Tag: Joel Brown

Cal Competes: Regular season concludes with painful 69-66 loss at Oregon State

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By Morris Phillips

Cal’s 15 consecutive losses haven’t often been competitive or engaging. That wasn’t the case on Saturday in Corvallis, where the Bears built a substantial lead that held up throughout the game’s first 27 minutes.

The Bears led by as many as 16 points and took their final lead with 29 seconds remaining. But the visitors came up empty on their final, two possessions in a 69-66 loss to Oregon State.

“A heartbreaking loss,” Cal coach Mark Fox said. “I feel awful for everybody because they did everything we asked them to do.”

Oregon State snapped a four-game losing streak but had to dig deep to prevail. The Beavers trailed 32-16 late in the first half.

“It was all Cal,” coach Wayne Tinkle said. “They were focused, and I think they knocked us back and caused a little cloudiness early.”

The loss mattered little in regards to Cal’s seeding for the conference tournament that begins Wednesday in Las Vegas. The Bears will open the tournament against Arizona State or red-hot Washington State as the 12th seed.

The game was physical throughout and whistle-filled. That allowed the hosts to recover with 24 of 29 shooting from the foul line that brought them even with 13 minutes remaining. The game became a see-saw affair at that point, with both teams afforded opportunities to seize control. Oregon State’s biggest lead of 64-61 with 2:03 remaining was immediately wiped out as Cal scored five of the next six points, capped by Grant Newell’s jumper with 29 seconds left.

Michael Rataj scored to put OSU in front with 15 seconds left, and Cal saw the same game lost as Sam Alajiki stepped out of bounds with nine seconds remaining and Joel Brown, who led Cal with 22 points, missed a wild 3-pointer at the final buzzer.

Glenn Taylor Jr. paced OSU with 28 points, and Jordan Pope added 17.

Cal falls to Washington State 63-57 but remains optimistic in the season’s final days

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–A streak-ending win on Senior Night wasn’t achievable for the Cal Bears.

But that wasn’t the punchline to season-concluding joke. The 3-26 hosts competed hard until seven minutes remained before they ran out of gas in a 63-57 loss to Washington State.

“Obviously, we didn’t get the win, but we made a lot of strides, and going forward we’ve got two games next week,” senior Joel Brown said. “I think there’s a lot of energy and positivity that we can grab from this.”

Cal fell for the 13th consecutive time since January 6 and need a win in their final, three games to avoid setting a new, program-worst season record.

Two regular season games remain at Oregon and Oregon State and an opening round contest in the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas. Optimism within the team remains with hopes they can win at least once more.

“For the whole team it’s a tough situation with the record, but I’ve learned a lot just looking myself in the mirror and just understanding, I’m playing basketball . . . this is what I love doing,” Brown said.

When asked if he had any discussions regarding his future with Cal, coach Mark Fox said he had not, while saying he and Athletic Director Jim Knowlton speak frequently, and Fox considers Knowlton to be an ally.

Fox fell to 38-84 in his four seasons in Berkeley, and it’s widely assumed he won’t be retained.

The Bears trailed 29-26 at halftime and were within 46-44 with 7:24 remaining when they could get no closer. A 7-0 run for the Cougars created separation and put the visitors in position for a fifth straight win.

Mohamed Gueye led WSU with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and TJ Bamba added 19. Brown led Cal with 13 points, nine rebounds, and Kuany Kuany added 11.

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.

A Win For Cal: Bears blow past UT-Arlington for their first win of the season

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–The Bears have a win, but they still have a conference schedule to attack as well, so the end of the longest losing skid was partnered with the briefest of celebrations.

“It’s been a tough start, obviously, and they deserve to get a reward,” Fox said.

The Bears’ 73-51 win over Texas-Arlington on Wednesday afternoon brought to an end a saga that defined the team for the first half of their schedule and needed to end before the wins get even more elusive during Pac-12 play.

Simply, the Bears don’t want the streak to define them, so they enter Christmas break with the purpose of being prepared for Utah a week from Thursday.

A one-win team can’t exhale with so much of their season still to play.

Missing Devin Askew because of an ankle injury didn’t prevent Cal’s fast start in which they led by nine at halftime, and pushed their advantage to 22 with 11 minutes remaining.

