file photo by collegebasketball.ap.org: Cal Bears head coach Wyking Jones is currently in last place in the Pac 12 tied on the bottom with Washington State
On the Cal Bears Basketball Podcast:
1 Competitive game at Haas Pavilion on Sunday night the Bears lost 77-73 to Stanford Morris takes a look at what wasn’t working for Cal
2 On a positive note the Bears did show some improvement on defense
3 The Cardinal in their own right had to scratch and claw to hold onto the win in a game that went back and forth
4 Stanford forced Cal to turn the ball over nine times while Stanford turned the ball over 16 times. Morris takes a look at Cal’s ball handling.
5 Cal hosts Washington and Washington State next week at Haas Pavilion and will look to improve on the turnover ratio and have a chance against Washington and WSU
Photo courtesy of Ariel Nava/University of California Athletics
By Morris Phillips
BERKELEY, CA–The effort and competitiveness were present for Cal on Sunday afternoon. But without the made shots and the attention to detail defensively, a landmark sweep of rival Stanford will have to wait for another season.
Stanford kept Cal scoreless for more than two minutes after the game was tied for the last time at 67 with 4:31 remaining, and held on to beat the Bears at Haas Pavilion, 77-73. The loss allowed the Cardinal to avoid a rare sweep of the season series between the Bay rivals, one that has occured just twice in the last 25 seasons.
For first year coach Wyking Jones, the loss was both encouraging and disappointing as he attempts to elevate the young Bears back to conference title contending status.
“For 40 minutes I felt like we gave everything that we had so I’m happy,” Jones said. “It was good to see that and feel that in the building.”
Cal kept Stanford on its heels with its scrambling defense that forced 16 turnovers, along with six blocked shots and six steals. But the extra possessions that their defense produced mattered little when juxtaposed against the Bears’ 37 percent shooting, frequent fouling, and poorly timed scoring droughts. After getting even at 67, the Bears’ Justice Sueing missed a layup, and Marcus Lee and Juwahn Harris-Dyson committed turnovers.
Daejon Davis, who led Stanford with 22 points, fouled out with 2:11 remaining, and the two ensuing, made Don Coleman free throws got the Bears within three. But Cal was already in the process of missing its final five shots from the field, including a head scratching three-point attempt by seldom-used Roman Davis with three seconds remaining and Cal trailing by four. Those late misses allowed Stanford to hang on, a far more palatable result than them blowing a double-digit lead in the final minutes of the conference opener that went to the Bears.
“The ending wasn’t how we wanted but overall I felt we played a much cleaner game,” Stanford coach Jerod Haase said. “Our competitive spirit was there.”
With the win, Stanford improved to 8-6 in Pac-12 play, good enough to keep pace with three other conference teams, all in hopes of finishing fourth in the final standings, and earning a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament. The Bears fell into the conference cellar with the loss, tied with Washington State at 2-12.
The Bears conclude conference play with home games against Washington and Washington State, before traveling to Arizona to face the Sun Devils and Wildcats on the final weekend.
Don Coleman paced the Bears with 17 points, but missed 13 of his 19 shots from the field. Sueing and Lee added 15 points each, as the Bears enjoyed a rare, stellar day at the free throw line, making 18 of 22. But poor 3-point shooting (3 of 16) dulled any advantages the Bears gathered at the free throw line.
Stanford switched to a zone early in the second half, a rarity for the primarily man-to-man Cardinal. But the zone forced the Bears to share the ball and make smart decisions, neither strengths for the youth-laden Bears. Cal’s shooting dipped to 28 percent after halftime, and the 10 offensive rebounds they gathered in the first 12 minutes of the half amounted to very little on the scoreboard.
By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, February 18, 2018
There was no shortage of factors in the Stanford Cardinal’s 77-73 neighborhood rivalry in a Pac-12 showdown with the California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion Sunday.
Individually, Reid Travis stepped up with a 6-of-13 shooting night to go with 10 rebounds, finishing with 13 points. Daejon Davis was 7-of-10 from the floor, 7-of-9 at the line, five assists and two steals. Davis turned the ball over seven times, but still led the Cardinal with 22 points, despite fouling out.
Dorian Pickens also had a strong outing with 17 points, 6-of-10 shooting, two 3-pointers, 3-of-4 at the line and four boards. Michael Humphrey chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds.
