Tag: California Golden Bears

Confident Cal makes it two in a row, dumps WSU

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, Calif. — It’s never too late to reinvent yourselves. In fact, doing so prior to the Pac-12 tournament might be a stroke of genius.

The Cal Bears made it two straight wins–after 16 losses–by putting the clamps on Washington State Saturday at Haas Pavilion, 76-69. The resurgent Bears now have the opportunity to enter the conference tournament on a roll, pending their regular season-ending clash at Stanford on Thursday.

“We’re going to keep it rolling,” said Justice Sueing, one of four Cal starters to score in double figures. “We got a lot of momentum, and we’re going to continue to stick together no matter what. Like I said, we’ve been through a rough patch, we finally got over it as Darius said. We’re going to keep moving and see where it can take us.”

During the losing streak, Cal’s defense was never credible enough for 40 minutes to win at the Pac-12 level. On Thursday, when they pulled the major upset of conference-leading Washington, the Bears shot their way to victory with 51 percent shooting from the floor. But on Saturday, the Bears were credible at both ends with balanced scoring offensively while forcing the Cougars into a season-high 20 turnovers defensively.

“It felt like any time that they made a run or a got it within under 10 to make us a little nervous, it felt like we made a defensive play,” coach Wyking Jones said. “Us having 13  steals and forcing 20 turnovers is what saved us tonight. It’s what got us the win. Thirty points off the turnovers was the key tonight.”

While the turnovers made the game seem ragged for stretches, it all transpired with the Bears leading, and, at least at key points, them showing patience while methodically wearing down the visitors. When the jump shots weren’t falling, the Bears got to the basket where the Cougars’ defense was especially vulnerable.

Darius McNeill led Cal in that regard with a team-best 17 points, and only three of those from beyond the arc. Instead, McNeill got to the basket where WSU was without key contributors Carter Skaggs, Viont’e Daniels and Jeff Pollard, all scratched due to concussion protocol. The WSU defens was especially vulnerable early as the Bears built their first double-digit lead with 7:19 remaining before halftime.

“When I saw my first 3 wasn’t falling I decided to get to the rim and do whatever I can to help the team win,” McNeill said. “That’s what I was doing.”

Still McNeill could be pigeonholed. With WSU on a run, the shooting guard came up with a big three with 5:46 remaining that kept Cal in control, leading 65-56.

Paris Austin and Connor Vanover were Cal’s other starters to score in double figures. Matt Bradley and Juwan Harris-Dyson had nine each, and both were instrumental in slowing Robert Franks, WSU’s top scorer. Frank’s finished with 18 points but missed nine of his 15 shots.

The Bears travel to Palo Alto for the regular-season finale on Thursday at 8 pm.

Not On Senior Day, You Don’t: ASU survives upset bid from Cal in 69-59 win

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By Morris Phillips

With a squad as youthful as Bobby Hurley’s Sun Devils, success on Senior Day is only attainable if all hands are on deck.

Arizona State had something less than that in a first half in which they shot 26 percent and trailed the winless Golden Bears by six.

But their response after halftime was immediate. A 28-10 run put Arizona State in control, on their way to a 69-59 win at Wells Fargo Arena.

“Our approach was better. Our aggression was better without fouling,” Hurley said. “It looked like we were putting together consecutive determined possessions.”

“We have a history of (poor starts), especially against teams that we should supposedly be beating,” said point guard Remy Martin. “But on senior night with De’Quon and Zylan and the managers, we weren’t going to let that happen.”

The Sun Devils’ two seniors, De’Quon Lake and Zylan Cheatham, did their part, combining for 16 points and 16 rebounds. But ASU usually gets its offense from younger sources like Rob Edwards who came up with 14 of his 16 points after the break. Freshman Luguentz Dort led the Sun Devils with 22 points.

Arizona State improved to 19-8, 10-5, and moved into sole possession of second place in the Pac-12 by sweeping their final, two home games against the Bay Area schools. They play their final three games heading into the conference tournament on the road.

Cal gained a measure of respect by being ready to play from the start and executing a defensive gameplan that gave ASU fits early. But the Bears shot just 33 percent after the break, and never got anything easy with just two fast break points, and eight second-chance points.

