Tag: Grant Anticevich

Cal finds themselves looking up to visiting USC in 76-68 loss

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–USC’s length and persistence in the paint found its match in Cal’s grit and grind for stretches on Saturday at Haas Pavilion. In the end however the Trojans’ size never relented in their 76-68 win over the Bears.

Evan Mobley had 17 of his game-best 25 points in the second half allowing USC to seize control of a close ballgame in the final minutes as Cal couldn’t capitalize on leading scorer Matt Bradley’s return to action.

The 7’1″ Mobley, currently the third highest ranked NBA prospect in the 2021 draft, consistently challenged the Bears on the block resulting in dunks, offensive rebounds or fouls. Andre Kelly and D.J. Thorpe both fouled out inside five minutes remaining as the freshman knocked down 12 of 15 from the line along with five offensive boards and one don’t blink-fast putback dunk.

“I try to catch it mid-post, drive hard if the lane’s open. If not jab step, shot, create the help, kick out, just make plays for my teammates,” Mobley said in a brief description of his expansive game.

“I think you saw an improved Evan Mobley today than he was early in the week” USC coach Andy Enfield said. “He’s getting better and we demanded that of him this week and he responded in a huge way.”

Cal’s deliberate pace which made UCLA antzy and turnover-prone on Thursday played perfectly for the Trojans who wanted Mobley, his 6’10” brother Isaiah and three other regulars–all 6’8″ or taller–on the floor as much as possible. Evan Mobley seemingly never sat, playing 35 minutes and 19 of 20 after halftime.

Meanwhile, Cal started slowly (trailed 15-4 after five minutes) then bought Bradley off the bench in his first action after missing five games with an ankle injury. His appearance acted as a stabilizer as he along with Grant Anticevich and Joel Brown started to find some gaps in USC’s defense. At the break–and after the horrific start–the Bears trailed just 35-34.

But one early, second half sequence typified Cal’s inability to sustain any momentum as they followed Jarred Hyder’s four-point play with an airball, then a shot clock violation on the next two possessions.

In the final minutes, Ryan Betley’s three brought Cal within 68-66 with 3:02 remaining. But the Bears would score just once more–Betley’s layup–with 28 seconds left.

Anticevich and Brown led Cal with 15 points each, and Bradley added 11, but showed his rust with 1 of 6 shooting from distance. Both teams were 24 of 58 from the floor (41 percent) with the deciding factors the free throw line and the glass where Cal was outscored 21-13 at the foul line and outrebounded 41-32.

The Bears resume their schedule Thursday in Tempe with the rematch against Arizona State.

Cal’s upset bid fails in the final minutes of a 61-57 loss to No. 24 UCLA

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By Morris Phillips

The strategy in the final minutes of a close contest for the trailing team is universal: foul, stop the clock, put your opponent on the foul line, hope for misses and lengthen the game.

But what if the referees are swallowing their whistles and letting both teams play? And your opponent is No. 24 UCLA who routinely defends without fouling?

Well, that strategy won’t work as Cal found out Thursday night at Haas Pavilion when their upset bid fell short in a 61-57 loss to the Bruins.

Jules Bernard’s 3-pointer with 2:08 remaining proved to be the pivotal basket, and gave UCLA a 59-55 lead in a game that was back and forth throughout the second half. Misses by Jarred Hyder on Cal’s ensuing two possessions brought Cal no closer. Finally, Hyder scored with 13 seconds remaining, but the Bears had to foul three times to regain possession. With just eight seconds remaining–and Cal again trailing by four after Johnny Juzang made two free throws–UCLA used one of their fouls to give to prevent a Cal 3-point attempt.

A pair of meaningless shots in the final seconds fell short for Cal, quietly ending their bid to upset the Bruins, who are now 8-0 and alone in first place in the Pac-12.

“We got the lead there late, tried to get our best defensive lineup in, and we kept them off the foul line,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “It was an advantage down the stretch. We knew we had fouls to give with the way we were trying to play defense, so that helped us.”

“We just couldn’t get to the foul line in the second half,” said Cal coach Mark Fox, who saw his team limited to 21 points after halftime after leading 36-32 at the break.