As a team, the Cardinal shot nearly 45 percent overall, 76 percent on free throws, and outrebounded Cal 45-37. This is important, because Stanford hasn’t been a consistent road team throughout the Pac-12 schedule.
That inconsistency nearly did the Cardinal in again, but Stanford overcame those tendencies down the stretch, earning its first win over the Bears in Berkeley in three years.
Cal’s press gave the Cardinal fits, forcing Stanford into 17 turnovers that the Bears converted into 21 points. The Cardinal had an eight-point lead late in the second half before the Bears tied it at 67-67 with 4:31 to play.
From there, Stanford put together a five-point run before Davis fouled out with 2:11 left. But Pickens sank a pair of free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining to give the Cardinal a split in the season series.
The win was important for another reason for Stanford – the Cardinal are tied with Washington in the Pac-12 race, trailing fourth-place Utah by a half-game. The top four teams earn a first round bye in the Pac-12 tournament.
Up Next: The Cardinal host Washington on Thursday with a chance make up more ground in the Pac-12 standings.
photo by calbears.com: Cal Bears Darius McNeill (1) calls out a play bringing the ball up court scored 10 points to lead the Bears on Saturday night in Utah
On the Cal Bears Podcast:
1 Cal head coach Wyking Jones said of the Bears most recent loss to the Utah Utes that the team had no fight in them in the 74-43 defeat.
2 Cal started out leading 8-4 after four minutes but after went on a 10-0 run Cal went scoreless for more than five minutes and were facing a 40-21 deficit at halftime
3 Cal first half turn only hurt them 11 in the first nine minutes and the Utes took advantage with 17 of their 40 points resulting from the turn overs
4 The Bears return home next Sunday the 18th to host Stanford the first three home games
Photo of Utah’s Tyler Rawsom courtesy of University of Utah Athletics
By Morris Phillips
If Saturday night’s California-Utah ballgame were contested on a gridiron, not on the hardwood, Cal would have been saddled with poor field position throughout and rarely crossed midfield.
As it was, the Bears’ offensive possessions often ended quickly with a thud while Utah’s explored the rich tapestry of sharing the basketball, more often than not concluding with a flourish at point-blank range.
Even the final margin of 34 points lent the proceedings the feel of a five touchdown-mismatch at Rice-Eccles Stadium three blocks to the west, not a blowout on the hoop court at the history-filled Hunstman Center.
Either way the Bears were sent packing, much in need of the week of preparation they’ll have prior to their rematch with Stanford next Sunday. According to head coach Wyking Jones, the Bears will need an infusion of heart as well before seeing the Cardinal.
“We had no fight tonight,” Jones admitted. “It sums it all up… we had no fight.”
The Bears started respectably, leading 8-4 after four minutes. But a 10-0 Utah run changed the tenor of the ballgame immediately. Later in the half Cal went scoreless for more than five minutes and found themselves trailing 40-21 at halftime.
Offensively, the Bears were a mess early. Six of Cal’s 11 first half turnovers came in the first nine minutes as Utah’s zone built in tenacity. In their typical style under Coach Larry Krystowiak, the Utes’ defense fueled their offense with 17 of their 40 points a direct result of Cal’s miscues.
“If we truly focus on getting stops, it’s the cliché in sports,” Krystowiak said. “Pitching wins World Series’; Defense wins Super Bowls. We’ve had a couple of weeks playing zone, the guys are buying into it. Coach Hill is doing a great job on the defensive side of the ball, and it makes the game fun. We took some charges, took care of the glass, and the offense took care of itself.
Photo of Colorado’s McKinley Wright courtesy of Joel Broida/CU Athletics
By Morris Phillips
On a night where Cal and Colorado both struggled to possess the ball while simultaneously executing a strategy to score a basket, the visiting Bears dealt with an additional layer of adversity on the scoreboard where they trailed for the game’s final 18 minutes.
It was a barrier they couldn’t overcome in a frustrating 68-64 loss to the Buffaloes that dropped them to 2-10 in Pac-12 play with six regular season games remaining.
Coach Wyking Jones synopsis of the game’s events was spot on even with one, significant omission.
