Tag: Cal

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.”

 

 

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

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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.

Rabb’s season debut uneven in Cal’s 77-65 loss to San Diego State in Sacramento

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core

By Morris Phillips

calbears.com photo: Cal Bears Ivan Rabb looking to dish a pass against the San Diego State Aztecs at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Monday night

SACRAMENTO–For those wondering how homegrown Cal star Ivan Rabb goes from 12.5 points, 8.6 rebounds a game as a freshman to living up to the belief that he could be a first-team All-American in his sophomore year, well, that process began Monday in Sacramento.

The results were mixed.

Rabb–the Bears’ unquestioned centerpiece and the first Cal player since Jason Kidd to be honored as such by the Associated Press before a season–missed the team’s first two games while dealing with a sprained toe, pushing back his debut to Monday against San Diego State.  But Rabb and the Bears looked disjointed in a 77-65 loss to the Aztecs.

“Obviously, I was a little rusty,” Rabb said.  “I think I was kind of disinterested at first.  Kind of trying to feel for the game too much instead of going and demanding the ball like I did more in the second half.  It’s not all on coaches, it’s on me. I have to be more aggressive to start the game.”

In the first half, with SDSU flashing double teams at Rabb on the catch, the 6’10” forward struggled, scoring just three points.  The Bears as a group struggled as well with just six made baskets as they fell behind 42-25 at the break.  In the second half with Rabb energized, the sophomore poured in 16 points and the Bears got with eight points on a couple of occasions.  But clearly Coach Cuonzo Martin had issues with his team’s play at the offensive end where the Aztecs benefitted from 16 Cal turnovers juxtaposed against just seven assists on 17 made baskets.

“I thought they did a great job of setting the tone early,” Martin said.  “Taking away our options offensively, getting out in passing lanes, forcing us to make one-on-one plays.  I thought they did a good job of capitalizing on quick shots, of fast shots, shots we didn’t necessarily want in the offense.”

Rabb led the Bears with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and he had an effective, running mate in Charlie Moore with 17 points on the heels of the freshman’s 38-point explosion against UC Irvine.  But Rabb and Moore didn’t get much help, the other seven Bears that saw action shot 6 for 32 and missed 8 of 11 three-point attempts.

Both the Aztecs and Bears were looking to integrate newly, healthy faces into their lineups on Monday on the big stage of the new Sacramento NBA arena, but in the first half, SDSU looked cohesive with those new faces, while the Bears did not.

The Aztecs’ experienced post guy from Sacramento, Malik Pope punctuated his season debut by scoring SDSU’s first six points of the game, and finished with 14 points, five rebounds.  Key reserves, Max Hoetzel and Valentine Izundu were on the floor for parts of the Aztecs’ first half 11-0 run that saw them lead by as many as 19 points before the half.  Both Hoetzel and Izundu missed San Diego State’s most recent game against San Diego Christian with knee and ankle issues respectively.

“Even though his stat line doesn’t look like it, he was huge,” Coach Steve Fisher said of Izundu, who played 18 of the first twenty minutes after starter Zylan Cheatham picked up two fouls.  “He altered shots, he changed shots, he blocked a shot, he rebounded the ball, he pushed and guarded the post, and really was important to that getting and growing the lead in the first half.”

For Cal, while they got Rabb back on the floor, Jabari Bird missed his second straight game with back issues.  Bird played well in 33 minutes in Cal’s opener against South Dakota State, and practiced over the weekend, but didn’t get cleared to play Monday.  Grant Mullins returned after missing the UC Irvine game, but couldn’t find his shot, missing nine of the 11 shots he took on Monday.

In a game that saw Cal rebound the ball decisively after halftime—they were plus 13 for the game in that category—the Bears suffered to take advantage of their mastery of the glass.  San Diego State harassed Cal into 32 percent shooting for the game, and had a hand in their 16 turnovers as well.

Clearly, the Aztecs built on familiarity with Cal that started last year in Las Vegas when SDSU stormed back in the second half and stunned Cal despite trailing by 15.  In fact, a stat line in the Aztecs’ post-game notes said it all: In the second half of last year’s game, and the first half of Monday’s game, SDSU outscored Cal by 39 points.

“The one thing that we’re better at–that hurt us last year—is we’re better with the ball.  We have been more careful, taken more pride in not turning the ball over.  And that wins for you.  We didn’t have a lot of foolish turnovers.  And we competed hard.  So I told our players, ‘Good win.  And an extremely important win.”