UCLA has now committed fewer fouls than all 14 of their opponents. They committed just 11 fouls in the game and only 20 were whistled prior to the furious final seconds. While Cal slowed the pace, the referees sped the game along. In a game that was completed in well under two hours, the undermanned Bears got few chances to catch their breath.

Grant Anticevich led Cal (7-9, 2-7) with 21 points and perfect 5 for 5 shooting from distance. While UCLA stopped the Bears near the basket, they allowed Cal 10 made threes, seven of those in the first half. That alone kept the Bears in a game in which they were outrebounded 38-23 and wilted as the game progressed.

Cal’s defensive effort against the ranked Bruins was commendable, but even Fox admitted his team controlled tempo better than they defended, and leaving Bernard open for his late three was their biggest mistake.

“To beat a high-level opponent, you have to play a little more mistake-free than we did today,” Fox admitted.

Matt Bradley tested his injured ankle in pre-game warm-ups but was ruled out, missing his fifth straight game. That again left Cal scrambling for offense from other sources that couldn’t deliver. Fox pointed out that Bradley’s absence has affected guard Ryan Betley, who missed his first seven shots and finished 1 for 8 in 33 minutes of floor time.

“Were asking too much of Ryan, and I think he’s worn down,” Fox said.

The Bears are scheduled to host USC on Saturday but COVID issues within the Trojans program has put the game in question. The USC-Stanford game on Thursday was canceled.

Washington State’s effective defense keeps Cal winless against Pac-12 competition, 71-60

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Two developing clubs devoid of blue chip athleticism or the confidence that comes with experience aren’t going to deliver a college basketball masterpiece in a Haas Pavilion populated by empty seats.

Instead of extended bombast punctuated with fastbreaks, think stringing together quality possessions, starting with two or three.

Washington State embraced the mundane far better than Cal in locking down on defense and hitting open shots in a 71-60 win on Thursday night.

The Cougars still don’t have a marquee win but improved to 9-1. The Bears fell to 5-7 and are still looking for their first Pac-12 victory.

The Bears played without leading scorer Matt Bradley but welcomed back Grant Anticevich, who showed some rust after an appendectomy two weeks ago. That combination contributed to Cal’s tepid 34 percent shooting from the floor, but coach Mark Fox expressed greater disappointment in his team’s effort on the glass.

“I was really disappointed in how we rebounded the ball,” Fox said of the 45-28 difference on the backboards.

The Bears weathered WSU’s 15-2 run towards the end of the first half to climb within 31-28 at the break, only to see the Cougars take control again in the opening minutes of the second half. Noah Williams’ layup gave WSU a 51-36 lead with 12:14 remaining. That gap proved insurmountable with the Bears missing shots while battling WSU’s length and aggressiveness.

“It’s harder for us to score without Matt, but we’ve got to find a way to manufacture some points,” Fox said.

The Bears were led by Andre Kelly with 11 points. Ryan Betley and Lars Thiemann each added 10 points, but Makale Foreman, Cal’s most likely offensive source in Bradley’s absence was 1 for 7 from distance and finished with 7 points.

Isaac Boyton led all scorers with 22 points, and versatile freshman Efe Abogidi added 12 points and nine rebounds to aid Washington State.

The Bears host Washington at Haas on Saturday at noon.

Foreman’s shot at the buzzer gives Cal their only lead in 72-70 win over USF

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–“Sometimes, you gotta do more,” said Cal coach Mark Fox.

Fox certainly got more grit and determination from his Bears in an improbable 72-70 win over USF at Haas Pavilion on Sunday. Makale Foreman’s 3-point basket just a fraction of a second before the final horn gave the Bears the win and their only lead of the day.

After a string of disappointing losses the Bears played smarter, harder and more efficiently against the Dons. But it didn’t amount to much until the game’s final play. In the final eight seconds Cal rushed the ball up the full length of the floor with Matt Bradley passing to Grant Anticevich then to Foreman at the 3-point arc just ahead of the final buzzer.

The Bears showed tremendous patience in getting the ball to their graduate transfer Foreman, the team’s only high percentage option from distance. By backing up four feet beyond the arc Foreman created the needed distance to avoid the lunging defender Jamaree Bouyea.