“Two teams trying to score, defense prevailing over offense,” Jones recounted. “Neither of us could get into a flow. Our guys battled. Our star player goes one for 15, moving forward I don’t ever expect that again. But our guys battled they didn’t give up, they fought to the end. I’m happy with how hard we played.”
Colorado coach Tad Boyle’s take on the game was even more succinct than Jones’ version. Boyle, so frustrated with his teams 19 turnovers and 18 offensive rebounds allowed, too missed one critical factor.
“I can’t remember a time in my coaching career when I’ve been this disappointed after a win,” Boyle said. “We dodged a bullet.”
And that key factor that both coaches somehow glossed over? Colorado freshman guard McKinley Wright took over the game in the final minutes, scoring 8 of his game-high 17 points to will the Buffs to victory.
Maybe Boyle, and even Jones, temporarily forgot about Wright because he’s been such a consistent presence since he stepped on the Boulder campus last fall. With both teams stumbling to execute offensively throughout, Wright stood out with his calm, but purposeful play in the last two minutes that hand delivered the win for Colorado. But Wright has done this numerous times, even as his college career is just 24 games old.
“We knew that Cal was at the bottom of our league and to be honest we took them light. We came out flat and they had nothing to lose,” Wright said. “That’s just something we got to do better, I got to do better, and we all got to do better. Just making sure we’re all prepared and having high energy during shoot around right before tipoff.”
After Kingsley Okoroh tipped in a basket with 2:12 remaining–part of Cal’s tireless effort on the glass throughout–Wright answered back with a jumper that re-established the Buffs’ five-point lead, 58-53. In the final 50 seconds, Wright would make six, consecutive free throws to help Colorado close it out.
Apart from Cal’s fast start and gritty effort, the Bears accomplished little else. The Bears were done in by 36 percent shooting and leading scorer Justice Sueing’s off night. The Bears went the game’s first 24 minutes without a made three pointer, and Sueing didn’t make a basket until 39 seconds remained in the game. Sueing started 0 for 14 and had just one of Cal’s first 45 points. He finished with six points, well off his 14 points per game average.
But Sueing wasn’t alone in the frustrating night department.
Darius McNeill missed 8 of his 11 shot attempts. Two of McNeill’s three makes came in the game’s final minute as Colorado closed it out. Juhwan Harris-Dyson finished with nine points on 4 of 6 shooting but fouled out with three minutes remaining. Don Coleman came off the bench, but missed six of his nine attempts, and committed a head-scratching technical when he grabbed Tyler Bey’s leg on the baseline causing Bey to tumble.
The Bears were tied at the half, and led for the last time, 29-28 with 18 minutes remaining. Okoroh’s jump shot with 4:52 remaining got Cal within 52-51, but that was as close as the Bears would come to regaining the lead. Colorado (14-10, 6-6) converted eight consecutive free throws in the final minute to close it out.
The Bears conclude their road swing at Utah on Saturday at 6:30pm.
BERKELEY, CA–Stay together. Continue to fight. Even for first-year Cal coach Wyking Jones, repeating those rallying cry phrases carried little significance without putting one in the win column.
Finally, after more than a month, Jones’ Bears have that win.
Kingsley Okoroh registered his first career double-double and the Bears used a big, first half run to get past Oregon State, 74-70 at Haas Pavilion on Saturday night.
The Bears had dropped nine in a row, one off the school-record 10 losses established in 1962. But throughout, players and coaches remained positive and hopeful the streak could be broken.
“Our guys stayed together and believed in each other,” Jones said. “We challenged them to run their shooters off the line and we were okay with giving up two-point contested field goals. The threes add up quick so that was the main focus defensively — it was just to not give up open looks from three. We also made a ton of hustle plays.”
The Bears started slow, and trailed by as many as 10 early. But the response was immediate: Cal scored 30 of the game’s next 40 points to establish their own double-digit lead, and then led 36-28 at the half. OSU was held scoreless for more than six minutes during the run, and shot just 38 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.
Unlike the previous month of Cal basketball, the Bears held it together under the adversity of a deficit on the scoreboard. Meanwhile, the Beavers unraveled, likely under the road woes they’ve endured in losing 18 straight true road contests.
“It is frustrating, but we’ve got to stay positive,” OSU coach Wayne Tinkle said. “Toughness and discipline wins on the road, and we’ve got to continue to establish that.”