Joel Brown reprised his role as the team’s aggressive scorer by attacking the basket with tremendous results. Brown introduced himself in Cal’s most recent loss at Santa Clara, and he picked it up on Wednesday.

Brown and Lars Thiemann led the Bears with 17 points each, and Kuany Kuany added 16.

UT-Arlington allowed 57 percent shooting to Cal, the highest number the Mavericks allowed this season. Shemar Wilson led the visitors with 14 points, 11 rebounds.

“This is about as disappointed as I’ve been after a game all season,” UTA coach Greg Young said. “We have to get more mature. We didn’t handle success well after the win at San Francisco, and we didn’t play hard enough tonight.”

0-12: Cal still winless after an encouraging 71-62 loss at Santa Clara

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By Morris Phillips

The Bears found more contributors, but the expanded mix didn’t add up to an elusive first win.

Cal returned to the hardwood after an eight-day break for final exams but couldn’t pass their test at Santa Clara, falling 71-62 to the Broncos.

Cal (0-12) is now the only winless team in 363-member Division I, and their 15-game losing streak dates back to February.

The Bears were competitive early but went quiet offensively in the five minutes before halftime, then finished the game without leading scorer Devin Askew, who suffered an ankle injury.

“We had a little drought at the end of the half that we didn’t recover from,” coach Mark Fox said.

The Bears trailed 34-25 at the break and by as many as 13 early in the second half before rallying to gain some competitiveness with the host Broncos.

Eight Bears scored in the first half, and a season-best nine scored in the game led by Joel Brown’s 13 points. Five Cal players made a 3-pointer, but ultimately Santa Clara’s 47 percent shooting from the floor was too much to overcome.

“Our defense has to get better. We’re just giving up percentages we can’t withstand,” Fox said.

Brandin Podziemski, the sophomore transfer from Illinois, led all scorers with 20 points. Santa Clara also got 17 from rim-running big man Parker Braun on 8 of 9 shooting and 13 from Keshawn Justice.

Afterwards, SCU coach Herb Sendek lauded Podziemski for his play at both ends, including taking charges that resulted in offensive fouls on Brown and Sam Alajiki in the game’s final minute as well as picking up his defensive intensity when teammate Jaden Bediako was limited to 13 minutes due to foul trouble. Bediako’s misfortune gave opportunities to reserves Camaron Tongue and Jacob Holt, and they delivered for the hosts as well.

“It’s so great to see a total team effort because that’s the nature of our sport,” Sendek said. “That’s the beauty of what we’re blessed to have an opportunity to do.”

Can Cal break through and win one with so much scrutiny and focus on their troubled, injury-marred season? Consider this: the Bears will likely be favored to win in their final non-conference game on Wednesday at Haas Pavilion against Texas-Arlington. After that, conference play will mean far more capable opponents with NCAA and NIT aspirations.

Over the weekend, UCLA, USC, and Arizona scored huge wins against ranked Southeastern Conference opponents in Kentucky, Auburn, and Tennessee. Utah, Arizona State, Colorado, and Washington have eye-opening, non-conference wins as well, and Oregon State is vastly improved and clearly ahead of the Bears at this point as well.

Whatever Cal gets in Pac-12 play will be hard-earned.

Rough Road: Cal comes up short after halftime again, loses 65-57 at WSU

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By Morris Phillips

The road trip that causes the most headaches in the Pac-12 starts in Seattle on a Thursday and leaves you feeling unsettled in Pullman, Washington on Saturday afternoon.

Bad weather, rough flight, slick roads and a quirky opponent in a mostly empty arena throw you off balance, and likely the Washington Huskies shook your confidence as well. Conference ballclubs aren’t at their best after going through the Northwest curveball machine.

The Bears were the latest testees who survived the first half, but finally slipped late in the second, losing 65-57 to Washington State. Cal was swept for the second weekend in a row and had issues trying to score in all four losses. On Saturday, coach Mark Fox was disappointed with the team’s rebounding, and not limiting the Cougars’ opportunities.

