Bears Fall in Seattle, 64-55

It was a game of runs that saw the Bears trail by as many as nine in the first half, only to take the lead by nine to open the second half then lose by nine in the end, falling to 8-7 (3-2) Washington, 64-55 in Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion in Seattle tonight.

The game appeared early to be heading towards a potential rout after Washington took a 9-point lead at the 10-minute mark of the game on back-to-back Cole Bajima 3-point plays. The Bears struggled to find offensive rhythm and were frustrated by the aggressive play of guards Daejon Davis (6 steals) and Terrell Brown, Jr. (2 steals). The latter led tonight’s scoring with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the floor. Giving up 17 turnovers overall, the Bears clearly missed the ball handling of starting point guard Joel Brown, who was out due to illness.

The Huskies, who had been outrebounded by a margin of 10 rebounds per game this season were up three rebounds at that point, fueling their opening success. They finished the night with a decisive rebounding 32-23 margin.

Trailing at that point, 19-10, the Bears went on a run of their own, closing out the half on a 24-8 tear to put the Huskies on their heels. The run was started on a Grant Anticevich trey and aided a pair of threes by Jordan Shepherd and Kuany Kuany, three buckets by redshirt frosh Jalen Celestine (8 points, 3 rebounds) and a pair of jumpers by frosh Sam Alajiki (7 points, 3-3 from the field in 14 minutes), who was back after missing a pair of games to injury. The half ended on a Marsalis Roberson layup -the first points of the season for the frosh finally back from injury.

After an Anticevich (7 points) jumper pushed the Bears’ lead to a game-high nine, the Huskies began to slowly whittle the lead down.

After an Andre Kelly jumper gave Cal a 51-47 lead with 8:32 remaining, it was all but over for the Bears, as Washington went on a 15-0 run to seize control of the game. The bucket was one of just two made by Kelly as he struggled all night to overcome foul trouble and an aggressive Husky zone that denied him the ball and good looks.

Shepherd led the Bears in scoring with just 12 points -not a winning formula most games.

"We didn't play well in the second half," Cal head coach Mark Fox said. ''Our defense wasn't as good. We turned the ball over another eight times in the second half. And we couldn't score.''

After a loosely-called first half, the refs were whistle happy against the Bears much of the second half but strangely silent when it came to the aggressive Husky defense. Not until the 10:45 mark did the Bears even make it to the line, while UW went to the line a lopsided 21 times, making 16.

The loss sends the Bears to 9-8 (2-4) on the season. They will have three days to regroup before facing Washington State in Pullman at 1 pm on Saturday.

Related:

Bears Take on UW in Seattle Wednesday