Mike Pawlawski seemingly holding down the radio broadcast alone.

Oh well. The Cal-Utah football game needed all the help it could get. Even Starkey couldn’t assist.

Anything would have been better than focusing on a beat-up Bears’ offense that managed just six first downs and failed to cross midfield after its initial possession of the game.

Again, six first downs and no potential, scoring drives over the game’s final 53 minutes.  Ouch.

“Spencer can throw the ball. It was tough to get things going, which would be a little bit of an understatement,” coach Justin Wilcox admitted. “The run game, pass game, we’ve got to help him some more. We have to give him answers. I think Spencer did fine.”

Wilcox appeared to be willing to give his inexperienced offense a break. He wasn’t as forgiving with his heralded defense that offered a second-straight subpar performance.

“We didn’t play well. We didn’t play the run well. We didn’t play the pass well. We didn’t tackle very well. We didn’t do anything,” said Wilcox. “Their offense, whether it was run game or pass game, they kind of did whatever they wanted and we weren’t able to get enough stops.”

“We didn’t make the plays and they did. It’s really frustrating. We have to go back and keep encouraging the guys and keep coaching them and giving them answers.”

Brasch, the third stringer who got mop up duty last week versus Oregon State, made his first collegiate start behind a makeshift offensive line, missing notable receivers and working with a pair of knicked up runners all but insuring this one wasn’t going to be pretty. Utah’s dominating defense would see to that.

But to this extreme? Utah pitched a shutout against Pac-12 competition for the first time since joining the conference in 2011.

The Bears saw Utah’s Tyler Huntley methodically move the Utes up and down the field in a flawless first half. Hundley’s participation was a gametime decision and he played with a noticeable limp. No matter, Huntley completed 11 of 17 passes as the Utes rolled up 351 yards in total offense in the first half and led 28-0 at the break.

Cal’s streak of holding 14 consecutive opponents to 24 points or less ended before the halftime.

So what remains for a team that was nationally ranked a month ago, and now is mired in a four-game losing streak?

Most importantly, a week off for a group that has more than its share of bumps and bruises.

 

Cal Bears football podcast with Morris Phillips: Bears will have to regroup after failed first half against OSU and answer the bell against Utah Saturday

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photo from sfgate.com: California quarterback Devon Modster, left, hands off to running back Christopher Brown Jr. in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game in Berkeley, Calif., Saturday, October 19, 2019.

On the Cal Bears podcast with Morris:

#1 The Cal Bears (4-3), in the first half of the game, could never make good use once they got into the red zone except to elect to kick a field goal. If not for that, they would have got shutout in the first half of the game by the Oregon State Beavers (3-4).

#2 Here is a Beavers team, whose been on a struggle, came into Berkeley at 2-4 and there’s Cal, who had a lot of confidence. This would be a great building block going forward after losing their last two games to Oregon and ASU.

#3 Did OSU take Cal out of their game in that first half by scoring two first half touchdowns and holding Cal to only a field goal?

#4 OSU won 21-17. Did Beavers quarterback Jake Luton, who threw 18-34 for 174 yards and two touchdowns, get some good protection and some time to throw the ball Saturday?

#5 Cal travels to Utah to face the Utah Utes (6-1) and the Utes are no pushover. They beat ASU (5-2) in their last game 21-3 on the road in Utah. This is a game that might keep Cal head coach Justin Wilcox up all week.

Morris does the Cal Bears podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com