Cal Basketball

Bears Fall To Butler At Home

By Cal Athletics

December 10, 2022

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BERKELEY – Grant Newell and Devin Askew scored 17 points apiece but California could not match a balanced Butler attack in a 82-58 loss on Saturday afternoon inside Haas Pavilion.

Simas Lukosius and Jayden Taylor both had 16 points and Eric Hunter Jr. had a double-double for the Bulldogs (8-3), who won their fourth straight game. Butler, which came into the game ranked 16th nationally shooting 49.7 percent, finished with a 55.2-percent clip (32-58) and never trailed. Cal (0-11) remains winless on the season.

The Bulldogs raced out to a 14-4 advantage and led 41-26 by halftime. Taylor drained a 3-pointer and it was 22-11 before Cal used a 9-2 run – fueled by five points from Askew and four from Newell – to get back within four, 24-20. A late 10-0 run by the Bulldogs stretched their lead back to double figures before they ultimately entered the intermission in front by 15.

Hunter scored Butler's first six points of the second half and Manny Bates made it 51-31 with a fastbreak dunk less than five minutes in. After Sam Alajiki hit a 3-pointer for the Golden Bears, Taylor's three-point play started a run of eight points and the lead stayed from 20-30 points the rest of the way.

Newell’s 17 points were a career-high and came on 7-of-13 shooting in what proved to be the best offensive effort of his young collegiate career. Askew, who returned after missing Wednesday’s game against Eastern Washington due to health and safety protocols, was 7-of-20 from the floor and logged a team-high 33 minutes. Lars Thiemann pulled down 10 rebounds but was stifled offensively with just four points on 1-of-5 shooting.

Cal finished 3-of-21 from 3-point range and shot just 35 percent overall.

UP NEXT

Cal will take a full week away from competition before taking a short trip south to face Santa Clara at 2 p.m. PST on Sunday, Dec. 18. It’s Cal’s third true road game of the season and the final contest away from home in the 2022 calendar year. The game will be streamed live on the WCC Network.