Ironically, Foreman had missed all five of his previous 3-point attempts and six shots in all.

A big factor in the win was Fox getting his team to reduce its shot attempts from distance after they fell to 242nd nationally (out of 315) in 3-point efficiency. In the meantime, Fox continued to encourage Foreman, the eighth most prolific 3-point shooter last season at Stony Brook, to look for his shot.

“He’s a great shooter,” Fox said of Foreman. “The decreased practice time has hurt him.”

The rest of Foreman’s took just nine threes (making five) and instead focused on getting the ball to the basket and drawing fouls. That strategy paid off as Andre Kelly scored a season-high 22 points and the Bears got to the line 23 times (making 16).

Anticevich and Bradley certainly did more, making tough shots with defenders draped on them from inside and out. The senior forward finished with a team-best 18 points and Bradley added 17.

The Dons scored the game’s first five points and led for 39 minutes only to be caught. Bouyea led all scorers with 24 and Kahlil Shabazz added 21. Bouyea went spectacular with his buzzer beater from 65 feet that gave USF a 37-28 halftime lead.

“I thought we played well enough to win, but not well enough to guarantee victory,” USF coach Todd Golden said. 

The Dons were attempting to beat Cal for an unprecedented third consecutive season, with the previous two wins both by double digits.

“Sometimes you gotta do more” was Fox’s explanation to his players for dressing in a traditional suit and tie, in a season where the NCAA has allowed coaches to wear polo shirts and sweat suits. Fox revealed to his team his choice of wardrobe on Saturday with the background story meant to motivate his group.

Apparently the ploy hit home.

The Bears will reveal their next two games later this week as the season on the fly continues. Fox did say there was an issue with one of their East Coast opponents meaning they may have two new opponents on their East swing in the days before Christmas or just one along with Boston College, which was previously announced.

 

Bears don’t enjoy the view–or focus on the hoop–in falling at Pepperdine, 74-62

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By Morris Phillips

Most Pac-12 coaches play it smart when it comes to Malibu. If they want to celebrate a Southland recruit’s commitment, maybe they’ll make a side trip to Duke’s on the PCH for a frivolous cocktail and a steak–if it’s mid-afternoon and their flight schedule out of LAX isn’t compromised.

Power 5 coaches could care less about sightseeing so that’s it. A trip to Pepperdine to face the Waves in the Firestone Fieldhouse is definitely a Pac-12 no no.

But Mark Fox and his Bears ventured into the tiny gym with the expansive view on Wednesday, becoming the first Pac-12 team to do so since 2012, only the sixth conference team to play there, and the first since current Waves assistant Ken Bone’s Washington State team lost to Pepperdine in overtime.

Current Cal assistant Marty Wilson coached the Waves for six seasons, and only Bone accepted his offer to play. Apparently coaches let their guard down when they know each other.

See where this is going?

The Waves buried 12 3-pointers and led wire-to-wire, beating California 74-62. Kessler Edwards led Pepperdine with 26 points, eight rebounds, and reserves Jan Zidek and Andre Ball both scored in double figures as well.

The Bears got 27 from Matt Bradley and 21 from Grant Anticevich, but missed too many shots and were too careless with the basketball to keep it close. The Bears missed 19 3-point attempts and committed 15 turnovers, extending negative trends that have run through all six of their games to date.

Coming in the Bears ranked 201st in Division I, shooting just 30 percent from distance. Then they missed 19 of 24 attempts against the Waves, falling further down the rankings while calling into question why they even try to further their Steph Curry aspirations.

Pepperdine built a 10-point lead in the first 12 minutes, and extended it to as many as 19 in the second half. Ten of their 12 made threes came before halftime, part of their 51 percent shooting for the game.

With the win, the Waves have their first win against Cal after three losses.

The Bears return home on Sunday to face USF at Haas Pavilion at 12 noon.

Bears’ late rally falls short in season-opening loss to Oregon State, 71-63

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By Morris Phillips

A sluggish start doomed the Cal Bears in their much-anticipated season opener against Oregon State.

