Tag: California Golden Bears

Bears’ offense absent for long stretches in 71-52 loss at Santa Clara

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By Morris Phillips

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Cal coach Mark Fox shook up his lineup on Saturday at Santa Clara in response to his team’s sluggish defensive effort at USF where they fell 76-64.

Then Fox watched his team’s offense wander off in a 71-52 loss to the Broncos at the Leavey Center.

Defensively, the only discernible difference was its credibility for the first 10 minutes with Paris Austin and Andre Kelly starting in place of Joel Brown and Lars Thiemann.

In the final 30 minutes, with their shots not falling, the defense waned. Leading scorer Matt Bradley lost his cool and drew a technical in the second half, and the Bears fell for a fourth time in five games, with all the losses away from Berkeley, and by double-digits.

“I felt like the frustration of the ball not going in the basket contributed maybe to our play on the other end,” Fox said. “I don’t think our defense was anywhere good enough the entire night.”

Guglielmo Caruso paced Santa Clara with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Three other Broncos scored in double figures including DJ Mitchell, the transfer from Wake Forest, who put up 13 off the bench.

The Broncos rode two, motivational factors for the win: they were embarrassed last year in a 78-66 loss to Cal at Haas Pavilion. And they saw their 9-1 record blemished on Wednesday in a 31-point loss to Nevada in Reno.

“We were really young,” Caruso said of the loss to Cal. “That experience from last year translated into this year and helped us to get this W.”

Playing in their backyard at the facilities of their mid-major neighbors gives Cal a badge of good will, but they know they have to be ready to play. Only their accurate free throw shooting (21 of 26) carried them on Saturday. Missing 35 of their 49 shots from the field did not. That poor marksmanship included only five made baskets in the first half.

Bradley led Cal with 14 points, Kareem South and Grant Anticevich added nine each. The Bears managed 10 steals, contributing to 20 SCU turnovers, but creating havoc didn’t morph into creating baskets.

The Bears now turn their attention to a date with Fresno State in Berkeley on Wednesday. The Bulldogs from the Mountain West acquitted themselves nicely Saturday by leading for long stretches at No. 25 Utah State before succumbing 77-70 in overtime.

Cal’s trip to USF results in a 76-64 defeat and a Bay Area basketball history lesson

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO — Kevin Johnson and his sidekick, Dave Butler didn’t win at USF. They came to the Hilltop as seniors in December 1986 and suffered an agonizing, two-point loss that had Lou Campanelli seething.

Geno Carlisle, Sean Marks, Sean Lampley and Francisco (Cisco) Elson made the trip across the Bay as a formidable quartet in 1997. They lost to the Dons by double-digits.

And on Wednesday, Matt Bradley, Paris Austin, hustling Andre Kelly and the rest of the 2019 Bears couldn’t get past an impressive USF squad either. Their defense was way too spotty in a 76-64 defeat that had coach Mark Fox reinforcing important lessons afterwards to his young squad.

The unifying theme for Cal across a 34-year stretch of a memorable, Bay Area basketball rivalry?

Stay engaged, things could turn around before this season ends.

The ’86-87 Bears won at powerhouse Arizona late in that season, and went on to the NIT. The ’97-98 Bears almost knocked off Top Ten opponents Arizona and Stanford after losing to USF, and survived a season orphaned from the renovated Haas Pavilion at 12-15, good enough for fifth in Pac-10.

The next season, Carlisle, Lampley and Elson returned and led Cal to a 22-win season and an NIT Championship.

This season’s Bears probably aren’t headed to the NIT, or even an upper-half finish in the Pac-12, but the potential for them to improve is immense. The blunt Fox has the first–and last–words on his team’s ascendancy process.

“I thought it was poor,” Fox said, when asked if he thought the Bears’ defense against USF was inconsistent. “We finished the first half with about 10 minutes of good defense and that was about all that we played. Because in the second half our defense was nowhere near to the level it needs to be to beat a good basketball team.”