Cal was one of four Pac-12 teams to lose Monday–joining Oregon, Washington State and Colorado—as the conference took a step back in terms of building post-season resumes.  The Aztecs took a step forward in that regard after an embarrassing 21-point loss at Gonzaga last week.  After losing to their Mountain West opponent Monday, the Bears will need better showings against key non-conference opponents Seton Hall, Wyoming and Virginia in the coming weeks.

The Bears return to the floor on Friday night at Haas Pavilion against the Cowboys of Wyoming at 8pm.

Cal no match for healthy McCaffrey and Stanford in 45-31 Big Game loss

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big-mac

By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–On a nasty, snarly day of weather, filled with emotion for the occasion of the 119th Big Game, in front of a sellout crowd itching for surprise, the last thing the Cal Bears could afford was for their opponent to be comfortable as if on a routine, cross-bay, business trip.

But that’s exactly what the Bears got as soon as Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey arrived and opened his ample briefcase.

McCaffrey made the spectacular look ordinary, rushing for a school-record 284 yards as Stanford ran past Cal, 45-31, and captured the Axe for the seventh, consecutive year.    Throughout, last season’s Heisman Trophy runner-up dipped, ducked, leapt and sprinted through and around the Bears as if he was performing a tightly-choreographed routine.

“He’s as good as advertised,” Coach Sonny Dykes admitted.

Luckily for Dykes, his Bears were better than expected as well, scoring on their initial, offensive play of the afternoon—a perfectly-executed screen that saw Chad Hansen catch a short pass and turn it into a 70-yard touchdown run.   In the second quarter, the Bears were even with double-digit favorite Stanford, 14 apiece, just a bit of the surprise Cal was hoping to hatch.

But ultimately, the Bears were undone by their Pac-12 worst defense and the fleet feet of McCaffrey.

Midway through the second quarter, the Bears appeared poised to answer Stanford’s tying score, driving to the Cardinal’s 21-yard line where they faced third-and-two.  But Khalfani Muhammad was thrown for a one-yard loss by Stanford’s Peter Kalambayi, forcing Dykes to forgo an opportunity to take a seven-point lead, instead settling for a 39-yard Matt Anderson field goal try.

But the normally sure-footed Anderson watched his kick sail wide right.

After an exchange of punts, Stanford took the lead for good right before halftime.  Quarterback Keller Chryst led the Cardinal on a 10-play drive culminating in Conrad Ukropina’s 40-yard field goal and a 17-14 Stanford lead.

McCaffrey, already a huge factor with a combined 147 yards rushing and receiving, then took his game to another level after halftime.  On second down from the Stanford 10, McCaffrey took a handoff, jabbed hard to his left, then again to his right.  McCaffrey’s quick change of direction left Cal’s Devante Downs and Jaylinn Hawkins lunging for air, while the junior tailback took off straight up the middle for a 90-yard touchdown run.   Equal parts athletic brilliance, and functional speed, McCaffrey’s big run put Stanford in the driver’s seat.

“At that point, Stanford had the momentum and we never seemed to get it back,” Dykes admitted.

Stanford Coach David Shaw also saw McCaffrey’s run as a game changer, but the rarely effusive Shaw had seen it before.

“I don’t know what else I can say.  Two years, I’ve kind of run out of words,” Shaw said.  “The bottom line is, he’s not the biggest guy but you can’t tell him that.  He runs like a big back.  He’s going to run in between the tackles, he’s going to make people miss and he has the speed in the open to finish the runs in the end zone.”

With Stanford comfortably ahead, Cal needed big plays, and initially, they came up with them.  Matt Anderson’s 43-yard field goal capped a 12-play drive to get the Bears within a touchdown.  Then after McCaffrey’s second touchdown run, Davis Webb led Cal on a 13-play touchdown drive that drew the Bears within 31-24.

But without a lick of defense, Cal was left grasping for straws.  Stanford scored touchdowns on two of their first three possessions of the fourth quarter to put the game away.  Webb’s second touchdown pass to Hansen with 3:01 remaining closed the scoring but had little impact on the result.

With athletic director Michael Williams watching intently, Dykes’ press conference played like a state of the union address as he patiently explained that the culture of his program is positive, and with some defensive stops, discipline and patience, the losing streak—now four straight under Dykes’ watch—to Stanford might soon come to an end.

