In a game that almost got away from them more than once, the Cal men’s basketball team held off the stubborn Washington Huskies, 84-78,, at Haas Pavilion Saturday afternoon for its first Pac-12 win of the year.
Beating the disappointing Huskies (1-9, 0-5 Pac-12) might not be considered much of an accomplishment to some teams. But the Bears (6-7, 1-5) will take anything they can get.
For the second straight game, the Bears were without leading scorer Matt Bradley and before tip-off they announced that reserve forward Kuany Kuany was also injured and unavailable. Nothing is easy for the Bears these days.
“It was a hard-fought game,” coach Mark Fox said after the game. “Washington has had a tough start to the year, but they obviously have a talented team and that zone (defense)... they are so well-coached in it. They are a hard team to play. We were fortunate to get off to a good start in the first half,
“And in the second half, I was really proud of our team for responding when Washington came back and took the lead on us.”
Riding Andre Kelly’s inside work the Bears led by as many as 13 points early in the second half. But the Huskies tightened the screws on Kelly and began getting open looks against a suddenly porous Cal defense. They put together some runs, including an 11-0 spurt, caught the Bears, 50-50 at 12:59, and 30 seconds later Erik Stevenson hit a 3-pointer to put the Huskies ahead.
It went to-and-fro from there. This time firing from the outside, Cal got up by 9 with 6:25 left, Washington came back to pull even a couple of times the last at 75-75 with 2:18 left. That set up the deciding sequence. Freshman Joel Brown, who is not the Bears’ best long-range shooter, found himself at the top of the key, ignored by the UW defenders. Brown, who is becoming known for late-game exploits, knocked down a trey.
“In the limited offseason we had Joel worked very hard on his shooting,” Fox said. “It has paid dividends for us late in games. Teams guard our other 3-point shooters, but you can’t not guard him. If you don’t guard him he can make you pay.”
Chris Brown- USA Today
Andre Kelly scores
But Brown wasn’t done being a hero. On the other end Quade Green thought he had an open look, but Ryan Betley, better known for 3-point shooting than his defense, blocked the shot from behind, Brown picked up the loose ball and scurried toward the other end, He was fouled just as he made the layup. He missed the free throw but no matter. The Huskies got no closer than 3 in the remaining 90 seconds.
Washington coach Mike Hopkins came to Seattle four years ago from Syracuse and brought with him that zone that Jim Boeheim has been using for years to reach the NCAA Tournament. It’s an unusual look that’s not easy to prepare for.
In the first half the Bears were able to sneak the ball inside to Kelly, who baffled the Huskies front-liners with some nifty moves around the hoop. He made his first eight shots and finished the first period with 14 points as the Bears built a 40-32 lead at intermission. That margin grew to 13 when Kelly hit a short jumper, but the Bears couldn’t stand prosperity and this one went to the wire.
Whereas Kelly, who finished with 22 points, was the catalyst in the first half, the Bears attacked from the outside in the second. Betley (4-for-7) and Makale Foreman (4-for-9) kept the Bears alive with their 3-point shooting., They finished with 18 and 14 points respectively.
Grant Anticevich, in his second game since his appendectomy, was forced to play 29 minutes because of Kuany’s absence.
“I was really concerned about Grant today because he was really exhausted after that little bit he played the last game,” Fox said. “He showed a little bit of fatigue.”
Chris Brown- USA Today
Brown goes up for two
Although he scored just four points he grabbed six rebounds and was a solid defender.
The Husky who gave the Bears the most trouble was Stevenson, the transfer from Wichita State, who had been MIA thus far with a 3.8 points per game average. He exploded for 27 and was 6-for-9 from 3-point range
‘The Huskies came into the game averaging just 38 percent from the floor and 25 percent from long distance. Saturday they were 52.0 and 50.0 respectively.
Cal does seem to bring out the best in opposing shooters.
Fox had no update on when Bradley might be ready to play again. He was on the sidelines without crutches or a walking boot, so he is improving.