The Bears suffered the slow, offensive start they could not afford, falling behind 16-4 nine minutes in while missing their first, seven shot attempts. But as Fox noted, the Bears defense steadied at that point, and the offense made an appearance. That allowed Cal to climb within 32-29 at the break.

While USF and Cal are both starting over with first-year coaches, the Dons hold a sizeable edge in continuity and experience with former assistant Todd Golden assuming head coaching duties from the departed Kyle Smith, who took the Washington State job. Veteran leadership from seniors Jimbo Lull, Jordan Ratinho and junior Charles Mindlend sets the Dons apart from Cal as well. Winning easily at Haas Pavilion last season (79-60) provided USF the confidence they needed to impose their will on the Bears on Wednesday.

All of those factors surfaced to start the second half, as USF seized control.

Jamaree Bouyea canned a 3-pointer to increase the Dons lead to 12, 55-43 with 12:05 remaining. In that opening stretch of the half, the Bears were slow to get to USF shooters while Lull started to impose his will in the paint, with inexperienced Lars Thiemann as his primary defender.

Lull led USF with 20 points, eight rebounds. Golden lit up when talking about the 7’0″ center’s improvement over his time with USF.

“Where he’s really grown is he’s done a phenomenal job managing the double team. Everybody we faced to this point in the season at some point in the game has run a double team at him, and they’re running it from the baseline, they’re running it from the nail, and after that first couple of possessions where he was a little out of sorts, he did a phenomenal job handling it the rest of the night. It either led to points for him or kickout threes for other guys.”

“We were okay with him getting two point shots,” Fox said of Lull, also referencing the damage inflicted by the big man’s ability to facilitate offense for his teammates.

The Dons would lead by as much as 16 points twice in the second half. The Bears did some nice things offensively during the stretch, but also committed some damaging turnovers. On both ends of the floor, they failed to find any consistency.

“We’re learning how to compete,” Fox said.

The Bears (5-3) were led by Kareem South with 20 points. Matt Bradley added 11, but only two of those came in the game’s final 30 minutes. Freshman starter Joel Brown had an especially rough night directing the offense. His gaffes landed him on the bench for stretches.

Cal played for the first time this season in a true road game, and had to recover to reach 42 percent shooting from the field. They acquitted themselves well at the free throw line making 18 of 25, but missed 10 of their 14 3-point attempts. The Dons made 12 threes, and showed little fatigue despite suffering a four-point loss to Arizona State just 24 hours earlier.

“You just have to bring it,” South said. “That’s the mentality you have to have on the road.”

The Bears continue their Bay Area tour with a visit to Santa Clara on Saturday at 2 pm.

Cal beats UC Davis 72-66 to end their two-game slide

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, Calif. — The growth process for any college basketball team revolves around dealing with prosperity or handling adversity.

But it’s rare that a team experiences both in the same ballgame. While facing UC Davis on Tuesday, the Cal Bears dealt with the extremes.

In a narrow 72-66 victory over the Aggies, the Bears shot the lights out in establishing an 18-point, first half lead only to go cold in the second half allowing UC Davis to briefly take the lead.

Coach Mark Fox took a philosophical approach to his team’s topsy turvy evening, by pointing to the Bears’ determined finish, allowing them to hold off the Aggies in the final minutes.

“I’m glad the game got to that point because it was important for us to play in a close game,” Fox said. “We got more out of the finish of that game than we would have if we had kept a double-figure lead the whole time.”

Fox is the lesson learning business these days in trying to get his young Bears to gather enough moxie to escape the Pac-12’s cellar after finishing last the previous two seasons. With the season seven games old, those lessons are coming quickly.

In the last seven days, Cal’s been buried by No. 1 Duke, outclassed by a physical Texas team, then pushed by the pesky Aggies.

Fifth-year senior Paris Austin knows the deal. With the score tied 54-54 with 5:33 remaining, Austin locked in. His seven points down the stretch helped Cal put UC Davis away.

