Tag: Jordan Shepherd

Withered In The Wasatch: Utah limits Cal in decisive 2nd half, wins 66-58

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By Morris Phillips

Things just got progressively more difficult for the Cal Bears in Salt Lake City on Sunday afternoon.

From realizing an early eight-point lead, then having to tussle to maintain some portion of that lead at the halftime break, the Cal Bears found resistance from host Utah almost immediately.

That pressure was ratcheted with Utah’s 10-0 run to take the lead four minutes into the second half, and it didn’t relent. Utah’s focus on stopping Cal’s top three offensive threats carried all the way through to the final horn, and a 66-58 Utes’ victory.

“We never found a rhythm in the second half,” coach Mark Fox said. “Our three-point shooting in the first half was good to us, and in the second half not so much. We have to have a more mature approach. We still had a possession late where we missed a couple of good threes that would have got it to a one-possession game.”

The Utes targeted Andre Kelly, Jordan Shepherd and Grant Anticevich for statistical close shaves, and they did a precise job, limiting the trio to 12 makes and no threes in a combined 33 shot attempts. Cal best offensive threats never got started–their teammates did, most notably Makale Foreman–and they certainly didn’t finish off anything.

Utah doubled Kelly in the post, which kept him to just six shot attempts. For Anticevich and Shepherd, the Utes were careful to stay attached, especially when either were looking to unleash a three.

“I don’t think we nearly demanded the ball well enough in the post,” Fox said of how his Bears reacted to Utah’s defensive approach. “I don’t think the post trap led us to a bunch of turnovers, but I don’t think we nearly executed with the authority that we need to on the offensive end to create advantages.”

The game’s progression told a simple tale: With Cal shut down in the paint, they initially made tough shots, especially Foreman who had eight of his 13 in Cal’s 26-18 start. But Foreman’s scoring ceased at halftime, and his teammates couldn’t follow his lead. The Bears missed all eight 3-point attempts and shot 29.6 percent after the break.

Both Gach led Utah with 19 points, six rebounds and Branden Carlson–a gametime decision with an ankle issue–started slow, but came up with 10 of his 12 after break, presumably when his injured ankle loosened up. Utah was 2 of 11 from three before the break, but much better with 6 of 14 afterwards.

“It wasn’t a fire and brimstone speech or anything like that at halftime,” Utah coach Craig Smith said. “But it was a matter-of-fact speech and we made a few adjustments with our screen and roll defense, which really helped us.”

The Utes avoided consecutive, home losses to start Pac-12 play, while Cal couldn’t surprise the entire West Coast with a 2-0 conference beginning after they were picked to finish 12th. Still, the early taste of league action was good for the Bears (4-5, 1-1) and their quiet confidence, and they’ll try to expand on it when they host Idaho State on Wednesday.

Bears In The Paint: Cal takes its case inside in 73-61 win over Oregon State

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Cal didn’t win the statistical battle in the painted area on Thursday night, but they showed up, and that really was the key to their eye-catching 73-61 victory over Oregon State in their Pac-12 opener.

Clinging to a one-point halftime lead, Cal open the second half with ten of the first 11 points, all scored in the paint, to take control of a close game. They would go on to lead by as many as 16 and win by 12, with Jordan Shepherd (25 points, eight rebounds) and Andre Kelly (20 points, 12 rebounds) leading the way.

“We were really ready to play,” coach Mark Fox said. “At the end of the night we won the game.”

The Bears being picked to finish last in conference, but finding a way to win their first Pac-12 outing is no doubt a story, but the Beavers dropping a seventh straight game may be more noteworthy. Oregon State was beat decisively on the glass, and couldn’t stop Cal’s top scorers while losing by double-digits for the third time in their seven-game skid.

The Bears outrebounded Oregon State 42-24, attempted 19 free throws, making 16 and scored 28 points in the paint. The Beavers tallied 40 points in the paint, but did little else well. Leading scorer Warith Alatishe had 21 points, eight rebounds, but his three fouls committed were painful. The first two of Alatishe’s fouls came late in the shot clock, and the third put Cal in the bonus too early in the second half, dooming a potential comeback by the visitors.

“We stayed composed,” Shepherd said, when asked about OSU’s late, modest run that brought them within 60-53 with 4:10 remaining.

Andre Kelly scored in double figures for the sixth time this season, and he’s shooting 67.5 percent from the floor. Kelly has double-digit rebounds in four of the eight games. In the second half Thursday, Kelly was six for seven as Cal shot 54 percent from the floor.

Oregon State missed 14 of its first 17 shots after halftime, and Cal closed it out by making nine of their 10 free throw attempts down the stretch. The Utes were limited to ten free throw attempts, making six.

Cal improved to 4-4 on the season, and they travel Salt Lake City on Sunday to face Utah Utes, beaten 93-73 by USC in their conference opener on Wednesday. The Utes have dropped two straight after a 5-0 start to their season. The Trojans saw four of their five starters score in double figures in the rout.

