Category: Cal Bears

Cal responds to challenge of playing at Pearl Harbor with a big second half against Princeton

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princeton-in-charge

By Morris Phillips

The environment at Bloch Arena on Tuesday afternoon may have been more challenging than the Princeton Tigers ultimately.

The Cal Bears looked wide-eyed in the first half, then seemed more focused in a dominating second half that allowed them to pull away from Princeton in a 62-51 win.  Charlie Moore scored 10 of Cal’s 44 points in a hot-shooting, second half after the Bears shot just 25 percent from the field before halftime.  The 44 points was a high for Cal in a half through eight games.

“Charlie stepped up,” coach Cuonzo Martin said.  “He made plays.  He made shots.  He got to the rim.”

“Coach told me to assert myself a little bit more on the offensive end in the second half and make sure we execute the offense,” Moore said after scoring 15 points for the game, one of four Bears to score in double figures.

With service men and women lining the court, and comprising the vast majority of the 2,500 in attendance at the arena with open air vistas at its top, Bloch Arena made for as unique an environment to ever to host a California basketball game.  The smallish venue at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickham is hosting holiday, college basketball for the second consecutive year.  The event this year marks the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, an attack that Bloch Arena miraculously survived.

Instead of the Oklahoma-Villanova Final Four preview that highlighted last year’s event, this one started with the Bears and the Tigers attempting to overcome awful shooting from the game’s outset.  At one point, during the first half, Princeton missed 14 consecutive shots.  But the Bears fell cold at the half’s conclusion, and the Tigers led 20-18 at the break.

In the second half, Cal surged behind Jabari Bird, playing for the first time in six games after his bout with back spasms.  Bird scored 11 of his 13 after halftime, and the Bears made their final 16 of 24 shots from the field to turn the tide.

Meanwhile the Tigers went cold after taking their final lead, 46-44, with 7:45 remaining on Henry Caruso’s three.  At that point, Cal responded with an 11-1 run to put the game away.

“They made some really big plays down the stretch,” Princeton coach Mitch Henderson said.  “About three or four big plays and we really struggled in that little window there and that was the difference in the game.”

Sam Singer and Grant Mullins, who missed the previous game against Alcorn State due to a death in his family, scored 11 points each.  Devin Cannady led Princeton with 16 points, but missed 11 of his 15 shots from the field.  Spencer Weisz added 10 for the Tigers.

Ivan Rabb had a quiet game offensively.  The 6’10” forward missed his first five shots, and finished with a season-low six points.  But Rabb had 10 rebounds, and contributed to the Bears huge disparity on the glass (49-33) and points in the paint (34-12).

The Bears return to Bloch Arena Wednesday afternoon to face Big East opponent, Seton Hall.  The Pirates got past Hawaii in Tuesday’s nightcap, 68-57, as Angel Delado scored 16 points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cal Bears basketball podcast with Morris Phillips: Non Conference games work in Cal’s favor during home win streak now at 24

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calbears.com photo: Cal Bears head coach Cuonzo Martin sets up the plays for the next set against Alcorn State last Saturday night at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley

The Cal Bears most recent win over Alcorn State on Saturday was Cal’s 24th consecutive home win at Haas Pavilion. Scheduling had a lot to do with that but it also means they ran the home slate in the Pac 12 last year which is very impressive because that comes with a victory over UCLA, Arizona, and also Oregon last year.

When you can beat nine out of the 11 opponents in the Pac 12 in your building on an annual basis that really speaks volumes for what your trying to do and last year in resulted in an NCAA bid for Cal. Scheduling is a big part of this and Alcorn State is not a powerful opponent, Louisiana Tech was from Conference USA and that was a wonderful game at Cal last Wednesday.

Morris Phillips does the Cal Bears basketball podcasts each week at http://www.sportsadioservice.com

 

 

Cal Bears basketball Saturday game wrap: Cal remains unbeaten at home, Beats Alcorn State 83-59

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sfgate.com file photo: Cal Bears forward Ivan Rabb (1) takes a jump shot on Wyoming Cowboys forward Alan Herndon (5) from Friday Nov 25th’s  game at Haas Pavilion. Rabb led all scorers on Saturday night against the Alcorn State Braves

By: Joe Lami staff writer

The California Golden Bears wrapped up the California Bears Classic on Saturday with an 83-59 victory over the Alcorn State Braves at Haas Pavilion. The win improves Cal’s record to 6-1 overall, with all six of those wins coming on home-court while marking the third straight loss for the Braves.