The Bears lost for the 16th consecutive time, and now only have three opportunities to avoid a winless, Pac-12 conference season. The Bears host first place Washington on Thursday, and close out with Washington State at home and Stanford on the road.

Struggling Arizona experiences few issues with defenseless Cal

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By Morris Phillips

The struggling Arizona Wildcats hadn’t won a game in three weeks, but those issues didn’t persist with the Cal Bears visiting McKale Center Thursday night.

The Bears shooting percentage defense ranks just above the bottom of the spectrum in 353-member Division I basketball, which brings into question whether a team playing defense on par with Elon or Houston Baptist can stop a traditional powerhouse like Arizona, even if they’re going through one of their roughest stretches with seven, consecutive losses.

Well, based on what transpired between the Bears and Wildcats, the answer is no. Arizona started slow, missing it share of shots in what was an ugly game offensively, but an 11-0 run early in the second half propelled them to an easy 76-51 victory.

So while Arizona’s offense struggled, it wasn’t to the degree that Cal’s offense did, as 30 percent shooting made it impossible for the Bears to gain traction on Thursday. The Bears missed 20 of their 26 3-point attempts, and appeared to labor with each miss creating additional pressure on the visitors.

“Guys want to make plays and they want to get back into the win column so bad that we’re not allowing ourselves to slow down and make the right play,” coach Wyking Jones said of his anxious Bears.

Cal lost for the 15th consecutive time, a streak that includes a second, 20-point loss to Arizona at home on January 12. The Bears are assured the bottom seed in the upcoming Pac-12 conference tournament in Las Vegas, and an opening round matchup with the 5-seed, a position currently held by 14-win Utah.

The Bears were led by Justice Sueing’s 16 points and Paris Austin’s 12 points, the only two Cal players to score in double figures.

Cal’s Arizona swing concludes on Sunday in Tempe with a meeting with the Arizona State Sun Devils.

USC, Boatwright take control early, Trojans rout the Bears 89-66

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–The Golden Bear highlight of the evening? Jacob Orender’s 3-pointer in the game’s final minutes.

For Cal, that’s not good.

The Bears started lethargically, likely in deference to the effort they expended in an overtime loss to UCLA on Wednesday, and were routed by the USC Trojans on Saturday evening, 89-66.

Benny Boatwright made himself at home on the road with a career-best 10 made threes and 36 points to lead USC. Boatwright started early with 11 points in the Trojans’ 19-9 start that put Cal in an early hole less than seven minutes in.

“We took a step back after taking steps in the right direction,” Cal coach Wyking Jones admitted. “We just have to get back to it and get back on track, because we’re in a funk right now. The defensive woes carried into the offense and we couldn’t find rhythm there. It’s a lot easier to play defense when you are hitting shots.”

The Bears squandered an opportunity to end their lengthy losing streak while at home at Haas Pavilion. The Bears (5-20, 0-13) have dropped 14 straight, and are still looking for their first win in Pac-12 play.

Meanwhile, the Trojans bounced back from a frustrating loss at Stanford on Wednesday, and remained on track for a top-four finish in the conference that would secure a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

The Trojans won for only the second time on the road in conference play, but did it with ease, leading by as much as 19 in the first half, and 31 mid-way through the second half. But the rout wasn’t the story, Boatwright’s hot shooting was.

The 6’10” senior tied the school-record nine threes with 13:32 remaining, and was taken out of the game soon after with USC clearly in command. But coach Andy Enfield put Boatwright inserted Boatwright back in the game and he broke the record held by Katin Reinhardt and Anthony Pendleton with 4:05 remaining.

An earlier possession saw Boatwright pass up an open look, which prompted a reaction from Enfield.

“I caught it and I didn’t shoot it, and Enfield was like,`Shoot it,” he said. “I was like,`You’re telling me to shoot it? OK, you don’t gotta tell me twice.'”

The Bears’ defense was porous once again, allowing the Trojans numerous open looks from the perimeter and 53 percent shooting overall. Cal enjoyed a healthy 30-18 advantage in points in the paint, but it mattered little with USC converting 19 3-pointers.

The Bears have now suffered consecutive 20-loss seasons for the first time in school history. They travel to Arizona this week in hopes of snapping their losing skid.

