Bears Sweep NC State, Roll to 74-62 Win in Berkeley
BERKELEY - The Bears picked up a much-needed win in Berkeley Wednesday night, completing the season sweep over NC State with a 74-62 win at Haas Pavilion. Point guard Jovan Blacksher led the Bears with 18 points, including four 3s and no turnovers in the Bears’ win. The Bears also got 14 from frosh PG Jeremiah Wilkinson and 13 from Josh Ola-Joseph on a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor.
"It was a hard fought game, both sides," Cal head coach Mark Madsen said after the win. "NC State has guys that really play hard. They play the right way. They're scrappy. They press you, they defend you. I was proud of our guys. It's a game of runs. Both teams made runs. I was proud of our guys for kind of stepping up the defense played in the game."
The Bears also won the battle of the boards, outrebound NC State, 44-32. They also saw one of their best assist nights of the season with 16, with seven players getting in on the assist action. Cal also took care of the ball with just 8 turnovers on the night.
Both teams started slowly, with both teams missing 5 of their first 6 shots until Wilkinson drilled a 3 for the Bears’ first points 3:20 into the game to go up 3-2.
At the 7 minute mark, the Bears went on a 7-0 run on a pair of Blacksher free throws and a 3 followed by a Sissoko dunk to go up, 15-10. The Bears also had a 6-0 later in the half and traded 3’s with NC State to close out the half, with guard Trey Parker hitting an off balance trey with 6 seconds left and Blacksher answered with a buzzer beating 3 at the other end to give the Bears a 34-30 lead at the break.
Blacksher had his best half of the season, converting 4-of-7 from the floor and 3-of-5 from the arc along with 4-for-4 from the line for 15. Wilkinson also added 8 with a pair of 3’s in the opening stanza.
The Bears again came out of the locker room cold, hitting only 3 of their first 13 shots before a Rytis Petraitis 3 followed by a Josh Ola-Joseph 3 to give the Bears a 50-46 lead after falling behind early in the half for the first time since the opening minutes, surrendering several easy layups to the Wolfpack.
The back-to-back treys started a decisive 28-11 run for the Bears, including a 10-point run that featured a pair of 3’s from Blacksher and Ola-Joseph to put the Bears up 15 at 72-57 with 1:37 remaining to put the Bears firmly in control.
The Bears will next face off against fifth place Wake Forest (18-5/9-3) Saturday at 2 pm at Haas Pavilion. Cal moves to 12-11 (5-7) after the win, putting them in a ninth place tie with Florida State, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.