Cal led the entire way, as they went into the break with a 44-25 lead at the half. But more importantly, the Bears didn’t squander their lead, as they continued to push in the second half. Despite having a three-game win streak Cal blew 20-point leads in each of them, so coming out and playing a good second half was important for the team.

Sophomore, Ivan Rabb had a career night, nabbing a new career high with 26 points. He also brought down seven boards and dished out two helpers in the 29 minutes he played. Roger Moute A Bidias contributed 12, while Don Coleman came off the bench for ten points.

Reginal Johnson was Alcorn State’s leading scorer, as he came off the bench to score 17.

Immediately after the game, the Bears hopped on a plane set for the Aloha State, as they will be participating in the Pearl Harbor Invitational next week. They return to the court on Tuesday to take on Princeton.

Rabb in foul trouble, no Bird–no problem: Cal gets past La Tech in overtime, 68-59

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calbears.com photo: The Cal Bears Ivan Rabb throws down against Louisiana Tech’s defense at Haas Pavilion at UC Berkeley

By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–On Wednesday, with Ivan Rabb on the bench in foul trouble, Jabari Bird and Kameron Rooks in street clothes, and Louisiana Tech breathing down their collective necks in a close ballgame late, the Cal Bears passed with flying colors.

You don’t survive this kind of adversity without a bunch of characters, and Cal had them, from Kingsley Okoroh, in his lengthiest and best turn as a collegian, to steady Sam Singer, aggressive Grant Mullins and unshakeable Charlie Moore.  In those final seven minutes of regulation—without Rabb after he picked up his fourth foul until he returned for the final 2:36–the Bears would go from up five to down one twice, then tied again with 1:07 remaining.  But those four, unsung Bears and a couple of others, kept Cal afloat, taking all the shots even after Rabb returned for the final minutes and all of overtime.

Yes, Rabb was the leading scorer with a career-best 25 points, but his offensive contribution in the final 12 plus minutes of Cal’s 68-59 overtime victory was five makes out of six from the free throw line.  The pre-season All-American’s teammates did the rest.

“I told our guys I think this game made us a better team,” coach Cuonzo Martin said.  “Often times, you don’t see that level of athleticism, length and physicality on the floor–with speed.  Especially in the last maybe four minutes of the first half in transition they really got the best of us.  Our transition defense, we didn’t do a great job.”

Louisiana Tech was a handful in all aspects with one exception: they didn’t shoot well at all (27 percent), and went the final 4:18 of overtime without scoring.  Other than that, the Bulldogs competed, scratching their way back into the ballgame before halftime (as Martin described) and staying in it until overtime.  Tech had success defending the mercurial freshman, Moore and their 1-3-1 zone look utilized in the second half was effective.  And the Techsters didn’t budge with Rabb, taking the ball right at him, which eventually landed the 6’10” sophomore in foul trouble.

“They didn’t stop,” Rabb said.  “They didn’t let up at all and they continued to push us and we responded.  As long as we continue to respond when that pressure hits, that’s all that matters.”

The Bears won for the 24th consecutive time at home, a streak that’s currently the sixth best nationally, and a sure sign that this club has made itself comfortable at Haas Pavilion.  But good fortune has its place in the streak, and it cropped up Wednesday when Qiydar Davis left early for Louisiana Tech with what is being called a serious knee injury, and Jacobi Boykins and DaQuan Bracey nearly joined Davis on the bench when they had physical issues as well.

But Cal soldiered on as well, finding out that Rooks will miss more than a month after knee surgery, and Bird remains out indefinitely with his back spasms.  Bird would have been much needed against Tech with his length and shooting ability, but one after another, this group of Bears keep things together.

Okoroh was the biggest surprise, playing 40 minutes and fighting fatigue while coming up with nine points, 12 rebounds, five blocks and four assists.  The excitable Okoroh couldn’t stop talking afterwards, but his play talked plenty during the game, catching Martin’s attention.

“That’s 40 minutes and he didn’t foul out,” Martin said of Okoroh.  “And he does a great job keeping his hands high.  (In the off-season) he spent a lot of time playing defense without fouling, keeping his hands high, moving his feet and he does a great job.  And you don’t realize how big and physical he is until you’re up against him the whole night.”

 

 

Cal Bears basketball podcast with Michael Duca: One Foggy Christmas eve Moore is turning out to be Golden Bears offensive weapon

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sfgate.com file photo: Cal’s Charlie Moore (13) takes aim as the Wyoming Cowboys Brandon Chauca tries to defend Moore during Nov 25th contest at UC Berkeley

Cal Bears freshman Charlie Moore as time goes on seems like he’s getting better and he distributing the ball and getting the rock to other players and he’s more involved in the offense. The win over Southeastern Louisiana was good for Cal considering before things starting getting sticky for the Bears. Cameron Rooks was out with a knee injury he suffered the week before and it turns out that’s going to be a situation that Cal is going to have to deal with.