Running Out Of Gas: UCLA hangs around then stuns Cal in OT, 75-67

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, Calif. — Typically, the Cal Bears can’t seem to stop anyone from scoring. On Wednesday, their issues were with scoring themselves.

From a competitive standpoint, the change put the Bears in a more esteemed place by leaps and bounds than they’ve been during a lengthy, 12-game losing streak. But ultimately, losing in overtime didn’t feel much better.

Matt Bradley hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime, but the Bears went the first three-and-a-half minutes of the extra period scoreless in a 75-67 loss to UCLA.

“We just could not score tonight. That’s the biggest team in the league. When you’re playing against a team with that length, it’s tough,” Bears coach Wyking Jones said.

The Bruins’ struggles shooting the basketball in the first half helped Cal mask their own issues. UCLA fell behind 11-2 in the early minutes prompting interim coach Murry Bartow to bench all five of his starters briefly. The Bruins’ misfires continued throughout the half in which they shot just 28 percent and made eight baskets.

But ultimately, Cal couldn’t maintain their nine-point lead at the break as UCLA took their first lead, 44-43, on Chris Smith’s jumper with 11:05 remaining.

Darius McNeill led Cal with 18 points, and his pair of 3-pointers helped Cal stay in the game, down 52-51 with 8:52 remaining. Grant Anticevich’s free throw line jump shot pulled the Bears even, 55-55 with 4:56 left.

Bradley then scored the Bears’ final seven points, including the three to even the score in the final 30 seconds.

“We got good things when we got to the high post but it was difficult to get it there,” Jones aid. “The guys don’t want to turn it over and that team is the biggest team in the league, so when you’re playing team with that much length it’s tough to get the ball to the high post.”

Overtime brought a different list of issues for Cal as they sandwiched three misses from distance around a pair of turnovers before scoring for the first time in overtime (and the last time in the game) with 1:34 remaining.

The Bears would go 1 for 7 shooting in overtime, along with a couple of free throw misses from Connor Vanover, and lose meekly. Still, the Bears competed with a team that beat them by 15 points at Westwood on January 5.

“We’re getting better,” McNeill said. “People may not see it but we’re in every game that we lose in the first half, and in the second half we just come out flat and don’t really get back together. But we’re getting better every game and we just have to stay focused for the whole game.”

Cal gets a second opportunity to topple the Trojans on Saturday. Game time is 2:30 pm at Haas Pavilion.

Coaches On The Floor: OSU too smart in crunch time for winless Cal

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By Morris Phillips

Ethan Thompson may be just a sophomore in accordance with his NCAA status, but on Saturday afternoon with the game on the line, the wily point guard was Oregon State’s professor emeritus.

With OSU clinging to a 73-71 lead with less than two minutes remaining, Thompson drove on Cal’s Darius McNeill and drew a foul. The two made free throws increased the Beavers’ lead to four. After Cal’s Matt Bradley missed a three, OSU’s Kylor Kelley rebounded his own miss and scored to give the Beavers an insurmountable six-point lead.

Seconds later, Thompson capped the scoring with two more free throws. In all, the son of OSU assistant coach Stevie Thompson scored eight of Oregon State’s final 13 points.

“We put the ball in his hands primarily this year,” head coach Wayne Tinkle said of Thompson. “We know that he can erupt and score for us when we need it. He’s a great playmaker because he’s got great vision.”

The coach-player connection drove OSU on Saturday, less than 48 hours after OSU was embarrassed in 23-point, home loss to Stanford. Tres Tinkle, the head coach’s son, along with Thompson and his older brother, Stevie Jr. combined for 60 of OSU’s 79 points.

The juxtaposition of OSU’s lineage and experience against Cal’s inexperience didn’t play well for the Bears. Cal allowed 54 percent shooting to OSU, along with committing too many fouls (the Beavers converted 23 of 28 from the stripe set up by 22 Cal fouls) which negated a pretty good shooting afternoon for Cal (49 percent).

The Bears lost for the 12th consecutive time, and are closing in on an unprecedented, second straight 20-loss season. Still, coach Wyking Jones was quick to acknowledge his team’s effort.

“I thought our guys fought, scrapped, clawed, left it all out on the court and played really, really hard and played together,” Jones said.

Cal had several bright spots offensively including McNeill, who scored 14 of his 16 points before halftime. Justice Sueing put up 14 of his 16 after the half, and Connor Vanover had 15 in a career-high 30 minutes on the floor.