“It’s about us as players needing to lock in,” Austin said. “In any game, there are times when other teams make runs and people can get discouraged; we just need to stay together, stay motivated, and play through it.”

Matt Bradley led Cal with 19 points, as he did most of his damage in the first half. Grant Anticevich contributed 14 points, and Kareem South added 13.

Ezra’s Manjon had 21 points for UC Davis, and Stefan Gonzales added 15, on five 3-pointers. Leading scorer Matt Neufeld missed seven of his 10 shot attempts and only grabbed two rebounds.

“Guys made plays, played with confidence and played within our system,” coach Jim Les said of  his Aggies. “When we took the fight to them, good things happened.”

The Bears are off until next week for Thanksgiving. They’ll face USF in a rare, Bay Area road game on December 4.

Return Of The Axe: Garbers, Cal responds late to capture the 122th Big Game, 24-20

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By Morris Phillips

STANFORD — Chase Garbers began the week as a question mark, unable to practice, and an unlikely participant in the Big Game against Stanford.

He ended the week, standing tall in the end zone after scrambling 17 yards for the winning score as Cal shocked Stanford, 24-20, with two touchdowns in the game’s final eight minutes.

“To make some of the throws that he made on the last drive and then the scramble for the touchdown, those are huge plays,” coach Justin Wilcox said of Garbers. “And I think people are going to be talking about that drive for a while.”

With Cal facing the possibility of a tenth consecutive loss to their Bay Area rival, Garbers and receiver Nikko Remigio stepped up, firmly planting their names on the face of the rivalry. Garbers started the day tentatively, throwing instead of taking an opportunity to run for a first down in the second period. He finished the Big Game as a duel threat, throwing for 285 yards, and running 13 times for 72 yards as well.

Remigio finished with nine catches for career-best 157 yards. With 7:44 remaining, and Stanford leading 17-10 while holding Cal scoreless in the second half to that point, Remigio broke free in front of the goal post and caught a 17-yard, game-tying touchdown from Garbers. Then on Garbers game-winning touchdown, Remigio’s block on Stanford safety Jonathan McGill near the goal line created space for the quarterback to score.

Ironically, Remigio had a pair of second quarter drops against USC the previous week that helped the Trojans break open a close game and go on to a 41-17 victory over Cal. On Saturday, Remigio had the best game of his career.

“Nikko did a great job,” Garbers said. “He was missing a couple of games due to injury, but he played one of his best games I’ve ever seen him play today. And awesome to have a wideout like him who is so versatile.”

Stanford’s Davis Mills played well enough to be the game’s hero, by completing 26 of 35 passes for 283 yards in place of the Cardinal’s injured K.J. Costello. But two interceptions in the third quarter hurt Mills’ effort, including the first career interception by Cal’s Daniel Scott.

Both teams came into the game with numerous injuries, and Stanford reportedly played with 25 players unavailable. But the game was competitive throughout, and well played, with Davis’ interceptions the only turnovers for either team. Both teams avoided penalties as well, committing just four each.

The win gave the Bears (6-5, 3-5) bowl eligibility for the second, consecutive year with one game remaining next weekend at UCLA. The loss insures that Stanford will finish with a losing record for the first time in 10 years. The Cardinal had made bowl appearances in each of those 10 seasons.

Stanford completes their season with a home game against No. 16 Notre Dame next weekend.

Cal fans stormed the field after the game surrounding the Axe–the game’s signature prize–as well as enthusiastically greeting the players. Evan Weaver, Cal’s record-breaking linebacker, was congratulated by his father, and Remigio got emotional when meeting his family.

“I was sitting there crying like a baby,” Remigio said. “It was an indescribable experience.”

Garbers also had the chaotic scene create an indelible memory for him as well.

“I saw a bunch of people rushing the field and a lot of people jumping. I was trying not to get knocked over. But it was awesome to see the Cal fans get up on the field and celebrate with us because it really means a lot to them and us,” Garbers said.