“I think it’s the third game in a row on the road where we had the lead at the half and we talked about trying to close it and finish it, and we just didn’t defensive rebound,” Cal coach Mark Fox said. “We forced some misses, we gave up a rebound on free throw that cost us three.”

The back breaking sequence came with 2:52 and WSU’s Michael Flowers at the foul line shooting one-and-one. Flowers missed the first one but WSU rebounded and swung the ball to Flowers for an open three that he buried, extending the lead to five.

“We just didn’t do the right things to close the game in the second half,” Fox said.

Cal scored just 10 points after Andre Kelly got them even at 47 with 9:19 remaining. Flowers contributed 11 of his 13 points in the second half, and Andrej Jakimovski paced the Cougars with 18 points.

In seven of Cal’s nine losses–and three of the last four games–they’ve scored 60 points or fewer.

Cal starting guard Joel Brown attempted to fly from the East Bay to Pullman on Saturday morning after he cleared COVID restrictions that left him home isolation for seven days. Brown arrived after the game started and played just one minute when it became apparent he couldn’t ramp it up after a week without physical activity or basketball.

“You just take a roll of the dice and say, ‘Is it going to be like he can just step in here and we keep rolling?'” Fox said. “And you can tell he wasn’t ready and out of synch and understandably so.”

Shepherd led Cal with 17 points, Kelly had 12 and a season-best 14 rebounds.

The Bears return home to Haas Pavilion to face No. 6 Arizona on January 23 at noon.

Cal more competitive but too repetitive in 76-70 rematch loss to Stanford

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By Morris Phillips

In order to make the most idiotic tip time in televised sports history make any kind of sense, the Cal Bears had to do one thing:

Stay competitive with Stanford for the first 15 minutes of Sunday night’s game, enough time for Tom Brady to accept his latest Super Bowl MVP trophy and then have insatiable sports fans (and gamblers) turn their attention to the Bay rivalry and–with Cal making a game of it–keep their attention.

Guess what? At roughly 7:45pm PST, the Bears were doing their part.

And then they weren’t.

Tied at 22 with 4:24 remaining before halftime–after Joel Brown’s high-difficulty flip in at the rim–Cal went to a dark place, not unlike Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. A 22-4 run spanning the halves put the visiting Bears in an insurmountable hole, with the result, a 76-70 loss that a got a prettier final score in the frantic, final two minutes.

In a repeat of Thursday’s loss at Haas Pavilion, the Bears were overmatched inside where Stanford scored 42 of their first 66 points in the paint on drives, dump-ins with a few dunks mixed in between. With Cal’s defense providing little resistance, a late run and a spirited effort was rendered as a footnote.

“Our defense is not at the level it needs to be to win, especially on the road,” coach Mark Fox said.

“We just can get enough stops consecutively to get us over the hump.”

Stanford made 60 percent of their shots over the first 30 minutes of the game before finishing at 58 percent. In what is now a six-game losing streak for the Bears–the longest skid under Fox–their opponent made at least half their shots from the floor for the fourth consecutive game.

Worse was Cal’s rudder less offense which shot 37 percent after a 36 percent mark on Thursday. The Bears again settled more often than not, with no free throws attempts in the first half and 16 misses from 3-point range.

An 11-4 edge in offensive rebounds for Cal seemed impressive, but ultimately it just added to their missed shot total.

“I thought we played hard,” Fox said. “It’s the intelligence we have to attach to that effort.”

That effort showed in the final two minutes when Cal cut a 15-point deficit to six, but even that push had to do with Stanford missing just enough free throws to irritate bettors who had Stanford minus 10.

Matt Bradley led Cal with 15 points. Jarred Hyder had 13 (in his best scoring output as a Bear), Ryan Betley and Brown added 12 each.

Oscar da Silva, the Pac-12’s leading scorer, led Stanford with 19 points.

Cal hosts Utah–the last team they beat three weeks ago in Salt Lake City–on Thursday afternoon.

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Cal blows double-digit lead in search of their first Pac-12 win, loses Bradley to injury

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By Morris Phillips

Oregon State trailed Cal for 32 minutes Saturday afternoon but finished the game on a 10-1 run to beat the visiting Bears, 73-64.

