I went and it was a great game by both teams.
I predict it will be the best game of the year!
Go Bears!
I predict it will be the best game of the year!
Go Bears!
Photo by Cal Athletics
Cal Basketball
Resilient Bears Take Down UNLV in OT
Elijah Mitrou-Long pulled down a rebound and Amauri Hardy drove to the bucket, scoring at the rim to put UNLV up 65-56 over the Bears with 5:58 to go. The air deflated from Haas Pavilion and it felt like the Cal’s men’s hoops team was falling into last season’s woes — a stagnant offense and a defense prone to lapses.
But Cal clamped down, and only allowed UNLV’s Runnin Rebels two more points the rest of the game, while rattling off 11 of their own to tie the game at 67 and push it into overtime. The Bears had a chance to win it in regulation as Paris Austin ran the length of the court in 3.6 seconds but his floater in the lane went off the back of the rim. Cal jumped out to a 5-0 run in the extra period and then held on, winning the game 79-75 on Tuesday night.
“That was a hard-fought game. That was a great college basketball game,” Head Coach Mark Fox said after the game. “We beat a very-well coached UNLV team. A team that was very determined throughout the night to win. I was proud of our kids’ competitive endurance. To keep playing. To play through some mistakes and make plays.”
Sophomore guard Matt Bradley led the Bears in scoring for the second game in a row, getting 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field. While his three-point shooting cooled compared to last week’s game against Pepperdine (3-of-7 tonight), Bradley found other ways to score and went 6-of-8 from the line. Three other Bears ended up in double-digits. Kareem South added 14 points on 5-for-13 shooting. Freshman Joel Brown went 3-for-3 from the three-point line and added 12 points. Brown made a huge three with 4:03 to go to bring the Bears within three points at 65-62. Paris Austin also added 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
For the first time this season, Juhwan Harris-Dyson played and made his impact known early on a very nice drive and dunk with 2:41 to go in the first half, putting the Bears up 34-33. Harris-Dyson ended up with two blocks and two steals in 21 minutes and was the defensive presence we expected to see this season.
At the end of the first half, the Bears trailed 40-38, despite shooting 63% from the field including 44.4% from the three-point line. UNLV also torched the net, shooting 59.3% overall from the field and 57.1% from three. UNLV also went 4-for-8 from the free-throw line while the Bears didn’t attempt a single free-throw.
“I told the kids at halftime the first team to play defense wins,” Fox said after the game.
It was the Bears that ratcheted up the defense, particularly late in the game when Fox switched to a zone. After forcing just one turnover in the first half and coughing up five, the Bears forced 11 turnovers in the second half (and one in overtime) compared to just five of its own, which Fox said was the key to the second-half.
“I think down the stretch we were very locked in. We forced deflections,” graduate transfer guard Kareem South said after the game.
Coming into the game, junior guard Amauri Hardy had averaged 21 points, but the Bears held him to 15 points — and just four in the second half and overtime — on six-of-19 shooting.
The Bears have a fairly quick-turnaround and will play Cal Baptist this Friday also at Haas Pavilion. It’s officially the first game of the 2K Empire Classic. Cal Baptist is 2-1 on the season and is coming off a 67-54 loss on the road to Texas.
Other notes from the post-game presser:
Fox said Paris Austin missed two or three practices this week with an injury. “He’s not 100%.”
“When it was the moment of truth, we locked in and got stops.” - South on Cal’s defense down the stretch
“It was a great win, especially on my birthday. I’m happy that we won together.” - Brown on winning on his birthday
“It was great just knowing you have another person out there.” - Brown on Juhwan Harris-Dyson’s presence
“’Wan, just like Joel said, he’s a spark-plug.” - South on Harris-Dyson
“I think this is what’s going to shape our identity, just our toughness.” - South on coming back from a nine-point deficit late in the game.
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