Cal Topped By Ole Miss In San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO – The California men's basketball team saw all five starters score in double figures but it could not slow down a hot-shooting Ole Miss in an 88-78 loss at Frost Bank Center on Saturday.
The Rebels (10-0) shot 57.1% (12 of 21) from 3-point range and 52.5% overall as they remained one of four unbeaten teams in the country. Cal (3-7), which lost its second straight game, never led in the neutral-site contest that was played as part of the 2023 Hall of Fame Series.
Jaylon Tyson scored a team-high 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting and Grant Newell had 13 points – including 10 in the first half – to go along with seven rebounds. Fardaws Aimaq recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Keonte Kennedy and Jalen Cone added 11 points apiece.
The Golden Bears reached 78 points for the third straight game and sixth time this season on 41.7% shooting, but trailed by double digits for the majority of the contest. Ole Miss jumped out to a 10-point advantage, 14-4, just over five minutes into the game. Cal cut its deficit to six, 28-22, on a 3-pointer by Tyson with 7:56 remaining in the first half, before the Rebels stretched it back to an 11-point difference by halftime.
"We got off to a slow start…if you throw that first six or seven minutes out, we're right there," Cal head coach Mark Madsen said. "We have to have a better start, we have to be more locked in to win that game."
Newell hit a 3-pointer and Tyson scored six straight points to fuel a 9-0 run that brought the Ole Miss lead back to single digits, 84-76, with 59 seconds to play before the Rebels put it away with four free throws by Jaemyn Brakefield, who finished with a game-high 27 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
The Bears were without Devin Askew (foot) for the seventh consecutive game and ND Okafor (leg), who did not play for the first time this season. Freshman Devin Curtis made his Cal debut off the bench.
Cal concludes nonconference play at home against UC San Diego on Wednesday, Dec. 20. Tipoff from Haas Pavilion is at 2 p.m. PST on the Pac-12 Network.