Cal stumbles in second half against Arizona
On Thursday, Cal men’s basketball fell to Arizona by a final score of 68-52. Arizona freshman forward Zeke Nnaji led the way for the Wildcats with 21 points and 5 rebounds while Cal sophomore guard Matt Bradley was the top performer for the Golden Bears with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Arizona improves to 17-7 overall and 7-4 in the Pac-12 while Cal falls to 10-14 overall and 4-7 in the Pac-12.
“Arizona has a, they have a very good team,” Cal head coach Mark Fox said after the game. “A team that’s in the top 50 in the country in their defense, they’re in the top 20 in the country in their offense, and they have excellent talent across their lineup and Sean’s done a really good job putting his team together and I think they have a chance to be honest with you, to really have a great run. We didn’t play well enough to compete with a team like that tonight and just the margin for error versus a team that’s that good on both ends is very slim and we obviously didn’t play well enough to give ourselves a chance.”
“Hats off to Arizona, they’re a really good team,” Bradley added. “Defensively they’re long and athletic and I had to work hard for every point. Everything I did and they’re a good team. Hats off to them.”
Cal got off to an 8-7 lead with 15:00 to go in the 1st half. Matt Bradley had 5 points early for Cal while Paris Austin made a tricky 3-pointer to beat the shot clock. Cal was shooting 3-6 from the field while Arizona was shooting 2-6. It was a solid start for Cal.
The game became a bit choppy over the next few minutes as Arizona led 11-8 with 11:04 to go in the half. Arizona was shooting 3-10 from the field, 1-5 from 3-point range, and 4-6 at the foul line. Cal already had 4 turnovers, shooting 3-9 from the field and 2-5 from deep. They were yet to get to the foul line, needing to do more to get in the bonus.
With 6:05 to go in the half, Arizona was up 19-13. Bradley led all scorers with 8 points after a filthy crossover/3-pointer. Grad transfer Stone Gettings was leading the charge for Arizona with 5 points. Arizona would go up by nine points (23-14) with 4:06 to go in the half thanks to a scoring drought from Cal. Cal had 0 made field goals in the last 3:42, leading to a quick timeout from Fox.
“I think for us it starts with defense,” Austin said of their low scoring. “We get the stops on defense and it leads to our offense. It gives everybody motivation. It gives everybody that extra drive when we get a stop. It just helps us more on offense, I feel like.”
Fox’s timeout paid off as Cal trimmed Arizona’s lead to five points (25-20) with 54.9 to go. Andre Kelly and Kareem South both got pretty finishes inside to get Cal going. At halftime, Arizona would lead 27-20. Nnaji led Arizona with 6 points and 2 rebounds while Bradley led Cal with 8 points and 2 rebounds. All things considered, Cal should have been feeling fortunate to be within single digits.
With 15:41 to go, Arizona was up 33-28. Bradley was up to 10 points for Cal while Austin had 6 points. They were keeping Cal in the game. It was still a committee effort from Arizona as Nnaji was their leading scorer with 6 points.
Cal would get things to within one point (33-32) with 13:52 to go after Joel Brown found Grant Anticevich for a corner jumper. Anticevich was up to 4 points after having not scored at all in the 1st half. Cal was in need of more from him. Especially from the perimeter.
That would be the closest Cal would get all night as Arizona would go on a 7-0 run to lead 40-32 with 11:46 to go. Dylan Smith got a 3-pointer to fall for Arizona, forcing Cal to call for time. With 7:48 to go, Arizona led 51-39. By this point, Nnaji had come out of his slumber, up to 15 points and 4 rebounds. Bradley had 13 points and 5 rebounds for Cal, needing more help.
“Well he’s an outstanding player,” Fox said of Nnaji. “He’s quick, he’s explosive, he’s long. We tried several guys on him. We tried some double teaming with him, but there’s a reason he’s as regarded as he is because he’s hard to stop unless you can match him with an athlete that has similar length…He’s a terrific player. You have to give that kid credit. He’s whooped a lot of tails this year including ours.
“We had the game at 32-33 and they went on a 7-0 run, we never threatened after that. But when they got in the bonus that early in the second half, it makes it hard for us because the style of game that gives us a chance to win, we couldn’t keep it that way.”
Arizona would continue to get on a roll as back-to-back threes from Dylan Smith turned a 53-43 Wildcat lead into a 59-43 lead with 4:34 to go. Smith came into this game having missed his last 16 3-pointers and started off the night missing his first but rebounded nicely by making his next four 3-point attempts. He finished with 14 points, giving Arizona a much needed scoring boost. Especially since freshmen Nico Mannion (10 points) and Josh Green (4 points) had quiet nights.
“Well, the hard thing with a team that can score from as many places as Arizona can score is you can’t scheme to stop them all,” Fox said. “One of the things that was important for us was we wanted to take away the three-point line to a degree. Which I thought in the first half they had one. But, they just have so many weapons that it’s hard. I thought we did a decent job on those guys. Mannion made some, he made some tough plays off the bounce in there as he goes by the basket. But, those guys are talented young guys, so you know, did we hold them down a little bit? Sure, but they got a lot of guys who can put the ball in the basket.”
In the end, Arizona walked out with a 68-52 win. It wasn’t the most comfortable game, but in the end, the Wildcats took care of business, getting a much needed win on the road. As for Cal, they got outplayed by a team that should have outplayed them. Nnaji, Mannion, and Green are all projected to be first round picks in the 2020 NBA draft. When you have that type of talent, you better beat a team like Cal. Even if it’s on the road.
Up next for Cal is a home game on Sunday against Arizona State. That game will tipoff at 3:00 PM PST on ESPNU.