Vanover especially is emerging as a factor for the Bears at both ends.

“He’s always been very good offensively. Now he’s starting to figure it out and do some things defensively that are really helping us, changing shots, blocking shots. He was a bright spot today,” Jones said.

The Bears have a short turnaround, facing UCLA on Wednesday night in Berkeley. The Bears are hopeful they’re catching the Bruins at the right time as UCLA was beaten by a Utah 3-pointer at the final buzzer after they blew a 20-point lead in the game’s final six minutes on Saturday.

Not Much Difference: Cal competitive early then wilts at Oregon in 73-62 loss

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By Morris Phillips

Cal’s high point was also the beginning of the end for the Bears on Wednesday at Oregon’s Matthew Knight Arena.

A 7-0 run capped by Justice Sueing’s three-point play gave the Bears a 15-13 lead with 9:32 remaining in the first half.  It would be the final lead for the Bears on the evening, one they would have two opportunities to extend. But like Cal’s two previous, early leads, the Duck responded with a 3-pointer to regain an advantage.

This time–after Payton Pritchard’s 3-pointer– the Ducks took off.

A 17-2 Oregon run put Cal in a double-digit hole at the half. And Oregon methodically maintained their advantage after the break in a 73-62 win.

The Ducks shot 65 percent from the floor after the break, on their way to becoming the 14th Cal opponent to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor. And while lack of defense was Cal’s biggest issue, it wasn’t their only one.

The Bears got outrebounded 33-23, and while they got to the foul line, and converted (16 of 19), that wasn’t nearly enough to overcome horrid 39 percent shooting from the floor.

The result? Another loss, just not one stuffed with embarrassment. The Bears never let the Ducks run away, but they never caught up either, trailing for the game’s final 30 minutes. Now with an 0-10 record in conference play, the Bears must remain vigilant or confront being the first Pac-12 team to go winless in league play since Oregon State in 2008, a year before Utah and Colorado joined the conference.

Without looking ahead, the Bears don’t want to look back either: they’ve dropped 13 consecutive, conference road games and 18 overall dating back to last season.

Pritchard paced Oregon with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and three other starters scored in double figures led by Louis King with 12.

“I liked our pace in this game,” Pritchard said. “Defensively, we got some steals to easy looks. We were running it up. Guys were attacking in the seams and it allowed everyone else to get open.”

Justice Sueing led Cal with 17 points, and Paris Austin and Connor Vanover added 12 each.

The Bears continue their Northwest swing on Saturday at Oregon State with the tipoff at 2:30 pm.

What Now?: Late game, reversed call prevents Cal from ending losing skid

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, Calif. — The made shots, assists, team effort and the coaching staff’s approval all leaned heavily toward the Cal Bears on Sunday afternoon.

The critical, late game calls made by the officials did not.

The Bears appeared to gain an 83-83 tie on Matt Bradley’s physical drive for a bucket and a foul, but a video replay compelled the referees to reverse the call, wipe out the basket, and put Stanford in the driver’s seat with 13 seconds remaining.

Both coaches weighed in on the critical call, and both admitted the situation left them powerless and in hope that the whistle simply went their way.

“First of all, I didn’t know that you would overturn a call,” coach Wyking Jones said. “Mike Reed is a great official and he went to the monitor and saw something different, so I have to respect the call.”

“It was some kind of a dire situation so I felt very excited when they went to the monitor that there was still hope,” Stanford coach Jerod Haase admitted.

Instead of Cal tying the game and getting an opportunity at the foul stripe to establish a one-point lead, Stanford’s KZ Okpala made one of two free throw attempts to increase Stanford’s lead to three. Seconds later, Paris Austin’s 3-point attempt fell woefully short and the Cardinal escaped.

The Bears fell to 0-9 in Pac-12 conference play, and lost for a school-record tying tenth, consecutive time. The Bears last lost 10 straight in 1962.

Stanford won for the third time in their last four outings, and stayed above .500 at 11-10.

Okpala, Stanford’s emerging sophomore who is gaining interest from the NBA, led the Cardinal with 19 of his career-best 30 points after halftime.

Justice Sueing paced Cal with 23 points. Paris Austin and 7’2″ Connor Vanover contributed 15 points each.