Still, Oregon State applied the pressure with an 8-0 run to lead 57-56 with 6:47 remaining. But Cal’s response–Darius McNeill’s 3-pointer–was immediate, and the Bears never again trailed.
The ragged nature of the ballgame–surprisingly free of turnovers, but littered with 51 foul calls–no doubt had both coaches on edge. But Cal (8-16, 2-9) found away to exploit the situation by making 29 of 39 from the stripe, as big as a surprise as the win itself given Cal’s season-long struggles at the foul line. In the final 3:30 with the game in the balance, the Bears sunk 11 of 14 to seal it.
“Coach yesterday made us shoot free throws for 30 minutes straight,” Okoroh recalled. “We just all sat around and shot free throws in silence, and it paid off today.”
McNeill led Cal with 16 points, Marcus Lee and Okoroh added 14, and Justice Sueing had 11. Sueing has scored in double figures in all 11 conference games, and did so Saturday despite foul trouble that limited him to six minutes in the first half.
“I’m just very happy for our guys,” Jones said. “Throughout all the losses, throughout all the tough breaks, they’ve been able to continue to fight and continue to stay together.”
Steven Thompson Jr. led OSU (11-11, 3-7) with 24 points, and Tres Tinkle added 19.
The Bears continue Pac-12 play on Wednesday at Colorado followed by a visit to Salt Lake City to face Utah.
BERKELEY–Slow starts returned, missed shots never went away, and Cal’s losing streak grew longer on Thursday night.
Oregon was present at Haas Pavilion to benefit from each update, winning 66-53 over Cal to keep their slim hopes of post-season play alive, while the Bears fell for the ninth, consecutive time.
Not surprisingly, the artistry on both sides was dwarfed by sloppy play, highlighted by the combined 33 turnovers posted by the two teams.
Oregon coach Dana Altman didn’t necessarily like what he witnessed, but he appreciated the effort counting in the win column.
“We’ve always had a lot of trouble here,” Altman said. “It’s never been an easy place for us. So we were fortunate to get the win, but we need to play better on Saturday. We need to grow as a team and play smarter.”
The Bears were doomed by their scoreless start to the game, going more than six minutes and trailing 9-0 before Don Coleman broke the slide with his made jumper. They would trail by as many as 15 points before a late run got them within 34-26 at the half.
“We have been really good out of the gate as of late, and today I look up at the score and its 0-9 and we have to try and get back into the game,” coach Wyking Jones said. “We didn’t set a good tone coming out of the gates. I wasn’t happy about that, because I thought we had gotten past that.”
The Bears competitiveness kicked in, just not at the critical junctures. Cal outrebounded the Ducks and forced 17 turnovers, but saw all their hustle undone by missed shots. When the Bears climbed to within 53-47 with 5:36 remaining, the Ducks responded with an 8-0 run to put the game away.
Cal shot just 33 percent from the floor for the game, and missed 13 of their 17 3-point attempts. They also played stretches without post players Marcus Lee and Kingsley Okoroh, who were both saddled with foul trouble.
“When we get the ball inside, we get moving, guys cut to the rim, and we have Marcus and King who are great passers out of the post, so when those guys were in foul trouble, we didn’t have that option,” Jones said.
Freshman Troy Brown led the Ducks with 16 points. Elijah Brown added 15, and MiKyle McIntosh had 13. The Ducks put 22 fewer shots than the Bears, but made them count, shooting 55 percent from the floor with nine made threes.
Cal got 16 points from Don Coleman, and 12 from Justice Sueing. Coleman returned from a two-game suspension for a violation of team rules.
1 Like butter the Cal defense failed again to stop another team’s offensive and paid dearly dropping the their eight eighth straight loss to USC to 77-59 at Galen Center in Los Angeles
2 Cal head coach Wyking Jones said after the game that the Bears can’t continue beating themselves with 20 turnovers Sunday
3 Cal drops it’s win loss record to (7-15) the fourth worst record for a Cal team 22 games into the season
4 In your column your mention Cal is facing inbalance, unrelenting lessons facing the highest level in NCAA Basketball
5 The Bears are back at it again at Haas Pavilion facing the Oregon Ducks on Thursday night
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