The surprising outcome in which Cal blew a 11-point lead with less than 17 minutes remaining to remain winless in Pac-12 competition at 0-4 came amid the backdrop of COVID absences for Oregon State and the early departure of Cal’s leading scorer Matt Bradley with an ankle injury.

“We really had a difficult time without Matt,” said coach Mark Fox, who watched Bradley limp off three minutes before halftime. “Even though we played without him a week ago, it’s little harder against Pac-12 competition. That being said, if we make our free throws, we win the game. So disappointed in our performance at the free-throw line, and obviously in the second half we didn’t play nearly as well as we need to play to win on the road.”

The Bears shot 63 percent in establishing a 36-26 halftime lead, but saw their shooting cool considerably in the second half. More damaging was Cal’s defense which allowed 43 of OSU’s 73 points in the final 17 minutes, and their awful free throw shooting (14 of 28).

Ethan Thompson led OSU with 16 points. Maurice Calloo added 14 points, all of which came after halftime. Calloo’s third 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining increased the Beavers’ lead to 68-63.

Oregon State played without center Roman Silva and three assistant coaches due to COVID protocols which left the Beavers thin inside and head coach Wayne Tinkle no coaches to interact with. The COVID issues caused OSU’s game against Stanford on Thursday to be postponed until this Monday afternoon.

Makale Foreman, Andre Kelly and Jarred Hyder each tallied 12 points to lead Cal (5-6, 0-4). Foreman’s 3-pointer got Cal even, 63-63 with 3:22 remaining but Cal would manage just one made free throw after that as OSU took control.

The Bears lost for the second time at Gill Coliseum, having lost to the Beavers on November 25 in a hastily-arranged non-conference game. This one was much more competitive, but left greater frustration. The Bears likely will be without their top two scorers, Bradley and Grant Anticevich (appendectomy) for an indefinite period. Along with their issues against conference teams, they could be in for a continued rough stretch.

“It’s a challenge at both ends,” Fox said.

The Bears return to Berkeley with games against the Washington schools in the coming week.

REVISITING CAL’S RECENT PAST: The Bears welcomed Coach Mark Fox less than two years ago. At the same time, former coach Wyking Jones, and scholarship athletes Justice Sueing, Connor Vanover and Darius McNeill departed.

Two seasons prior to that shakeup coach Cuonzo Martin accepted a significant raise to coach the Missouri Tigers and leave Cal.

So what’s everybody up to?

On Saturday Martin’s 12th-ranked Tigers visited Arkansas, Vanover’s landing spot under coach Eric Musselman. Missouri kept things rolling with a 81-68 win to improve to 7-1. Martin’s fourth season in Columbia appears to be his best yet with the Tigers ranked and looking to make a second NCAA tournament appearance after two losing seasons.

And Vanover? Well he suffered his worst game, shooting 0 for 11 with just four points from the foul line. The 7’3″ center is averaging 9.6 ppg in 20 minutes for the Razorbacks.

After starting at Cal, McNeill is coming off the bench at SMU. The Mustangs have played just six games due to COVID issues, and McNeill missed one of those, but he had his best game earlier this week against Temple with 17 points.

Sueing saw action in all 63 games as a freshman and sophomore at Cal, averaging 14 ppg shooting 43 percent from the floor. But he seems better situated at No. 25 Ohio State as a starter on a far better and more balanced team scoring 11 ppg with 50 percent shooting. His minutes are down, but his wins are way up. In two seasons at Cal, Sueing, Vanover and McNeill were 16-47 with 31 Pac-12 losses.

Jones, the coach of those two Cal teams, remains on the sidelines, opting not to take any other coaching jobs after being let go by Cal with one season remaining on his deal.

No. 21 Oregon methodically (and patiently) dismantles Cal, 82-69

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By Morris Phillips

The Oregon Ducks don’t have a center or frontline size typical of Power 5 teams. They also don’t have a traditional point guard. And they came into Thursday’s contest with Cal lacking continuity as their previous game against UCLA was canceled due to COVID concerns.

What they do have is loads of talent directed by record-setting coach Dana Altman, which makes them a problem, an assessment with which the Bears would certainly agree.

The Ducks afforded Cal some open looks early which translated into one seven-point lead in the first half and a four-point lead early in the second half. But that was it, after Cal’s second lead the No. 21 Ducks responded in a big way while coasting to a 82-69 win.