Rooks had surgery on that knee on Wednesday and he’ll be out from four to six weeks which means at least the rest of three conference games and probably he won’t be there for Arizona or Arizona State and it may go longer than that during the conference season and that could put a real crimp in Cal’s hopes for this season.

Michael Duca does the Cal Bears basketball podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

More buckets, more polish: Cal’s Moore leads the way again in win over Southeastern Louisiana

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–In Berkeley these days, Moore means more.  More buckets, more assists and steals.  So much more, Bears’ fans collectively must be wondering, how much more they can expect from Charlie Moore, the 5’11” guard from Chicago burning up the stat sheet in his first taste of college basketball.

Moore was at again Sunday at Haas Pavilion, scoring 22 points in Cal’s 67-55 win over Southeastern Lousiana.  But the cerebral freshman didn’t just score, he buried it from deep (four made threes), came up with a crafty steal for a breakaway layup, and took control of the game early when it was still up for grabs.

“Gosh, he’s got such a great future in front of him,” SE Louisiana coach Jay Ladner gushed. “He’s an outstanding player and he was really the difference in the game, in fact the three he hit late, when we cut it to nine was a huge play so give him credit.”

Pac-12 network color commentator Steve Lavin talked about the polish in Moore’s game during the telecast, and spoke to the freshman about his ability to improvise one trip, then work within an offensive set the next trip.  Moore doesn’t have to do much explaining, prep observers have already spoken extensively about the guard’s exploits on the AAU circuit after his junior year of high school in which he outplayed more heralded prep stars, then followed that by averaging 28 points per game in his senior season for Morgan Park H.S.

Moore originally passed on California and VCU to sign with Memphis and Coach Josh Pastner.  But when Pastner left Memphis for Georgia Tech, Moore had already negotiated his out in the event of a coaching change.  With his recruitment reopened, Moore chose Cal.

 

Cal Bears basketball game wrap: Cal rolls on with 67-55 win over Southeastern Louisiana

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AP file photo: Ivan Rabb (1) Cal Bear forward has a lot to be jubilant about as he and Cal freshman Charlie Moore help lead Cal in scoring

By Jeremy Harness

The Cal basketball team was never really challenged Sunday night, as they cruised to a 67-55 win over Southeastern Louisiana inside Haas Pavilion.

The Golden Bears raced out to a 40-22 halftime lead and then held on in the second half. In the process, they ran their record to 4-1 with more than a month before Pac-12 play starts.

Freshman guard Charlie Moore, who is averaging more than 20 points per game in this young season, led the Golden Bears with 22 points while making seven of his 13 shots – including going 4-for-6 from 3-point territory – to go along with four assists and three steals in the process.

Cal out-rebounded its opponent 36-31 and also won the turnover battle. The Bears forced Southeastern Louisiana into 16 turnovers while only committing 11 of their own.

However, one cause for concern for Cal came at the free throws, as the Golden Bears knocked down only 14 of their 26 foul shots, which is only 53.8 percent.

Oakland native Ivan Rabb, a sophomore forward, was not far behind him, adding 17 points while pulling down 10 rebounds.

For Southeastern Louisiana, Davon Hayes led the way with 11 points – aided by making three of his four 3-point attempts – to go with six rebounds.

The Bears will now get ready to take on Louisiana Tech, a team that will visit Haas Pavilion Wednesday night.

 

Cal Bears basketball podcast with Morris Phillips: Rabb trying to get over toe injury and working on his shot

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AP photo: Cal Bears forward Ivan Rabb (1) drives to the basket against Wyoming Cowboy Justin James (1) at Haas Pavilion last Friday Nov 25th at Cal Berkeley

The Cal Bears have improved to (4-1) after their win over Southeastern Louisiana State on Sunday night at Haas Pavilion 67-55 the Bears don’t have a lot of non conference building games. Seton Hall and Virginia are really the only two other than the loss to San Diego State that the Bears have. The only other opponents that Cal is going to play is on Wednesday against Louisiana Tech.

In the month of December their RPIs aren’t just high enough to affect Cal in terms of if their going to be in the NCAA or not. In the meantime the Bears are not ready yet. Their not healthy Ivan Rabb is still getting reacclimated into the program after missing so much time and with his toe injury there’s a lot of work to be done.