After trailing by five at the half–and as many as 14 in the second half–the Bears’ late rally came up short in a 71-63 loss at Corvallis. Cal gets a quick turnaround with Northwest University up next at 3pm on Thursday also at Gill Coliseum.

The Bears and Beavers agreed to play each other in a rare non-conference matchup between Pac-12 foes just 48 hours earlier when Cal’s scheduled opponent, Colorado State was forced to withdraw from the multi-team event due to Coronavirus issues.

The Bears may have had a couple of more returning players than did OSU, but the Beavers had the more impactful newcomers as they controlled the glass and displayed better shot selection in a game the home team led throughout. Senior guard Ethan Thompson led OSU with 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Nicholls transfer Warith Alatishe contributed 16 points to help Oregon State hold off Cal, who climbed within 67-62 with a 1:30 remaining but could get no closer.

The Bears got 21 points from Matt Bradley, who led Cal despite missing 11 of his 16 shot attempts from the floor. Transfer guard Makale Foreman was the only other Bear in double digits with 10.

Cal ran into trouble early, falling behind 10-4 on their way to missing 18 of their 30 field goal attempts before halftime. The Bears ran into more problems in the second half by shooting threes in an attempt to get back in the game, but missed 11 of 14.

The Beavers controlled the glass 43-32 to make up for their subpar 44 percent shooting. Reserve Rodrique Andela grabbed 11 rebounds in just 23 minutes off the bench. Jarod Lucas was OSU’s other bench contributor with 11 points in 24 minutes.

Freshman Monty Bowser and graduate transfer Ryan Betley made their Cal debuts with Betley starting and scoring nine points.

The two schools hadn’t met as non-conference opponents since the 1987 NIT. Prior to that they met in a regular season contest at the Far West Classic in Portland in 1984.

The Bears and Beavers will meet again on January 2 and February 25 in Berkeley. They split last season with each team winning at home.

NCAA Ready: Oregon displays postseason form in 90-56 rout of Cal

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By Morris Phillips

Well, the Oregon Ducks and Cal Bears aren’t on the same trajectory.

While the Bears exercised their ability to stay connected to a superior opponent (without success), the Ducks’ dress rehearsal for a lengthy NCAA Tournament run looked like the real thing in Oregon’s 90-56 thrashing of Cal.

The Ducks opened with five, consecutive made shots, then went on a 21-0 run to put the game out of reach before halftime. Payton Pritchard, UO’s leader and long distance marksman led the effort with 20 points, nine assists. The Ducks regained a share of first place in the Pac-12 with the win, and they clinch a least a tie for the title in the regular season finale against Stanford on Saturday.

“The first half I really thought we really flew around and made a lot of defensive plays. And our ball movement was good and we obviously shot well at three, which gives you a big boost offensively,” coach Dana Altman said of his Ducks.

Only one word could describe Oregon’s offensive output: torrid. The Ducks shot 60 percent from the field, 70 percent from three (12 of 17), and converted 80 percent of their free throws.  The Ducks shared the ball with five players in double figures, and 18 assists on 31 made baskets.

Coach Mark Fox had hopes his team could summon its best effort after consecutive home wins, but the Bears didn’t come close.

“I was disappointed in our approach to the game, but I want to give Oregon credit. They played very well,” Fox said. “The only thing I was surprised by was our very poor start to the game.”

The 34-point margin of victory was the largest ever for Oregon in a victory over Cal. The Bears hadn’t given up at least 90 points in over a year dating back to a lopsided loss to UCLA. The Bears shot a chilly 36 percent from the floor for the game, and 33 percent in the first half, after which they trailed 46-20.

Matt Bradley led the Bears (13-17, 7-10) with 15 points, Grant Anticevich added 10.

The Bears conclude the regular season on Saturday in Corvallis against Oregon State.

Boot the Utes: Balanced Bears outlast Utah, 86-79 in overtime

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Fewer mistakes, staunch defense, more and varied contributors, the Cal Bears are starting to play better basketball.

Could they be ready to take the show on the road?

By outlasting Utah 86-79 in overtime on Saturday, the Cal Bears assured they won’t finish in the conference’s basement for the third, consecutive year. So with two regular season games and the conference tournament remaining, could the Bears..