Cold in New York: Bears score season-low in 62-45 loss to No. 22 Texas

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By Morris Phillips

Being a work in progress isn’t necessarily pretty. It wasn’t for the Bears in their two cold-shooting performances at Madison Square Garden.

Cal fell to No. 22 Texas in the 2K Empire Classic consolation game 62-45 on Friday, while shooting 36 percent from the field. The 45 points and their shooting percentage were season lows.

Coach Mark Fox’s premonition to have his club forgo perimeter shots given their opponent and their compressed schedule was smart thinking. But it didn’t benefit Cal, they cut down on the attempts, but still missed seven of the eight 3-pointers they took.

“It’s our fourth game in eight days, our second game in under 24 hours,” Fox said. “I didn’t feel like today would be a good 3-point shooting day for either team. I think we anticipated it would probably be a game where 3s are hard to come by.”

Shaka Smart’s Longhorns had a part in Cal’s cold shooting. One night after allowing Georgetown 45 points after halftime–and being outscored by 21 points–Texas made defense a point of emphasis. The bigger, more experienced Longhorns weren’t necessarily disruptive, blocking three shots and creating three steals, but they gave Cal fits by simply contesting shots and rebounding the misses.

“Today we responded from that loss last night,” said Texas forward Jericho Sims, who was one of four Longhorns’ starters to score in double figures. “I learned that we’re a gritty team and we just got to keep the strong identity.”

Texas certainly didn’t take control by making shots, as their 41 percent shooting wasn’t much better than the Bears. But they seized control with the outcome in doubt, starting the second half on an 18-9 run that stretched their lead to 13 points with 12:38 remaining. Seven different Longhorns had baskets in the run, as the Longhorns did a better job than Cal of sharing the basketball. Texas finished with 19 assists on 26 made baskets.

For Cal, the trip to New York to face top-ranked Duke and Texas was a reality check after their 4-0 start against lesser competition. Defensively, they were engaged, but did little offensively. Matt Bradley led the Bears with 22 points on Friday, and he registered as the only Cal scorer in double figures in either game, which shows were Cal needs to improve.

“We’ll use it hopefully as a great lesson in how we have to grow and change and improve. If we use it the right way, this weekend can be very productive for us,” Fox said.

Cal resumes its schedule on Tuesday when UC Davis visits Haas Pavilion.

Cal hangs with No. 1 Duke briefly, then wilts in 87-52 loss at Madison Square Garden

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By Morris Phillips

The Cal Bears found themselves surrounded by basketball royalty on Thursday: in Madison Square Garden, on national television, facing No. 1 Duke and legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski.

But like Cinderella at the ball, it wasn’t long before the Bears found their inclusion in the proceedings brought into question.

After playing the Blue Devils to a draw for the game’s first eight minutes, Duke quickly established control, rolling to a 40-21 halftime lead on their way to a 87-52 victory in the 2K Empire Classic semifinal matchup. The Blue Devils will face Georgetown in the tournament’s championship on Friday night, while Cal will face Texas in the consolation game.

Vernon Carey scored 21 of his game-best 31 points in the first half to lead Duke, as the super frosh showed that he’s just another in a long line of youthful, but talented players to come through the Duke program.

“He’s making passes, he can put the ball on the floor. He’s playing through contact, has a good touch,” Krzyzewski said of Carey.

With the Blue Devils leading 15-11, Carey spun baseline on Cal’s Andre Kelly, took a bump, and flipped the ball in the basket with his left hand with his body almost completely under the basket. Needless to say, Carey’s gem of a basket isn’t something the Bears see everyday at practice back at Haas Pavilion.

“This is a great test for us to learn what the best looks like,” coach Mark Fox said. “They have a great team, and a very complete team.”

The Bears entered the contest with a 4-0 record–albeit against lesser competition–and a world of confidence. Fox had his team in a zone defense to start, and that seemed to give Duke some pause early. But it wasn’t long before they figured it out, and attacked the middle of the Cal defense with great success.