Morris Phillips does the Cal Bears podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal captures season finale against UCLA, and at 5-7 maintains slim bowl hopes

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dykes-celebration

By Morris Phillips

The Davis Webb era—brief and impactful—ended on Saturday night, and did so in a manner that was commensurate with the transfer quarterback’s contributions.

With a win.

Webb, referred to as a “pro” by Coach Sonny Dykes, threw a pair of touchdown passes, and the much-maligned Bears’ defense shut out UCLA for the first 34 minutes of the game in Cal’s 36-10 win on the heels of four-straight losses.

The Bears finished their season 5-7 and maintain slim hopes that they could be chosen for a bowl game in the absence of enough six-win teams to fill all the post-season slots.  Ironically, Cal’s improved academic standing (APR of 960) would be the reason the Bears would get the nod over similarly-situated, five win teams.

Webb, who put himself in the school record book by throwing 4,295 yards—second only to Jared Goff’s 4,719-yard season a year ago—was more than stopgap for a rebuilding program.  According to Dykes, Webb was a leader by example, and therefore critical to Cal’s younger players navigating the landscape of bigtime, college football for the first time.

“He is one of those guys that gets it,” Dykes said.  “I can’t say enough good things about him. His impact will be felt in our program for a long time just because of his work ethic and dedication and I think he is a great example for the rest of our players, especially for our quarterbacks, especially the time it takes to be a great quarterback at this level.”

Webb was Cal’s best player in a down year, a lead-by-example guy who took a bunch of hits and made very few excuses.  But Webb’s impact was diluted in the losing streak, the last three of which came to ranked Pac-12 foes.  But Webb and the Bears found a way to turn it around on Saturday against the Bruins, that rare opponent facing even greater adversity than the Bears.

Early on the Bears had to navigate the wet conditions as much as the Bruins, who were once again without standout quarterback Josh Rosen.  The first quarter downpour—for Cal, a reminder of the miserable conditions they experienced the previous week against Stanford—kept both offenses on skates.  Webb and the Bears avoided a pair of damaging interceptions when UCLA safeties Randall Goforth and Adarius Pickett couldn’t hold on to the ball.  Both interception drops could have gone for Bruins’ scores, instead the missed opportunities were the precursors to UCLA’s defensive fatigue that developed when they couldn’t successfully cover for their depleted offense.

Having avoided critical, early turnovers, Webb found a way to move the ball, but couldn’t translate the offense into touchdowns.  Instead, the Bears settled for four Matt Anderson field goals in the first half when their drives stalled.

The Bears led 12-0 at the half, the first time they shut out a Pac-12 foe in an opening half since 2011.  And while the defense was better than it’s been, the Cal offense had a lot to do with that.

Cal would run 102 offensive plays on the afternoon, totaling 496 yards in offense.  Khalfani Muhammad led the rushing attack with 116 yards, and Chad Hansen, Webb’s most frequent passing target once again, contributed 10 catches for 156 yards.  The 100-play barrier, an important barometer for Dykes’ Bear Raid offense, signaled UCLA’s demise, as well as highlighting their season-long issues with a lack of physicality on defense, issues they’ll need to address in the off-season.

With Cal pushing on offense, the Bruins’ defense got pushed.  But you couldn’t fault defensive lineman Takkarist McKinley and linebacker Jayon Brown, who combined for 25 tackles, capping exemplary seasons for both.  The last time the Bruins were in the Bay Area—in December for the Foster Farms Bowl at Levi’s Stadium—they experienced the same issues with physicality on defense in an embarrassing loss to Nebraska.  Off-season recruiting didn’t address those issues as the Bruins failed to add heft along their defensive front.  Now, with their off-season upon them, they’ll have another opportunity to regroup.

“We need to get our attitude right, and our focus right,” Brown said.  “We were a better team than our record shows.”

“We’ll rise again, we will,” said Coach Jim Mora, who is expected to return, but likely with significant changes among his assistant coaches.  “We have the right type of young men in the locker room.  We just have to make some adjustments and we’ll get better.”

The Bruins got within 12-7 on their first drive of the third quarter, capped by Mike Fafaul’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Kenneth Walker III.  But the Bears answered with a pair of touchdowns back-to-back, the first courtesy of 300-pound lineman turned fullback, Malik McMorris, who scored from a yard out.

The Bears capped their scoring with 9:41 remaining on Webb’s touchdown pass to Bug Rivera, the last of his 37 touchdown passes at Cal.

“I could tell everyone was playing for the seniors,” said Hansen, who faces his a decision whether to return, or test the NFL waters.  “That was the motto Coach Dykes was giving the whole week.  The seniors have put in so much time and effort, so much blood, sweat and tears for this program.  We needed to pay them back and I think we did that tonight.”

