Dartmouth was thought of as a three point shooting team that could give Cal trouble, but the Cal defense was at their best, holding Dartmouth to 6-23 shooting from beyond the arc, 12-29 shooting on layups, as the Bears held on for a 61-55 victory over the Big Green. Jordan Shepherd had 18 points, Andre Kelly had his fifth double-double (14 points and 10 rebounds), and Grant Anticevich set a new career high with 15 rebounds.

Despite a career high 20 points from Cam Krystkowiak, Cal would hold top shooter Brendan Barry to 1-6 shooting from beyond the arc, while riding a +12 advantage on the boards to 14 second chances points on an afternoon where points didn't come easy.

"You're always concerned as a coach about the first game after exams," head coach Mark Fox said, "about what rhythm the team is going to be in, whether they're going to be sharp. I thought we had a little bit of that, but that's a credit to how they started the game. We missed a lot of free throws at the start of the game, we didn't have a lot of authority on either end to start the game, but we found ourselves defensively at the end of the first half, maintained that, and that was the key to the win."

Cal would struggle to put the ball in the basket early, with Krystkowiak, son of former Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak, stared strong against the Cal defense. He had eight of Dartmouth's first 14 points in the first 7:41 of gametime, coming off the bench after Nate Ogbu got in early foul trouble.

That early 14-6 lead would be the biggest for the Big Green in the first frame, as Cal answered with their defense. After that, Dartmouth would go 3-20 from the field for the rest of the half, including two stretches of six straight misses. Joel Brown, tasked with one of the nation's best shooters in Brendan Barry, held him to two points and no made threes in the half.

"Barry was making four threes a game," Fox said, "his numbers were comparable to Steph Curry honestly. We didn't want him to have a big night, and I though Joel did a good job, along with some other guys, of slowing him down."

"We just had to almost face guard him," Shepherd added, "he's such a talented shooter, he's always running, always moving, so he's a hard cover. We had to stay locked in, had to help whoever was guarding him, whether it was JB, whether it was me, whether it was Jalen. We had to do our best and make his looks tougher."

Cal would come back on the scoring end with a balanced effort. Grant Anticevich, Jordan Shepherd and Makale Foreman each hit threes, and Brown got a late three point play to give the Bears a 27-23 lead. Anticevich would tie a career high in rebounds in the first half, with 11 first half boards.

"That's something the coaches have emphasized with me," Anticevich said of his rebounding, "keeps me going, keeps me active, keeps up the energy. That's something I focus on at both ends, we were getting a lot of stops and had a lot of opportunities to get rebounds to finish the possession."

Cal would utilize their size advantage in the second half , getting the ball into Andre Kelly on the first two possessions while attacking the rim with Kuany Kuany and Joel Brown. Barry made his sole three for Dartmouth, which was answered by Jarred Hyder's first three of the season. Makale Foreman went down for the Bears, reaggravating a foot injury that has bothered him all season, giving Hyder a few more minutes than usual.

Barry would find an offensive groove for Dartmouth, with an and-1 layup to match his three, but Jordan Shepherd would come back with one of his own. Shepherd was Cal's primary answer, along with Kelly, throughout the second half, as the Bears lurched away from the Big Green. Shepherd hit a three with 10:30 left to give the Bears their largest lead of the game. Shepherd continually answered Dartmouth runs down the stretch, serving as a pseudo closer for the Bears.

"The completeness of Jordan is really where his value is," Fox said, "he can shoot the 3, he can pull up mid-range and he can get to the rim. He's doing this with an injured thumb, which is slowly getting better. He's been a little hesitant to be as aggressive as he can be because of his hand, but he has the advantage of playing with Grant and Andre, who teams have to honor. As a perimeter player, he has gotten some opportunities late , he's poised, he's experienced, he can pass it to make people better and he's a three level scorer. He's really valuable, and he's a great young man as you guys have probably already determined."

"I don't feel like I'm alone in that," Shepherd added on his closing role, "I've got two guys by my side to help do that. I have to be (more) efficient, but I do relish in that role, I've put in a lot of work for it, but have to better still."

Shepherd and Kelly would help close the game, with a handful of interior buckets and free throws, even as Dartmouth closed the game to five. Shepherd notably answered a Cam Krystkowiak three point play with one of his own, as the duo scored 14 of Cal's final 16 points.

After Dartmouth closed the game to five, Anticevich (who led the Bears with four assists, found Kelly in the press break for an easy layup, while Shepherd iced the game with two final free throws, though Dartmouth would close the final margin to six with an Aaryn Rai and-1 with three seconds remaining. Cal would get their seventh straight home win, as they look to finish off non-conference play strong on Wednesday versus Pacific.

- Cal had a +12 rebounding advatage, spurred by Anticevich's 15 rebounds (a career high), marking yet another game with a double digit rebounding advantage

- Cal held Dartmouth to 12-29 shooting on layups, another marker of the Bears size advantage in the paint

- Makale Foreman aggravated a foot sprain during the second half, and may be out a little while longer as he heals

- Cal's defense, after struggling with the back cut early on, figured things out later in the first half, denying some of the easy layup opportunities that Dartmouth had relied on early.

- Every player aside from Jalen Celestine who played for the Bears scored at least three points.

- This was only the second win for Cal where one of the Anticevich/Kelly/Shepherd trio didn't get in double figures.

- Cal has their final non-conference game Wednesday afternoon against Pacific prior to a break for the holidays, getting Stanford in Palo Alto on January 2nd.