Knock off No. 14 Oregon on Thursday, and put the Ducks conference title aspirations on hold? The Bears hadn’t won on the road, or beaten a ranked opponent. Now that they’ve done both (won at WSU, beat No. 21 Colorado) could they double down and accomplish both feats in the same game?

Sweep the Oregon schools and finish .500 in conference play? Talk about the ultimate, confidence builder, that would send the Bears into the conference tournament with a four-game win streak and momentum.

Maybe, maybe not, but by consistently elevating their play, Coach Mark Fox’s Bears have changed the discourse surrounding the program.

“I got sick of everybody telling us how bad we were going to be because I just didn’t think we would be,” Fox said. “I wasn’t going to accept that and I wasn’t going to let our team accept that. We’re not anywhere near where we want to be but the perception and the feelings about our team and this program are drastically different than what I heard all this summer.”

In beating Utah, the Bears (13-16, 7-9) had to climb off the mat twice, the second time when the Utes wiped out a six-point deficit in the game’s final minute to force overtime.

The Bears regrouped, scoring nine of the first 12 points of overtime to take control. Matt Bradley contributed six of those, the last of his team-leading 21-point performance. The Bears sealed it by making nine of their ten free throw opportunities in the extra session.

Bradley’s often excelled without help this season, but on the occasion of Senior Day at Haas Pavilion, the Cal star performed as a piece of a quartet.

Grant Anticevich had a big second half, finishing with 17 points, eight rebounds. Senior Paris Austin, who was honored before the game along with Jacob Orender, David Serge and Kareem South, contributed 15 points, four assists. And Andre Kelly had 15 points, nine rebounds and a career-best five blocks in 31 minutes off the bench.

Bradley and Kelly led the Bears to a 19-14 start to the game only to see Utah finish the half on a 14-5 run to take a lead at the break. Alfonso Plummer had nine of his 23 points for the Utes before halftime.

The Bears scored the first seven points of the second half to regain the lead. Austin’s layup put Cal up 31-28 with 18:23 remaining.

Timmy Allen led Utah with 26 points. Guard Both Gach appeared to create a three-point opportunity in the final seconds that could have given Utah the lead, but the referee waved off Gach’s bucket, ruling Austin’s foul came before the shot. With two seconds remaining, Gach made both free throws to force overtime.

With the loss, Utah (15-14, 6-11) finished 0-9 in conference road games. The Utes conclude their schedule against Colorado on Saturday at home.

52 Won’t Do: Cal goes cold, shut down by Washington in 87-52 loss at Seattle

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By Morris Phillips

If we know anything about the Cal Bears, them scoring 52 points is not good.

For the sixth time this season, the Bears posted exactly 52 points on Saturday afternoon at Washington. And for the fifth time, that meant a discouraging, double-digit loss in which the team’s offense disappeared without a moment’s notice.

“We’ve had some defeats,” coach Mark Fox said of the 87-52 loss to the Huskies. “But this one was a stinker.”

The Bears led 17-11 with 11:33 remaining in the first half, then went 15 minutes spanning the halves without a bucket. Trying to subsist on free throws alone, Cal found themselves trailing 43-26 at the half. Then after the halftime break, and likely after an earful from Fox, the Bears surrendered the first 11 points of the second half to fall behind by 28.

Cal fans needing to wrap their head around something to understand the Bears’ collapse instead were presented with a statistical oddity. In trailing 54-28, the Bears had missed 21 of their 25 shots from the field, while making all 16 of their free throws, which looked good, but did little to keep them in the game. And the wildly juxtaposed numbers didn’t end there: Cal had just three assists and 12 turnovers through the game’s first 24 minutes.

After the final whistle, the numbers weren’t much better for one of Division I’s most offensively challenged teams. Cal finished with just 11 made baskets and 17 turnovers in 40 minutes of hard-to-watch basketball.

Of course, the Huskies noticed very little of Cal’s struggles. The win ended a nine-game losing streak for the Pac-12’s most confounding team, one which came into the season with two elite freshman recruits and Top 25 expectations only to beat No. 1 Baylor in the season’s first month, then go into the tank. Even with the win, UW still sits in the conference basement at 13-15, 3-12.