The Bears slim post-season hopes depend on two or three schools with 5-7 records and better APR numbers rejecting bowl invitations.  Of that group, Texas, who fired coach Charlie Strong on Saturday, is expected to pass on any bowl invites.  But North Texas, Mississippi State and Northern Illinois—all with better APR numbers—might be as thirsty for the post-season as Cal is.

 

Cal bounces back: MWC opponent Wyoming becomes the Bears’ 22nd consecutive victim at Haas Pavilion

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wyoming-high
Wyoming forward Hayden Dalton (20) dives to save a out of bounds ball in front of California guard Don Coleman (14) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Friday, Nov. 25, 2016, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–The laundry list of things to fix for the Cal Bears was lengthy and varied Friday night, and it didn’t change if the Bears were up 22, or clinging to the lead in the final seconds.

Transition defense, entry pass angles, switching on screens to get to shooters and ball movement were highlights, but the list didn’t end there.  And the process didn’t begin or end with Cal’s 71-61 victory over Wyoming.  Despite his team leading their Mountain West opponent by double digits for more than half the game, Coach Cuonzo Martin made it clear he’s looking for improvement.

“You have to execute down the stretch, I think we got excited (because) we got a big lead” Martin said.  “We didn’t defend at the level we needed to, we didn’t maintain the level we needed to.”

When the baskets disappeared—the Bears went from 7:15 to 42 seconds remaining in the game scoring just two points—the game grew tight, and that too was an issue for a young club needing to mature.  In the final stretch, the Bears got offensive foul calls, botched an entry pass, got stripped in the post and set some sloppy screens, things that were issues in Sacramento on Monday in their loss to San Diego State.

But this time, Cal was in the win column thanks to a really good defensive stretch at the game’s beginning, and some pleasant offensive efforts from Grant Mullins and Roger Moute A Bidias.  Just seven minutes in, the Bears led 11-1, Mullins and Moute A Bidias combined for 26 points, a nice compliment to scoring leaders Ivan Rabb and freshman Charlie Moore.

Moore figured to be Cal’s top newcomer after a highly decorated high school career in Illinois, and it may be a far more consistent deal than anyone could have expected.  In his last three games, Moore has scored 73 points, attempted 28 free throws and been named Pac-12 Player of the Week.  Against Wyoming, Moore added a career-best six assists and three steals.

“He makes plays. He makes good decisions,” Martin said of Moore.  “He’s one of the better guys I’ve seen as far as attacking ball screens, reading ball screens, and he’s so shifty that it’s really hard to trap him and he has a variety of moves in and around the rim with his floaters, pull-ups, step-backs.  He’s just a tough guy to defend.”

Moore’s a company guy too.  When Moore and senior Moute A Bidias were asked what’s the magic to Cal’s 22-game home winning streak—currently the nation’s seventh longest—Moore weighed in first saying it’s “definitely just the crowd.  Familiar faces and familiar surroundings.  We get shots up in her all the time so in Haas just playing a game, it comes easy to us.”

Rabb looked rusty in just his second game of the season.  Moore and Rabb hooked up on a nice interior alley oop that needed the long arm of the 6’10 sophomore to impact the difficulty meter, and when Wyoming got within 10 points with nine minutes remaining, Rabb responded with a pump fake and a bank shot that dropped and drew a foul on the Cowboys’ Alan Herndon.

Jabari Bird, the likely third wheel to a Rabb-Moore led Cal offense missed his third straight game with back spasms.  Martin said he could be out two more weeks, but maintained he wasn’t sure as his medical doctor days, like many of us, are confined to a Holiday Inn Express.

The Bears led by 12 at the half, and 22 with 12 minutes remaining.  But Wyoming chipped away—reserve Justin James came up with 17 of his game-best 28 points after halftime—and the Bears had to protect a 65-60 lead in the game’s final minute.

“We played on our heels in the first half, and you can’t do that against a tough and gritty team like Cal,” first-year Wyoming coach Allen Edwards, the successor to veteran coach Larry Shyatt, said.  “We were more assertive and played better in transition in the second half.”

If nothing else, the Bears have a measure of the Mountain West having struggled at a neutral site against MWC pre-season favorite San Diego State, then cruised—initially—at home against Wyoming, picked to finish ahead of only San Jose State in the 11-team league.  The Bears are 19-2 at home under Martin against non-conference opponents.

The Bears face Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday at 5pm at Haas Pavilion.  The Lions of the Southland Conference most recently won at UTEP by 17 points, and lost by eight at Colorado State.