“You can’t give up 350 rushing yards against anybody and expect to have a chance to win,” Dykes explained.  “That’s clearly something we need to get fixed.  That puts a lot of pressure on you offensively.  You feel like you have to score every possession and you can’t do that against a good defensive football team.”

The Bears’ aspirations to qualify for a bowl game for a second straight season came to end with the loss.  Once 4-4 after alternating wins and losses over their first eight games, the Bears have dropped four straight, and they failed to capitalize on their post-season rallying call that punctuated their week of preparation for the Big Game.

“We haven’t beaten UCLA in a while either, so it’s a great opportunity for our team, and we look forward to getting back to work tomorrow and finishing the season the way it should be,” Webb said.

LONG TIME CAL BROADCASTER STARKEY HONORED: Now in his 42nd year of broadcasting of Cal football, radio voice Joe Starkey was honored in a pre-game ceremony in which his broadcast booth was renamed in his honor.

Announcing his 483rd Cal football game on Saturday, and for the first time from the renamed Joe Starkey Broadcast Booth, Starkey is—for most Cal fans—the only voice they’ve ever known.

The Chicago native also enjoyed long stints as the voice of the 49ers and the former California Golden Seals NHL team.

 

No. 25 Cal stuns UC Irvine with comeback and overtime win behind 38 points from freshman Moore

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California’s Charlie Moore (13), Sam Singer (2), and Stephen Domingo (31) celebrate the 75-65 win over UC Irvine after an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Morris Phillips

At its conclusion, Coach Cuonzo Martin would term his Bears’ overtime victory over UC Irvine among the best he’s had in his career, but it wasn’t shaping up that way after a first half in which Cal shot just 26 percent with only six made baskets to show for 20 minutes of work.

Martin’s conundrum at halftime was simple, just difficult to resolve: Cal was without four of its best offensive players in preseason All-American Ivan Rabb, Jabari Bird, transfer Grant Mullins and reserve guard Brandon Chauca.  Among those healthy enough to play, none could be termed a gifted offensive player except freshman Charlie Moore, Cal’s shifty, quick ballhandler recruited out of Chicago.

What did Martin cook up at halftime to keep No. 25 Cal in the win column?  The third-year coach demanded better defense, increased ball movement, and despite his freshman’s obvious lack of experience, a whole lot more of Moore.

“I feel like we had a major advantage with Charlie working the ball screen, force those big guys to come out and defend him, just letting Charlie make plays,” Martin said.

And with Moore becoming more emboldened on every trip down the floor, the strategy worked as the freshman poured in 27 points after halftime, setting the school’s freshman scoring record in Cal’s come-from-behind 75-65 win.

Moore provided the game-tying basket and ensuing free throw with 1:53 remaining in regulation that got the Bears even after trailing by as many as 13 points early in the second half.  Then in overtime, with the visiting Anteaters losing steam, Moore capped the Cal victory with six-for-six foul shooting in the final 2:28 of overtime.

Moore’s 38-point explosion, breaking the school record set by Shareef Abdur-Rahim with 33 points in 1995, was surprising in that the freshman struggled in the Bears’ opener against South Dakota State in which he shot 1 for 8 from the field and finished with six points.  For Moore, the encouragement of Martin and his teammates was all it took for the transformation.

“I just think I was more comfortable on the court,” Moore said.  “Last game, I was just pretty much getting a feel as this is all a new thing to me.  My teammates helped me out today, just telling me to stay aggressive and not worry about the misses.”

Moore finished 10 of 20 from the field with three made 3-pointers and 15 of 17 shooting from the foul line.  Repeatedly, Moore slithered his way to the basket to either score or get to the foul line, even as the Anteaters knew Cal had little else to turn to offensively.  But that was the magic of Cal’s 5’11” star in the making once he was unleashed.

“Charlie is a great player,” Kameron Rooks said.  “You can see it in practice.  You can see how hard he works and how scrappy he is.  He is an all-around great player.”

Cal’s miraculous comeback was also UC Irvine’s depressing collapse.  The Anteaters led 62-55 with 3:07 remaining in regulation after big man Ioannis Dimakopoulos calmly sunk an open 3-pointer.  But Cal would score the final seven points of regulation, then put UC Irvine away with 13 of the 16 points in overtime.

“I’m proud of our guys, but to be what I think we can be, we will have to finish better than that,” Coach Russell Turner admitted.