“I thought the first half we played really confidently and we competed well throughout the night,” Bears coach Mark Fox said. ”In the second half, we just had a drought. We put so much pressure on our defense.”

Matt Bradley returned to the Cal lineup after missing two games and put up an efficient 21 points to pace his team. But as the game progressed Oregon’s defense did too, eventually shutting down Bradley and others while forcing a slew of turnovers, with nine of Cal’s 17 giveaways after halftime.

Eugene Omoruyi was the central figure in discombobulating Cal with five steals to go with a game-best 26 points. Despite being listed at 6’6″, Omoruyi was dominant inside, setting up shop near the baseline and attacking Cal at the basket relentlessly, so much so Cal’s 7-foot center Lars Thiemann fouled out in just 18 minutes of floor time.

“I thought Eugene did a lot of good things and the five steals – his activity there was really good,” said head coach Dana Altman. “He was really unstoppable inside.”

Without size or an offensive catalyst, the Ducks rely on their defense to create a bunch of good things. That took place Thursday, it just took basically a half to materialize which may have been due to the Ducks’ unusually long 11-day layoff.

Over the final 12:45, Oregon stretched their narrow lead to 13 while limiting Cal to 20 points.

The Ducks won for the 27th consecutive time at Matthew Knight Arena, and beat Cal for the eight consecutive time dating back to February 2016. Altman kept his name moving up the all-time wins list for coaches with his 676th in 31 plus seasons at the Division I level. Next up in 22nd place with 677 wins, Altman will equal former Cal coach Mike Montgomery.

The Bears (5-5, 0-3) next play at Oregon State on Saturday, a team they’ve already lost to this season in early December. The Bears have a ceiling to break through with conference losses to Arizona State, UCLA and Oregon along with the loss to OSU that doesn’t count in the Pac-12 standings.

Cal gets past Seattle U. in the game’s final minutes, 70-65

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Handpicked opponents with balky jump shots and limited confidence delivered to your main gym entrance at a moment’s notice?

Well, this isn’t Grubhub or Uber Eats, the Golden Bears can testify to that.

Instead of skating through the promenade entrance of the Conte Forum on the Boston College campus in near freezing temperatures, the Cal Bears heeded the words of their local medical experts, and spent Tuesday afternoon close to home at Haas Pavilion. After canceling with BC, the Redhawks from Seattle agreed to be Cal’s opponent in a hastily arranged matchup.

However, the Redhawks didn’t agree to be pliable or vulnerable–anything but.

Coach Jim Hayford saw his Redhawks lead for the game’s first 33 minutes only to go scoreless for five of the final six minutes allowing Joel Brown and the Bears to seize control in a 70-65 win.

“It came right down to the last four minutes and you have to credit Joel Brown,” Hayford said. “His two threes were clutch and  at the end of the shot clock after we played really good defense. He made the two winning plays that really were the difference in this game.”

The Bears again played without leading scorers Matt Bradley and Grant Anticevich. That meant others had to step up and Brown, Kuany Kuany along with Ryan Betley answered the call.

Betley led the Bears with 17 points, but Kuany’s contribution (11 points tying his career best) was a welcome surprise as was Brown’s star turn down the stretch.

With the shot clock almost expired, Brown hit a 3-pointer to put Cal up 60-59 with 3:31 remaining. Then after both teams fell into neutral offensively for several possessions, Brown struck again with a three that put Cal up 63-59 with 2:01 remaining.

“Those were huge baskets for us, no question about it,” coach Mark Fox said of Brown.

Brown’s baskets were part of a 10-0 run that saw the Bears go from down two to up eight with 31 seconds to go.

In the closing run, reliable Redhawks Riley Grigsby (20 points, son of former Cal standout Alfred Grigsby), Emeka Udenyi (prepped at De La Salle Concord) and Darrion Trammell (St. Ignatius San Francisco) missed big shots, ending what had been an impressive afternoon for the trio.

The Bears (5-4, 0-2) are over .500 for the first time in over a year. They next see action on New Years Eve at Oregon in a matchup with the conference favorite Ducks.