“Coach told us to get the ball in the middle and it would open everything up,” Carey said.

On the other end of the floor, the Bears were in trouble from the start, trying to execute their offense against Duke’s trapping defenses and quickness at every position. The numbers bore out the Pac-12 challenger’s frustration: despite trailing for the game’s final 30 minutes, Cal managed to attempt just 10 3-pointers, making four. More often than not, they dealt with Duke’s quick hands, shot blocking and rebounding.

The numbers bore out Cal’s frustration. Their rebounds (29) were a season-low, as were the 21 points they scored in the first half. Starting center Lars Thiemann fouled out in just 11 minutes of action, as the Bears committed 27 fouls, a season-high.

Eleven players got into the scoring column for Cal, but none scored in double figures. The Bears were led by Kareem South and D.J. Thorpe with eight points each.

 

 

 

Sloppy Bears slip past Prairie View A&M 54-50, stay unbeaten

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–The Cal Bears committed more turnovers (22) than they scored points after halftime (19) on Monday against Prairie View A&M.

That won’t cut it on Thursday when the Bears step into Madison Square Garden and face Duke.

“I thought we were poorly coached today, I thought we played poorly, and two wrongs make a wrong,” coach Mark Fox admitted. “We were fortunate to escape with a win but we have to play better basketball than we played today.”

Definitely, a learning experience for the youthful Bears. But they didn’t get their lessons in a loss. Grant Anticevich hit a big 3-pointer with 2:40 remaining, and Matt Bradley scored half of his team-best 16 points in crunch time, and somehow the Bears held on, winning 54-50.

“Nothing was going our way offensively or defensively. But we stuck it out and ended up winning,” Bradley said. “We’re 4-0 right now– I’m happy to say that.”

The Panthers qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2018-19 and are the coach’s pick to repeat as SWAC champions this season. On Monday, they took the floor without Devonte Patterson, the presumptive SWAC Player of the Year, and still gave Cal fits.

“There were times we didn’t match their intensity, which was a problem. We should’ve grabbed more rebounds, but give credit to them– they played hard.”

The biggest difference between Cal’s first three wins, and the victory over Prairie View was at the offensive end. The Bears shot a cumulative 56 percent versus Pepperdine, UNLV and Cal Baptist. On Monday, against the physical Panthers, the Bears shot 39 percent and managed just eight assists on 17 made baskets. For long stretches, the ball didn’t move and the Bears settled for jump shots.

“Hopefully some days you can win because you make jump shots but that’s not the only thing that matters in the game and I felt like we had a little bit of an immature approach offensively and our decisions with the basketball,” Fox said. “We were not very good today.”

Down 52-50 in the final moments, Prairie View had a couple of chances to tie or take the lead but couldn’t convert. Chancellor Ellis missed a 3-pointer then with eight seconds remaining, Dejuan Madden was whistled for an offensive foul.

Anticevich had 13 points, six rebounds as the only Bear other than Bradley to score in double figures. Kuany Kuany, a slender 6’9″ freshman, made his Cal debut, but overall, the Cal bench did very little, as six reserves combined to miss 15 of their 18 shots.

Ellis and Faite Williams led the Panthers with 12 points apiece.

 

Not Here, Not Tonight: Slovis, Trojans overwhelm Bears in 41-17 win

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–The USC Trojans dealt with adversity early, then seamlessly eased into cruise control, whipping the Cal Bears 41-17 Saturday night.

Freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis threw 406 yards and four touchdowns in a game that was tied 10-10 late in the second quarter, but quickly turned for the Trojans at that point.  Slovis connected with Michael Pittman Jr. for a 33-yard touchdown pass 43 seconds prior to halftime. Then on the opening drive of the second half Slovis hooked up with Drake London for an 8-yard score that made it 24-10.

That sequence highlighted the theme for the evening: Cal’s highly-regarded secondary was no match for the Trojans’ receivers and the crafty Slovis.

