Tag: Grant Newell

Underwhelming In Overtime: Cal’s spirited effort short-circuits late in 70-62 loss to ASU

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Foul trouble and poor shooting didn’t doom the Cal Bears, but the fatigue they carried into overtime certainly did.

Arizona State picked it up in the extra, five minutes, and escaped with a critical, 70-62 road win. The Sun Devils, who went from ice cold during a lengthy stretch in the second half to red hot in overtime, made it work with their incredible effort on the glass.

Coach Mark Fox felt the ASU rebounding was the deciding factor in what was otherwise a statistically even ballgame.

“I felt like defensively they were terrific,” Fox said of his Bears. “We just didn’t rebound it well. Gave up 20 offensive rebounds, and that’s probably the difference in the game.”

The visitors snagged 56 rebounds, a total they hadn’t reached since February 1996 in Pac-12 competition. That big advantage helped them survive 33 percent shooting and a stretch where they made just one of their 20 shots.

Reserves Grant Newell and Monty Bowser kept Cal in it with 14 points a piece, but foul trouble ultimately wore the hosts down as starters Lars Thiemann and Kuany Kuany played limited minutes.

“We don’t have any depth, and everyone knows we don’t have any depth,” Fox said. “Tonight, it showed in the overtime. We wore down a bit.”

Desmond Cambridge led ASU with 24 points, and DJ Horne added 12. As productive as they were spoaradic, those two typified the Sun Devils’ ragged play with 21 missed shots between them. But in the end, the visitors kept their NCAA Tournament aspirations alive with an unlikely Bay Area sweep.

“I don’t know if I want to be in a close game with (Cal) because we could get tight, just thinking about their record. I don’t think that happened. Our guys were pretty clutch down the stretch,” ASU coach Bob Hurley said.

The Bears have dropped nine straight and played in front of another small, disappointing crowd at Haas Pavilion. Given that, a trip to Los Angeles to face USC and UCLA might be the best medicine for Cal after their 22nd loss of the season.

Cal embarrassed at Haas by Oregon State in 68-48 loss

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Porous defense, non-existent shooting, and inattention to detail… the Cal Bears were guilty across the board on Sunday afternoon.

Coach Mark Fox admitted his team missed the directive regarding an early shot at the end of the first half. That allowed Oregon State to cap a 13-0 run ending the first half with Jordan Pope’s jumper as time expired. And the defense as a whole?

“We have just failed to build a defense,” Fox admitted. “We are really struggling with our ability to keep the ball out of the lane.”

And the offense? Well, at one juncture of the second half, the Bears had more turnovers (11) than made baskets (6). In an unsightly first 20 minutes, the Bears started 3 of 17 and finished 4 of 23 after a scoreless stretch across their final, six possessions.

Add it all up, and Cal may have squandered its best remaining opportunity for a win this season. The visiting Beavers ended a six-game losing streak–and an 18-game road skid–with the easy, 68-48 win in Berkeley.

Early on, the gracious visitors did all they could to keep the Bears attached. With shooting as errant as the hosts, OSU trailed 15-14 with 4:30 remaining in the half. But that all changed in their closing run that picked up steam after the break. After Pope’s layup, Oregon State led 58-30 with 6:25 remaining.

Pope led three OSU starters in double-figures with 19 points. The Beavers’ shooting picked up dramatically with them finishing at 54 percent shooting from the floor, including 13 made threes.

The Bears wilted with 37 percent shooting and just three makes from distance.

Devin Askew returned to the Cal lineup after missing six games with a foot injury. But the team’s leading scorer might have been too aggressive with his shooting given his rust. He finished 2 of 12 from the floor for eight points. Kuany Kuany led Cal with 15.

The Bears next appear at Stanford on Saturday in a matchup of last place teams.

Not At Home Tonight: Cal’s offense disappears in 87-58 loss to visiting Oregon

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Haas Pavilion is the home of the Golden Bears. It just didn’t seem so on Wednesday.

Not even close.

Instead, the visiting Ducks appeared right at home, shooting 60 percent in a lopsided 87-58 win over Cal that was initiated by the visitors’ attentive defense and punctuated by their mistake-free offensive attack. Amazingly, the Ducks piled up impressive shooting stats in all three areas while committing just five turnovers.

Meanwhile, the Bears couldn’t get untracked. They made just seven baskets in the first half, and trailed 34-21 at the break. Ten minutes in the second half, the Bears fell behind 60-34 allowing Oregon to cruise.

“I thought the guys really took the wind out of their sails just not giving up easy baskets,” coach Dana Altman said. “21 points at half, I love that. I thought defensively we had a lot better energy and a lot better movement than what we’ve had.”

