Bears Pummel Santa Clara, 84-69

HAAS PAVILION - The Bears got a big boost with the return of Memphis portal transfer guard Keonte Kennedy in his Bears’ debut as the Bears easily handled a talented Santa Clara team with an 84-69 win in Berkeley. The Bears were led by guard Jalen Cone who went for 26 on 8-for-11 from the field and an unstoppable 7-for-10 from 3.

"It was just electrifying to be able to be out there with my teammates again," Kennedy said. "I feel like I bring that energy mentality. That's all it was, just playing hard, just playing with my teammates. It was Jaylon Tyson's birthday so I was just excited we got that win."

"Keonte worked so hard to get through that injury," head Coach Mark Madson said after the game. "He's been diligent. He was cleared ahead of time by the surgeon. And I think a lot of that has to do with our training staff. A lot of that has to do with Keonte just the way he works. But I was really proud of everybody, the guys who played, the guys that didn't play with the energy on the bench, and hopefully we can continue to play this way and build on it."

The Broncos came in at 7-1 with wins over Stanford and Oregon but were without leading scorer and rebounder Carlos Marshall, who has averaged 15.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. No stranger to playing shorthanded in much greater numbers themselves, expect no compassion from the win-starved Bears and their fans.

The Bears came out of the gate with an intensity on both ends of the court that’s been lacking much of the season. After the Broncos took a 10-9 lead on a 3-point jumper by forward Johnny O’Neil, the Bears went on a 13-0 run on a pair of 3’s from Cone and Tyson, a bucket and-1 from center Fardaws Aimaq and a pair of layups from Grant Newell and Rodney Brown to go up 23-9 with 11:54 remaining in the half.

Cone was a first half spark for the Bears, hitting a scalding 4-of-5 from the perimeter and finishing the half with a trio of free throws after being hacked on an off-balance 3-point attempt to push the Bears’ lead to 17. A final-minute trey from Santa Clara guard Adama-Alpha Bal narrowed the halftime lead to 14 with the Bears up 45-31 at the break.

The Bears maintained their intensity out of the break as they quickly built their lead to 17, including a 3 and a layup from Cone, who stayed hot. After the Broncos whittled the lead down to 11 with 13:15 left, the Bears went on a 7-point run and extended their lead to 18 with 11:13 remaining. Not ready to lay down, Santa Clara went on a 7-point run of their own as the Bears aided their rally with some sloppy ball-handling and turnovers to again cut the Bears’ lead to 11. 

After a pair of Kennedy free throws, in danger of letting their win opportunity dissipate, Cal fans tensely watched Santa Clara rally with a pair of layups and a three from center Christoph Tilly to narrow the Cal lead to 6 with 7:37 left in the game.

Again the Bears staved off the rally, with Tyson hitting a pair of critical buckets with a 3 and a layup in traffic followed by an Aimaq layup and another Cone three. Suddenly, the Bears found themselves with a 16-point lead again in a span of less than 3 minutes with their 10-point run with 3:27 left. A pair of Kennedy free throws and a thundering Grant Newell dunk extended the run to 14 and the Bears’ lead to a game-high 20 before a Tyeree Bryan 3 ended the run.

If there was any doubt about Kennedy’s health, an explosive one-handed dunk in the final minute over a defender quickly dispelled that notion.

Despite a height advantage with contributing post players of 7’1, 7’0 and 6’11, the Bears hung in on the boards, being narrowly outrebounded 40-39.

Aimaq had a solid game, contributing 15 points on 7-for-15 shooting while often disrupting the Broncos’ shots. Tyson had a his best game of the season, adding 21 points on 8-for-12 from the floor along with 11 rebounds, 2 assists and no turnovers. Overall, the Bears took care of the ball much better than they have so far this season with only 8 turnovers. They only forced 10 Santa Clara TOs but they made them count, scoring 17 points off the giveaways.

The win brings the Bears to 3-5 on the season. They will next face a tough 6-2 Butler squad at noon in the fabled Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis at 2 pm PST.