UC Irvine was attempting to upset a ranked team for the first time since 2005.  Instead they suffered their fourth consecutive loss to the Bears, all since 2001.  While the Anteaters shot it well early, they were porous defensively, allowing the Bears 13 offensive rebounds leading to 18 second-chance points.

Rabb has missed both of Cal’s games thus far due to a toe injury, but he did practice prior to Wednesday’s game making it a strong possibility that he will make his season debut on Monday against San Diego State in Sacramento.  Mullins was scratched as a precautionary measure due to a neck strain issue, even as he was thought to be ready to go prior to the tip.  Bird was pulled due to back spasms, and Chauca is still recovering from a broken bone in his hand.

Without that quartet, Rooks, Moore and Stephen Domingo each established career-bests in points.  Rooks finished with 15 points, 8 rebounds before fouling out in overtime.  Domingo contributed 11 points, including the big three in overtime to give Cal a lead.

The Bears won despite shooting 36 percent from the field, and having five of their nine players that saw action go without at least one made basket from the field.  But the Bears kept the Anteaters without a made basket in overtime after the UC Irvine shot 48 percent from the field in regulation.

 

 

 

 

 

Cal opens season with rout of South Dakota State despite Ivan Rabb’s absence

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By Morris Phillips

calbears.com photo: Cal Bears center Kingsly Okoroh takes aim from the free throw line against South Dakota last Friday at Haas Pavilion in downtown Berkeley

BERKELEY–Talk about an opening night surprise.  The Cal Bears hosted a block party, but did so without their resident swat doctor, Ivan Rabb.

Rabb, the pre-season All-American was a late scratch due to a sprained toe, but his teammates didn’t let his absence ruin the festivities, as the Bears ran past South Dakota State, 82-53, registering 10 blocked shots in the rout.

The win was Cal’s 19th consecutive at home, and built on defense, as the Bears came within one blocked shot of the school record of 11, and outrebounded the visiting Jackrabbits 54-26.  Rabb led Cal in blocks with 42 as a freshman, but he hasn’t been cleared to resume physical activity since suffering the toe injury two weeks ago during practice.

“Our guys in the second half did of great job of forcing them to make plays, and our weak-side defenders did a tremendous job of making the next rotation, forcing them to make the next play, the next dribble,” Coach Cuonzo Martin said.

Cal led 40-32 early in the second half, and put the game away with a 30-3 run that had them ahead comfortably, 70-35 with 8:09 remaining.

“I think we came out pressing early to start,” SDSU Coach T.J. Otzelberger said.  “It took us a bit to get going offensively and once they got up on the 9-0 jump, we couldn’t come back. Same thing happened in the second half, after our first basket they went on a heck of a run.”

Without Rabb, Jaylen Brown (off to the NBA as the third pick overall in the draft), Jordan Mathews (transferred to Gonzaga) and graduated senior Tyrone Wallace, the Bears had to find some offense, and did so courtesy of seniors Sam Singer and Jabari Bird, who led Cal with 14 points each.

Roger Moute A Bidias had his biggest game as a Bear, contributing 12 points, six rebounds, five assists, and showing versatility that previously wasn’t a part of his then rudimentary game.  Martin praised the junior for his big game, and the work over the summer that made it possible.

”When I first got the job, he had a lot of work to do,” Martin said of Moute A Bidias.  “He was an athlete. To his credit, he has put a lot of work and time into it.”

The Bears were picked to finish fourth in the competitive Pac-12—behind Arizona, Oregon and UCLA—in a conference pre-season poll.  Rabb is a big piece to such a finish, but starters Bird, Kingsley Okoroh and Stephen Domingo are a big part of that as well.  Okoroh had four blocks, as did backup center Kameron Rooks.  Domingo played just 16 minutes as the starting power forward, but contributed seven points, five rebounds.

Mike Daum, SDSU’s leading, returning scorer who had 27 points in the Jackrabbits’ exhibition win over South Dakota Mines, was held to 14 points, missing nine of his 14 shot attempts.

The Bears next see action on Wednesday when UC Irvine visits Haas Pavilion at 8pm.

Cal puts up little resistance as No. 5 Washington rolls to a record-setting 66-27 win at Berkeley

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ross-run

By Morris Phillips

Team speed, pervasive throughout Washington’s 66-27 dismantling of Cal on Saturday night, must have disembarked the Huskies’ charter flight from Seattle to the Bay Area even before the UW players and coaches.