Cal (3-16, 2-5) had won three of four at home, but they couldn’t recapture the magic. DeJuan Clayton, credited for inspiring the Bears’ improved play, didn’t score in this one until 25 minutes elapsed. Clayton finished with three points, and the team’s leading scorer, ND Okafor scored 10 points.

The Bears resume play on Sunday at noon against Oregon State in a battle of teams looking to avoid the Pac-12 basement.

Bears Can’t Reach The Finish Line in aggravating 81-78 overtime loss to Washington

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By Morris Phillips

The Cal Bears led Washington the entire second half, only to lose in overtime 81-78.

How’s that? Missed free throws and a tepid finish.

Eighteen games into a trying season, the Bears have changed the discourse from losing to winning. But this one–with Cal in control for the majority of the afternoon–will sting.

“We had every opportunity to win the game in regulation and just didn’t finish the plays, didn’t make free throws,” coach Mark Fox said. “When you have those opportunities, you have to seize them.”

The Bears missed three free throws in the final minutes, which allowed the hosts to calmly, and almost too patiently, work themselves into a tie ballgame when Keion Brooks scored in the lane with 12 seconds remaining.

Prior to Brooks’ equalizer, Kuany Kuany missed the front end of a one-and-one, surprising given his 84 percent shooting from the foul stripe.

In overtime, the Huskies seized control, missing just one shot and leading the entire five minutes. Cal had an opportunity to tie the game at the buzzer, but Kuany’s 3-pointer was blocked.

Cal led by as many as 11 points–with 10 minutes remaining, a showing spearheaded by Grant Newell’s breakout with 21 points, ten rebounds. Lars Thiemann added 13, and Joel Brown had 12 points, five assists.

Brooks led UW with 26 points, and Noah Williams added 22. The hosts held advantages in shooting percentage and blocked shots (7) to secure what was a statistically-even ballgame.

Cal returns to Haas Pavilion to face Oregon on Wednesday at 7:00pm.

Bears Turn To Offense: Cal runs past Colorado 80-76 for first Pac-12 win

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–An unexpected and strange afternoon of basketball was best summed up by longtime Colorado Buffaloes radio announcer Mark Johnson:

“Joel Brown has looked like Michael Jordan,” Johnson snickerishly opined.

Brown’s upwardly, fully mobile impersonation of the greatest wasn’t visible to most, or many in a sparsely populated Haas Pavilion on Saturday afternoon, but it was effective. The senior guard lead Cal with 21 points in an eye-opening 80-76 win for the Golden Bears, their first Pac-12 win after three losses.

For Cal (2-13, 1-3), it was the needed progression from national laughingstock to something far more competitive with two wins in their last three outings. For Colorado and Coach Tad Boyle, it was something to abhor, as his frustration with his team’s effort highlighted his post-game remarks.

“Our guards can’t get through ball screens,” Boyle said. “We had nobody on our team who could even think about guarding Joel Brown. He took us off the bounce whenever he wanted.”

Brown, a senior with 105 games under his belt, had never scored 20 points in a game collegiately. Has he improved immensely from his freshman season? No doubt he has. But Boyle, the architect of the Buffaloes scouting report that materialized 48 hours after Cal scored a season-low 43 points against Utah with Brown limited to four points, two turnovers, and one assist wasn’t in the mood.

“We’re not good enough shot makers. We’re not good enough free throw shooters to rely on that night in and night out. So we’d better be able to rely on our defense and rebounding, which I talk about all the time, but this team hasn’t accepted that and put it in their DNA,” Boyle explained. “That’s on me. I’m not sure I’ve been part of a more disappointing loss from a defense and rebounding standpoint.”

Cal shot 58 percent from the floor, their best shooting effort in a conference game since February 2015. The outpouring of offense shocked the smallish crowd–and the Buffs–from the start. Cal took the lead 26 seconds in and used a 12-0 run to build a noticeable lead that they sustained until halftime, leading 39-27. Colorado did its part not only with spotty defense but 1 for 12 shooting from distance as well.

Brown attacked the basket throughout and emboldened his teammates with his success. All five Cal starters scored in double digits, which completely transformed their season-long dynamic with Devin Askew missing for a second straight game and the newly-healthy but rusty DeJuan Clayton starting in Askew’s place.

The Bears held a trio of second-half, 21-point leads, the last with 4:06 remaining after Kuany Kuany’s 3-pointer. But the Buffs and leading scorer KJ Simpson went bonkers in the final 2:51, scoring 20 points to get within 79-76 with six seconds left. But Brown was subsequently fouled, and his made free throw provided the final margin.

