Bears’ Rally Falls Short At USC
LOS ANGELES – The California men’s basketball team cut a 17-point second-half deficit down to four before suffering an 82-74 loss at USC on Wednesday night at the Galen Center.
Jaylon Tyson’s 3-pointer with 29 seconds left pulled Cal (4-10, 0-3 Pac-12) within four points, 78-74, but it was the Golden Bears’ final basket of the night as Tyson and Rodney Brown Jr. missed one 3-pointer apiece in the final 16 seconds.
Tyson finished with a game-high 23 points on 10 of 16 shooting along with seven rebounds and three steals. Brown Jr. scored a career-high 13 points while Keonte Kennedy and Jalen Celestine had 13 and 11 points, respectively. Fardaws Aimaq, despite being held to single-digit points (7) for the first time all season, finished with a career-high eight assists, eight rebounds and three steals.
Celestine’s second 3-pointer of the night with 4:53 to go cut USC’s advantage to single digits. After Boogie Ellis knocked down a 3-pointer of his own to extend the Trojans’ lead back to 10 at the 2:37 mark, it was Celestine again who kept it a single-digit game by converting a three-point play on a layup. A fast-break dunk by Tyson made it a five-point contest with two minutes to go.
The Bears trailed 37-29 at halftime after knocking down just 3 of 13 attempts from beyond the arc. Celestine’s 3-pointer with 6:16 on the clock gave Cal a 24-22 lead, but the Trojans reeled off eight straight points after that and closed the half on a 15-5 run. Cal finished the game 12 of 31 from 3-point range after converting 9 of its 18 attempts in the second half.
Ellis had 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to pace USC (7-7, 1-2), which snapped a two-game skid. Kobe Johnson added 14 points, tying his career high with four 3-pointers, seven rebounds and five assists, while Bronny James scored 10 points off the bench. The Trojans collectively shot 53.2% from the floor and tallied 29 assists on their 33 made field goals.
Cal posted season highs with 21 assists and 10 steals.
The loss was Cal’s 11th straight against USC dating back to Jan. 4, 2018.
Cal’s trip to Los Angeles concludes at UCLA on Saturday. Tipoff inside Pauley Pavilion is at 7 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.