“Credit the wideouts,” USC coach Clay Helton said. “They did an elite job when they got in one-on-one situations, making big plays for the kid. When you have four touchdowns and zero interceptions, that’s a hell of a day.”

Slovis repeatedly bought time in and out of the pocket in order to make big plays downfield. London, Pittman and Amon-Ra St. Brown each had pass plays for 45 yards or more. USC would go on to reel off 31 consecutive points, turning the game into a rout.

“Our guys wanted to compete against them. I love that about them,” said head coach Justin Wilcox. “But you have to give them credit. The matchups are as tough as it’s been. I’ve seen great receivers in this league, but not a collection like that.”

While USC made highlight reel plays, the Bears struggled to keep their best players on the field. First, Christopher Brown was lost for the evening when USC’s Michael Rector delivered a vicious hit as the Bears were driving. Upon further review, Rector was hit with a targeting penalty and ejected from the game.

Chase Garbers returned to action after missing five games, and appeared sharp, as well as afforded snaps to ease into a competitive ballgame. But that scenario ended abruptly when the sophomore quarterback injured his shoulder in the second quarter and did not return.

Reserve inside linebacker Evan Tattersall was injured during a punt coverage play in which he was pushed backwards and suffered an apparent neck injury. Tattersall remained down on the field for several minutes and was taken to a local hospital. After the game, Wilcox reported that Tattersall had movement in all of his extremities and was expected to be released from the hospital.

On defense, senior safety Ashtyn Davis suffered a knee injury and did not finish the game.

The Bears have not defeated USC in Berkeley since 2003. They remain one win from Bowl eligibility with games remaining at Stanford and at UCLA.

The 122nd Big Game is up first next Saturday at 1pm.

Anticevich’s the name, 3-point buckets the game in Cal’s 82-62 win over California Baptist

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, Calif. — An all-time high of 354 institutions are competing in Division I basketball this season, and California Baptist from Riverside is starting a second season at the college game’s highest level.

But let’s be honest: Nobody at Haas Pavilion knew much about the Lancers, who are competing in the Western Athletic Conference against the likes of Grand Canyon and UT Rio Grande Valley, before Friday night.

For that matter, they didn’t know much about Grant Anticevich, who had made just 11 3-pointers in his first two seasons as a Golden Bear.

Well, both Anticevich and the CBU Lancers have a little bit more notoriety now.

California Baptist earned a bit of respect by being tied at the half, and leading Cal briefly in the second half. Anticevich was noticeable much earlier, scoring 16 of his career-best 23 points in the first half. New coach Mark Fox’s clean slate appears to have provided Anticevich with an opportunity, and the 6’9″ junior is taking advantage.

“I didn’t judge any of these kids off the previous year,” said Fox, who has stated on a couple of occasions that he has 17 new players on his roster. “I haven’t looked at tape. I didn’t look at the stat sheet. I gave them all a fresh start and from day one we thought, ‘Grant’s a really good three-point shooter.’ So we built that into what we are doing because he has shot it well since we arrived, and obviously tonight he got hot.”

Anticevich was 5 for 5 from distance, keying the Bears 82-62 win that moves them to 3-0 for the first time since 2015. But he wasn’t the only hot shooter for Cal, the team shot 57 percent from the field and 54 percent from three. Matt Bradley contributed 16 points, and Kareem South 10.

Anticevich and Andre Kelly keyed Cal’s 17-0 run that put them up 68-48 with 9:36 remaining.

“I feel like offensively we changed and also our intensity,” Bradley said. “We picked it up a lot in the second half. We denied 3-point shots and we just manned up and guarded our man.”

CBU was led by Ferron Flavors Jr. with 11 points, Milan Acquaah had 10. Acquaah, the pre-season pick for WAC Player of the Year, and a transfer from Washington State missed 13 of his 16 shots from the field.

The Bears continue play in the 2K Empire Classic on Moday with Prairie View A&M visiting Haas Pavilion. The Bears then travel to Madison Square Garden for Thursday’s game against Duke.

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.