It must have.  What else could explain the parade of Huskies racing into the end zone—some untouched, almost all racing ahead of the pack—in what would become a record setting rout for the nation’s No. 5 ranked team?

In all, five different Washington players registered at least one play of 32 yards or longer, as the Huskies rolled, at one point scoring 38 consecutive points.  The 66 points allowed was the most the Bears had allowed since 1973, and UW’s seven touchdown passes—six courtesy of quarterback Jake Browning—surpassed the Washington (9-0, 6-0 Pac-12) school record of six.

“All of the credit goes to those guys,” Cal quarterback Davis Webb said.  “They were coached well, they played really well and that’s a really great team over there.  That’s the best team we’ve played this year and I think they proved that tonight.”

Two circumstances conspired to turn this one into a rout—Cal’s injury situation which left them perilously thin in their defensive, back seven, and undefeated Washington’s psyche following the release of the first College Football Playoff rankings which placed them fifth, behind one-loss Texas A&M.  Dykes spoke about Cal’s situation that put them at the mercy of Miles Gaskin, UW’s speedy back, and their dominant pair of receivers, John Ross and Dante Pettis, who racked up 14 catches for 312 yards and all six of the touchdown passes thrown by Browning.

“We’re banged up on the backend, so Washington got some matchups on guys that weren’t necessarily a great matchup,” Dykes admitted.  “There wasn’t much we could do about it.  We knew going into the ballgame that we’d play the best players we had available to us, that’s what we do every week.”

So lopsided were those matchups between the Washington receiving duo, and Cal’s corners and safeties, one’s reaction was either wide-eyed surprise, or a frustrated shake of the head.  Ross’ 67-yard score had all of that as Browning wound up and hit the junior in stride 45 yards down field where he shook Bears’ corner Chibuzo Nwokocha.  Ross then retreated several yards while gaining momentum and that caused Nwokocha to run into teammate Luke Rubenzer, removing both from the pursuit.  Twenty yards later Ross was untouched as he crossed the goal line with safety Khari Vanderbilt able to apply only a fruitless, arm swipe.

On Pettis’ option pass for a touchdown, normal starting safety Rubenzer bit hard on the possibility of a run, allowing Darrell Daniels to slip past him where he was waiting for Pettis’ pass and a 39-yard scoring play.

Those two spectacular plays came in the first quarter with Ross’ score putting UW up 21-6.  But after Cal rallied to within 21-20 on Davis Webb’s scoring run and Chad Hansen’s touchdown catch, Washington dropped the hammer with five consecutive touchdowns, then Cameron Von Winkle’s 36-yard field goal that put Washington up 59-20 with 12:58 remaining in the game.

As Washington turned on the gas, Cal kept shooting itself in the foot.  At one point, the Bears turned the ball over on three, consecutive possessions.  Offensively, Webb got little done, even with Hansen back in the starting lineup after missing two games with injuries.  The Bears converted just one of their 13 third-down opportunities, a credit to Huskies’ effective pass rush and the cover skills of the veteran secondary.

Defensively, the Bears drew high praise from UW Coach Chris Petersen who said the Bears did well by crowding the line of scrimmage to stop the run, disguising coverages to protect their deeper defenders, and mixing it up to prevent the Huskies from recognizing any tendencies.  But Browning, the Folsom, CA product sorted through it all, making big plays in the passing game when he needed.  In all, Browning completed just 19 passes, but they covered 378 yards and six were touchdowns.

Webb finished 23 of 47 for 262 yards, but threw three interceptions.  Cal’s running game was stymied as Khalfani Muhammad rushed for just 34 yards, and Tre Watson had 10 carries for 29 yards.  Muhammad also suffered the indignity of being picked up off both feet and thrown back by UW’s 350-pound Vita Vea on a goal line play during Cal’s brief, second quarter rally.

Afterwards, the Huskies refused to say they were motivated by the CFP’s snub, with Petersen, Pettis, Browning, Ross and corner Kevin King all saying that too much football remains for them to get ruffled over the initial, playoff poll.  And who can blame them?  After 12 consecutive wins dating back to last season, the Huskies have matchups with improving USC at home, and Washington State (6-0 in conference play) on the road to consume their attention.

“There’s a lot of football left to play,” Browning said.  “Put us outside the top four and make us earn it.”

The Bears travel to Pullman next Saturday night to face the Cougars, who smashed Arizona 59-7.