Brown abstained from any mention of his personal accomplishments in his post-game remarks, deferring to his teammates and the confidence the win instilled in the group. But Fox did headline Brown in his comments.

“It’s good to see him play as well as he did because he was terrific today,” Fox said of Brown.

The Bears opened 2022 with a conference win over Arizona State on January 2. After that, they nose dived to a 5-15 Pac-12 record and started this season with three more losses. But at 4-18 for the calendar year, the Bears have a recent win and hope for the New Year.

“I think this group being rewarded today hopefully will just magnify their desire to come to the gym everyday,” Fox said. “But that desire hasn’t really ever wavered.”

The Bears get a shot at Stanford at Haas Pavilion on Friday at 6pm in their next game which feels much more competitive than anyone could have imagined at the season’s outset.

Defensive Breakdown: Cal offers little resistance in 82-58 home loss to Butler

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–At some point, being winless isn’t just about being outmanned and outgunned. Lack of effort is going to seep into the mix as well. That’s just how human nature works.

On Saturday, the Butler Bulldogs tested the 0-11 Bears inside, and the home team’s lack of resistance was obvious. Butler converted 25 of their 36 shots inside the arc and backed that dominance with 11 of 14 shooting from the foul line. The result was a wire-to-wire 82-58 win for the visitors that they at one point led by as many as 30 points.

“This is the first time I think that we weren’t able to saddle back up and play a style of defense that gave us a chance,” Coach Mark Fox said. “We just could never get a stop.”

“Our team, as offensively challenged as we are, has to be very good defensively, and tonight we were not.”

Cal’s only highlight was a 9-2 run that interrupted Butler’s fast start and pulled the Bears to within 24-20 with 8:11 remaining before halftime. But Cal couldn’t back it up, scoring just six more points and trailing 41-26 at the break.

Butler coach Thad Matta pointed out the dilemma Cal faces in regard to their less than talented roster. The Bears struggle to score, given their lack of depth and inability to make shots. But when their opponent shows up defensively, things can get ugly in a hurry.

“Our activity was really good off the ball, and then we closed down quick,” Matta said of the Bulldogs’ defense. “(Cal) is not a quote, unquote, great shooting team. But I felt we did a much better job of making them miss. They never got a lot of open looks against us, which is just our guys being active.”

Sam Alajiki was Cal’s only bench contributor with five points as Cal failed to take advantage of Butler’s unusually heavy reliance on their starters. No team other than Notre Dame gives heavier minutes to their starters than Butler, but they made it work against Cal as all five scored at least 12 points while playing at least 25 minutes.

“We wanted to try to move them and get the ball inside via pass or the drive,” Matta said. “I thought our guys really did a good job of that.”

Simas Lukosius and Jayden Taylor both had 16 points for Butler. Guard Chuck Harris had 14 points, four rebounds, and four assists.

Freshman Grant Newell had his best game for Cal with 17 points, three rebounds. Devin Askew returned after a one-game absence due to health and safety protocols and also put up 17 points, but Askew needed 20 shots, missing 13, to get to 17.

The Bears are now one of just two teams in Division I without win as Louisville also lost Saturday to fall to 0-9. The Bears get their next opportunity to capture an initial win a week from Sunday at Santa Clara.

A Point A Minute Won’t Keep You In It: Plodding Bears lose in Florida to TCU, 59-48

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By Morris Phillips

If you’re 0-5, throw caution to the North Florida coast breeze and let it rip! What do you have to lose?

Well, if you’re the Cal Bears, it’s complicated.

Coach Mark Fox is without two experienced guards from a roster that lacks athleticism and quickness. Ballhandling and turnovers have been a major part of their winless start, as has defensive rebounding with smaller, quicker opponents extending possessions on the offensive glass.

Given all that, let it rip–given a Haas Pavilion type translation–really means dial it back. So take Fox at his word, when he says, “we created the style of game we wanted to create” after the Bears got up just 39 shot attempts and scored 48 points in a double-digit loss to TCU on Friday.

Know this: Fox has a real dilemma. His Bears are a work in progress, emphasis on “in progress” and the losses are mounting.

The quest for victory number one brought the Bears to Niceville, FL for Thanksgiving as part of the Emerald Coast Classic, a meeting of Power 5 teams looking to spread their wings. Being matched against the Horned Frogs, picked to finish fourth in the Big-12, undeniably the nation’s best conference this season, wasn’t ideal.