Jones vowed that his Bears would respond with a better effort following a full week of preparation, and they did give Stanford fits with pressure defenses that forced the majority of the Cardinal’s 18 turnovers. The Bears led by one at the half, and extended their lead to 56-49 with 12:44 remaining.

But Stanford–which countered their issues holding on to the basketball with 57 percent shooting from the floor–responded with a run at that point and forced the Bears to beat them with late game execution.

The result was a devastating loss decided in the final seconds, but the effort was laudable, far more than in the nine losses that preceded Sunday.

“They emptied the tank today,” Jones said. “I felt they gave us everything they had. They played together. They looked like a cohesive group. I’m very proud of the effort and the fight that they showed today, but we came up short.”

Cal heads to Oregon for a Wednesday night game at 6:30 pm PT.

Making Themselves At Home: Utah the latest visitor to take advantage at Haas Pavilion, win 82-64

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Utah needed to do two things: get their offense cranked up to take advantage of one of the nation’s worst defenses, and play the typically, stingy ball-hawking defense that Larry Krystkowiak-coached teams are known for.

To Krystkowiak’s dismay, the Utah offense kicked in immediately while his defense took its sweet time to show up.

But once both phases were in sync, the host Cal Bears couldn’t keep pace. Instead of igniting their fans, the Bears went quietly, trailing in all but the game’s first four minutes in a 82-64 loss.

“We did a good job defensively in the second half,” Krystkowiak said. “The first half was kind of a shootout and we were expending a lot more energy on offense, but we slowed the game down and got that figured out in the second half.”

The Utes won their fourth straight and remained in a second place tie with USC, two games behind league-leading Washington. The Bears remain winless in conference play, and haven’t captured a Pac-12 contest since February, a streak that’s approaching a year in length.

For the dwindling number of fans supporting the Bears at Haas Pavilion the streaks are even more dire. The 18-point loss marked the 13th time in 52 games under coach Jones that Cal has lost by double-digits at home. And at 5-15, 0-8, with 11 games remaining, the Bears are drawing closer to a second, consecutive 20-loss season, which has never happened previously in the history of the program.

“We all have pride. This doesn’t feel good. We’ll hit the reset button, come back together and figure it out,” Jones said.

Putting It All Together Is The Hard Part: Cal skid hits eight in loss to Colorado

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–The Cal Bears hadn’t been in a close game late in three weeks. But there they were, after overcoming an 18-point deficit, leading Colorado 54-53 with 7:04 remaining on Thursday night.

It would soon become a fleeting moment. The Bears would lead just once and see their losing streak reach eight games. The Buffaloes recovered, shutting down Cal in the final minutes, and winning 68-59.

But Coach Wyking Jones could at least point to his club’s effort as a positive in recapping the evening.

“I was obviously very happy with the fight and the toughness our guys showed in that stretch that I’ve been waiting to see for a long time,” Jones said. “I saw some guys who had to give everything they had get tired.”

The Buffs won at Berkeley for the first time as a member of the Pac-12 after five losses. They needed fewer than two minutes to extend their 11-point halftime lead to 18. But little went right after that, until Colorado grew stingy after Paris Austin pulled Cal within 60-58 with 4:09 remaining. The Bears were limited to one made free throw after that, missing their final seven shots.

“It’s much like November — it’s a lot better to learn from a win than learn from a loss, and this would have been a crushing loss,” CU coach Tad Boyle said. “I’m really proud of the way the guys reacted to the adversity.”

Guard McKinley Wright finished with eight points, four rebounds, and served as the ringleader for a CU attack that feasted on open looks. Three Colorado players scored in double figures, led by Lucas Siewert with 18, but Wright made the big plays late, despite missing the previous game against Utah due to a shoulder injury.

“He’s like Tom Brady. When he’s on the floor, everything’s much easier,” said Tyler Bey (17 points, 14 rebounds) of Wright.

The Bears haven’t won a conference game since February, and that streak will extend to more than a year if they can’t stop Utah on Saturday at Haas Pavilion.

“We don’t have that margin of error where we can lay back. Those little spurts when we’re not focused, they really come back to hurt us at the end of the game,” said Justice Sueing, who along with Austin paced Cal with 13 points.