Cal Puts Hands On Fresno State: Defensive effort keys Bears’ 65-57 win at Haas

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Active hands, defensive intensity and limiting second chances, the Cal Bears had some admirable phrases attached to their performance against Fresno State on Sunday night.

And one more: salting it away late which the Bears did in getting past the Bulldogs, 65-57 at Haas Pavilion.

Jordan Shepherd scored 17 points, and the Bears used a 13-4 run with eight minutes remaining to pull away from Fresno State. The Bulldogs were forced into uphill mode from the outset, falling behind 11-2 then suffering a lackluster effort on the glass combined with some untimely turnovers.

“We didn’t do what we needed to do to score and make the stops that we needed to on the road,” Fresno State coach Justin Hutson said. “We didn’t play a mature game to be able to come out and get a win on the road in front of a crowd. We just didn’t get the job done tonight.”

Conversely, Cal was ready to go from the start, and backed their early lead with an inspired defensive effort that kept the Bulldogs off the foul line and held to a season-low 57 points. Fresno State shot 36 percent in the first half and 43 percent for the game.

Credited with just three offensive rebounds, Fresno State was kept from second opportunities, and they got burned on their 12 turnovers which Cal used to fashion a 15-4 edge on points off turnovers. Orlando Robinson, Fresno’s 7-foot, junior center led them with 25 points, nine rebounds, but he didn’t get a lot of help from his teammates combating the Bears in the paint.

Isiah Hill was the only other Bulldog to score in double-figures but he was held to 10 points, missing his nine of his 13 shots from the floor.

A 16-9 run to open the second half got the Bulldogs even at 37. But after the game was tied at 40, Cal responded with their run to put the game away as Grant Anticevich scored six of his 13 points as Cal went up 53-44 with 3:19 remaining.

Andre Kelly contributed 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting, and his scoring was instrumental in Cal’s fast start.

The Bears are 3-4 on the season after consecutive losses accumulated in Florida. Next, they open Pac-12 competition with a home game against Oregon State on Thursday, and a trip to Salt Lake City on Sunday to face the upstart Utah Utes.

The match-up with the Beavers undoubtedly gives Cal its most favorable scheduling break of the season thus far with Oregon State on a six-game losing streak, including consecutive losses to Tulsa, Samford and Princeton.

While the Bears may sense a team in disarray, Oregon State is simply a team defined by returning experience as well as a completely-retooled backcourt that has been outplayed in parts of the team’s seven games. OSU is poised for improvement sooner rather than later.

The Beavers may also sense something well: that the Bears, picked to finish last in conference, might be just what coach Wayne Tinkle’s team needs to see this Thursday in order to end a losing skid and open conference play in style.

Florida Sunshine Unkind: Hot-shooting Gators race past Cal, 80-60

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By Morris Phillips

The Cal Bears desperately needed to make it to halftime within striking distance with an opportunity to regroup. But the hot shooting Florida Gators wouldn’t let it happen.

No. 23 Florida closed the first half on an extended 33-12 run that saw them turn a two-point deficit into a 19-point halftime lead. The Gators cruised from there, winning 80-60 at the Fort Myers Tip-Off at Suncoast Credit Union Arena.

“Credit the guys, not the adjustments,” Florida coach Mike White said. “I thought our energy level picked up.”

“We just got overwhelmed the last eight minutes of the first half,” coach Mark Fox said. “They’re an excellent team, but we’re certainly very disappointed in how we played.”

The Bears needed a credible shooting performance and some measure of a grasp on their opponent’s explosive offense, but they got neither. The Gators made 54 percent of their threes and 14 of 15 free throw attempts before halftime. Offensively, the Bears struggled with Florida’s quickness that made passing lanes disappear soon after they opened.

Jordan Shepherd, Cal’s leading scorer was limited to 15 points in 28 minutes on the floor, and Andre Kelly, coming off a 29-point, 15-rebound effort against San Diego, was limited to four shot attempts, and finished with nine.

“We didn’t get the ball entered as cleanly as we would like to,” Fox admitted.

The Bears committed 18 turnovers, and shot 41 percent in the first half when the game was decided. If shooting threes was the Bears’ method to stay close it never materialized. They attempted just four, and made one before the half.

Colin Castleton, the UF spindly big man, led the Gators with 16 points, eight rebounds. Tyree Appleby had 15, with a perfect performance from the line (7 for 7). Myreon Jones added 13, and Phlandrous Fleming Jr. had 11 off the bench.

“He created those shots,” White said of Castleton. “Outside of him, being prolific on the block, I do think we shared and moved it pretty well.”

The Bears got eight points from Lars Thiemann, and seven from Jalen Celestine, with both players coming off the Cal bench.

These two schools with big-time graduate journalism programs aren’t big on visiting the other’s campus. It’s never happened. This meeting was the third in the series, and all three have taken place in neutral buildings around the holidays. Cal won both previous meetings at the 1986 Rainbow Shootout in Honolulu, and the 1988 Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage.

Cal concludes its Florida swing with a meeting with Seton Hall on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. The No. 21 Pirates lost the tournament opener, 79-76 to unranked Ohio State.