But TCU was without Damion Baugh, suspended through the remainder of November due to his decision to sign with an agent after last season in thinking that he was in the mix for the 2022 NBA draft. Not only that, Mike Miles Jr., the Frogs’ other high-scoring guard missed the previous two games with ankle and knee issues, which coincided with TCU’s one-point loss to Northwestern State.

No Baugh, no Miles? Cal might have hope.

Not the case.

Miles returned on Friday, scoring 23 points to led TCU to a 59-48 win. More concerning than Miles, who needed 22 shots to reach his point total, was Cal’s 19 turnovers and 14 offensive rebounds allowed, which Fox pointed to as the biggest factor in the loss.

Those two areas created a huge deficit for the Bears in possessions and shots taken. It also allowed TCU to cruise despite a horrible shooting night (19 for 39 from two, 3 for 17 from three, and 12 of 23 from the foul stripe).

The Bears kept pace early, trailing 17-16 after Joel Brown’s layup. But over the final 8:16 of the first half, Cal scored just five more points, placing an uphill climb in their way.

The Bears got consecutive 3-pointers from Kuany Kuany and Grant Newell to slice TCU’s biggest lead to eight at 46-38. But after a TCU timeout, Miles scored consecutive baskets to extend the lead to 12, and the Frogs weren’t threatened after that.

Newell, Monty Bowser and ND Okafor–Cal’s top three reserves–found the TCU defense especially limiting, likely due in part to the trio’s inexperience. They combined to miss eight of 11 shots in 51 minutes of floor time.

With Miles coming off the bench, TCU’s reserves outscored Cal’s 35-11.

“We got to get some more guys that can finish plays,” Fox admitted.

The Bears now face Clemson under daunting circumstances. After finishing their game near midnight, they’ll be back on the floor with the Tigers at 4:00 pm EST.

“We’re not absorbing the preparation quite like we want to right now anyway, so maybe a quick turnaround won’t impact us as much as it would if we were playing a little smarter,” Fox said.

Still Searching For A Win: Bears Fall to 0-3 with 64-62 loss at UC San Diego

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By Morris Phillips

The Golden Bears now have surprising losses to Division I newcomer UC San Diego in consecutive seasons.

And not only that: only four UCSD players returned from the 80-67 win in the season opener for both teams in Berkeley a year ago, so essentially Cal has fallen to two, different groups of Tritons.

The one constant? 6’3″ junior guard Bryce Pope.

Pope spearheaded the host’s first half surge that saw UCSD lead by as many as 18 points, then hold on for a 64-62 win. Last season, Pope laced Cal with 18 points on four threes. On Tuesday in front of a raucous, sellout crowd in La Jolla, Pope led the Tritons with 19 points including five 3-pointers, and the back breaker with 12 seconds remaining.

Coach Mark Fox didn’t like what he saw from his Bears early, as they dug themselves into a 28-10 hole, and in his opinion, didn’t follow the game plan.

“We did nothing that we wanted to do in the first half defensively,” Fox said.

At halftime, Fox admitted that he eschewed making changes, but simply asked his guys to play with greater attention to the original plan. And they did, cutting a 37-27 halftime deficit to one point twice in the game’s last three minutes. But the Bears never grabbed a lead, and they were sent home with a defeat when Pope connected from distance, increasing UC San Diego’s lead to 64-60 with 12 seconds left.

Devin Askew, who led Cal with 13 points, cut the lead in half with a driving layup, but he couldn’t connect on a desperation runner at the buzzer from 30 feet that would have given Cal the win.

Fox, beginning his fourth season as head coach, saw his record drop to 35-61, and he certainly didn’t come to Berkeley to be a conduit energizing other UC system schools. But that’s where he stands with an 0-5 record against UCLA, 0-2 against UC San Diego and a 2019 win against UC Davis, as well as an eye-opening loss 75-65 to the Aggies in this season’s opener.

His frustration was evident in post-game remarks on the Cal radio network.

“Does the bus have to run over you before you concentrate?” Fox said. “We played with much more purpose in the second half than we did in half number one.”

The Bears missed seven of their first eight shots, and committed eight turnovers in the game’s first eight minutes. Again, they played better approaching halftime, and during frantic, second half rally, but the desired result didn’t materialize.

Starters Lars Thiemann, Kuany Kuany and Grant Newell also scored in double figures for Cal, as that trio had an exemplary 18 of 21 performance from the foul line. But the Bears didn’t fare well defensively on the perimeter and they certainly missed Jalen Celestine, Jarred Hyder and DeJuan Clayton–all out with injuries–in that regard.

The Bears return home for a Friday night meeting with the Southern Jaquars from the SWAC conference in search of their first win.