But all the struggles didn’t prevent them from playing well on Saturday.

“We really locked in. We were really active. Guys did a good job of being focused and aware of what we were trying to do. And they executed it,” coach Mike Hopkins said.

After the game, Hopkins’ emotions surfaced in trying to thank the Washington fans for sticking with his group. The coach hilariously ended his press conference with a hopeful message, and a theatrical drop of the microphone as he departed.

“It shows you what this place can be and is going to be. So thank you fans out there. Go Dawgs!” Hopkins said in advance of his grand exit to humored laughs from the assembled journalists.

Cal was led by Matt Bradley with 14 points, but the Bears’ leading scorer missed eight of his 11 shots from the floor. Afterwards, the Huskies revealed that limiting Bradley was their top objective. No other Bears finished in double figures, Grant Anticevich and Kuany Kuany each had 7 points.

Nahziah Carter led UW with 16 points, freshman Isaiah Stewart had 15.

The Bears finish their home schedule this week starting with a visit from Colorado on Thursday at 6pm. Utah visits Haas Pavilion on Saturday.

 

Running With the Devils: Bears acquit themselves quite respectably in 80-75 loss to Arizona State

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–A high-scoring game is the last thing the Cal Bears want to be involved in.

Unless, you’re a Cal fan and ticket holder, then your attitude is probably why not?

The Bears’ rebuilding process that landed them in the Pac-12 basement in 2018 and 2019 has them traversing the bottom tier of Division I point-producers in 2020. Coming into Cal’s home game against Arizona State on Sunday, the Bears ranked 335th (out of 350) in scoring offense averaging a bare bones 62.2 points per game.

With the notable exceptions of defending National Champion Virginia (ranked 347th) and NCAA-worthy Wisconsin (302), it’s the bottom of a list teams would rather avoid. Littered with struggling squads across Division I, it’s a place where anxiety abounds. Players doubt their abilities, coaches like Shaka Smart of Texas (325) find themselves on the hot seat, and ticket holders check out faster than they check in.

For Cal, hosting red-hot ASU, averaging 77 points a game over a four-game win streak that has the Sun Devils dreaming of the NCAA Tournament, seemed like more bad news in a season that’s already been trying enough.

But it wasn’t. The Bears battled Arizona State into the final minute in a 80-75 loss that turned on a late ASU surge and the brillance of Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year candidate Remy Martin.

Martin had 22 points–15 in the second half–as ASU built an eight-point lead with three minutes remaining and held on to win for the seventh time in eight games. The Bears shot 48 percent in the second half–and scored nine points in the final 45 seconds–to make it a close shave, and a watchable, competitive affair.

“Sometimes in defeats you play well but we didn’t win, which is what we came here to do,” coach Mark Fox admitted.

Martin, the senior from Los Angeles, and arguably college basketball’s most prominent Filipino-American player, has scored in double figures in all 12 conference games. In nine of those, including Sunday, he’s scored at least 20.

“He hits the deep 3, he hit the shot off one leg and stopped, just really high level of difficulty shots but he get so much attention from defenses it’s really never easy for him to score too often,” coach Bobby Hurley said of Martin. “He continues to surprise me, the things I see him do out there.”

The Sun Devils achieved a conference road sweep for the first time in a decade with the win. ASU also beat Stanford 74-69 on Thursday. The rare, but also quirky, occurrence happens rarely, just not normally only once a decade. This season in the Pac-12, only ASU and Arizona (both occurrences this weekend) have accomplished the feat.

“I know its been talked about quite a bit but it’s not really a thing for me,” Hurley said of ASU’s first sweep since January 2010 over the Oregon schools. “It’s more where we stand right now, just can ill afford to lose, and got to keep it rolling the way we’ve been.”

Matt Bradley led Cal with 20 of his 22 points after halftime. Grant Anticevich added 18 points, eight rebounds and Paris Austin had 17. The Bears (10-15, 4-8) have lost seven of nine since sweeping the Washington schools, but remain in a tight grouping of five schools, placed seventh through 11th, for seeding in the upcoming conference tournament.

Cal visits Pullman, Washington and Washington State on Thursday night.