NOTES: Cal’s attendance continued to suffer as the team was given a third, 7pm or later start time in four home games this season.   Only 47,000 attended the game and the stadium was half full for the second half when the outcome was all but decided.

Marshawn Lynch was honored with a bobblehead giveaway that captured his wild, cart ride following Cal’s 2006 overtime win over Washington.  Lynch recreated the ride, with his mom, Delisa in tow, then after leading the Bears on to the field with a few, sharp turns, Lynch was joined by rapper E-40 for a final spin.

 

 

Poor scheduling, mid-term exams and leaky run defense result in a long night for Cal in lopsided loss to USC

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By Morris Phillips

The not-so carefully orchestrated clash of athletics and academics heaped upon the Cal Bears at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Thursday created a not-so pretty result.

The Bears–preoccupied by mid-term exams and overwhelmed by the Trojans—suffered through a rough evening under the microscope of national television, losing 45-24 to USC.

Just six days after the Bears set an FBS record by running 118 offensive plays in their double overtime win over Oregon, they weren’t anywhere near where they needed to be to deal with resurgent USC and their redshirt freshman quarterback, Sam Darnold.   The tight scheduling irked Coach Sonny Dykes, and Darnold brought Dykes’ fears to life, leading the Trojans to an early, 21-0 lead from which they wouldn’t look back.

“We tried to get them as fresh as we possibly could,” Coach Sonny Dykes explained, noting that the Bears practiced in pads just once in preparation for the Trojans, but conceded that while it may have made his team fresher physically, they were far less rehearsed than he would have preferred.

In addition, Cal players had to take and prepare for midterms this week, after missing class last week in preparation for Oregon, and again this week for their trip to Los Angeles.

Add injuries (41 Cal players reportedly missed at least one practice this week) including the absence of standout receiver Chad Hansen, limited practice time, and the fact that USC had eight more days of preparation time than Cal, and you start to understand how the Bears appeared so flat in the early stages of the game.

According to San Jose Mercury News reporter Jon Wilner, there had never been a meeting of Pac-12 football teams where one team had eight more days of prep time than their opponent.   When asked Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said that while Cal’s consecutive weekday games were unusual, they did fit into the parameters for scheduling agreed upon by the member schools’ athletic directors before the season.  But Scott also said, Cal’s situation would cause the conference to revisit the subject.

While Dykes continued his criticism of the Pac-12 in his postgame press conference, quarterback Davis Webb did not.  Webb refused to jump on questions regarding preparation time, and he declined to throw receiver Demetris Robertson under the bus, whose first quarter drop of a deep pass that likely would have resulted in a touchdown had it been caught, contributed to Cal’s early, three-touchdown deficit.

“We moved some receivers around this week on a short week,” Webb said.  “That’s the thing we had to deal with because of our injuries.  That’s the cards we got dealt.  We didn’t play very well with it tonight.  It starts with me.”

Webb finished 33 of 53 for 333 yards and two touchdowns, and briefly had the Bears in a competitive spot, down 28-17 early in the third quarter.  But USC’s offense was granted way too many favors by Cal’s leaky run defense that surrendered 223 yards and two touchdowns to Ronald Jones II alone.

Jones got started early with his 61-yard scamper that set up USC’s second, first quarter touchdown.   And Jones’ big runs were littered across all four of the Trojans’ first half scoring drives.  After Jones gashed Cal early, Aca’Cedric Ware took it from there, finishing with 120 yards rushing himself.

In all, USC rushed for 398 yards, eclipsing the numbers Texas and Oregon State put up in their turns against Cal’s porous run defense.

We’ve got to tackle better,” Dykes said.  “It’s up to us to teach your guys how to tackle.  If we don’t play well, then we didn’t coach well.”

Darnold ate Cal up through the air as well as the young quarterback appears to be a star in the making for the Trojans with his size, ability to throw, and decision making.  Juju Smith-Schuster was a favorite target of Darnold, compiling 66 yards receiving and 25 yards rushing.

The Bears got 89 yards rushing from Khalfani Muhammad, and Robertson recovered from his early drop to grab nine passes for 92 yards.   Hansen missed his second straight game, but the Bears are expecting their biggest threat to return for the Washington game on November 5.

The Bears are the only team in FBS to not win—or lose—two consecutive games this season.  At 4-4, Cal’s biggest opportunity comes against Washington, the undefeated leader in the Pac-12 North race to the conference championship game.