On Thursday, Cal men’s basketball lost to #13 Oregon by a final score of 90-56. Oregon senior guard Payton Pritchard led the way for the Ducks with 20 points and 9 assists while Cal sophomore guard Matt Bradley finished with 15 points and 4 rebounds. Oregon improves to 23-7 overall and 12-5 in the Pac-12 while Cal falls to 13-17 overall and 7-10 in the Pac-12.
Oregon got out to a 16-10 lead with 13:28 to go in the 1st half. Oregon senior guard Payton Pritchard had 5 points early for the Ducks on 2-2 shooting from the field and 1-1 shooting from 3-point range. Cal junior forward Grant Anticevich also had 5 points on 2-2- shooting from the field and 1-1 shooting from 3-point range. Oregon was shooting 7-9 from the field while Cal was shooting 4-10.
Oregon would then lead 19-13 with 10:58 to go in the half. Pritchard was up to 8 points for the Ducks on 3-3 shooting from the field as he was still yet to miss. The Ducks were shooting 8-11 (72.7%) from the field while the Golden Bears were shooting 5-14 (35.7%). Cal’s offense needed to get going.
With 7:23 to go in the half, Oregon continued to lead, up 23-15. Matt Bradley, Kareem South, and Grant Anticevich each had 5 points for Cal. They were the only Bears to score up to this point. Oregon continued to be in a nice offensive groove, shooting 10-15 from the field and 2-2 from 3-point range.
Shortly thereafter, Oregon would go on a quick 6-0 run over 30 seconds to lead 31-18 after back-to-back threes from Shakur Juiston and Payton Pritchard. Cal called for time with 6:14 to go in the half, hoping to stop the bleeding.
With 3:37 to go in the half, Oregon was now up 39-18 as Cal continued to struggle. Oregon was now on a 14-0 run as Pritchard was up to 13 points and Richardson was up to 9 points. The Ducks were having fun out there. Cal hadn’t scored in the last 3:29. They desperately needed to wake up.
Rather than wake up, Cal continued to be in an offensive coma. As for Oregon, they were doing just fine. Will Richardson completed a three-point play at the foul line while Anthony Mathis hit a 3-pointer. It was now an 18-0 for the Ducks as they were up 43-18 with 3:24 to go in the half. A 3-point play from Addison Patterson made it a 46-18 Oregon lead with 2:24 to go in the half and also a 21-0 Oregon run.
Cal freshman center Lars Thiemann ended the drought with a bucket inside, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Oregon would lead 46-20 at halftime, closing the half on a 21-2 run. All was going Oregon’s way while nothing was going Cal’s way.
To open up the 2nd half, Cal woke up a bit, trailing 53-29 with 15:22 to go. Anticevich and Bradley were each up to 10 points as Cal looked like they were going to at least break 40 points. It was still a huge cushion for Oregon as Mathis hit another 3-pointer and was up to 11 points.
To Cal’s credit, they didn’t give up. They kept grinding and were rewarded with a 7-0 run to cut Oregon’s lead to 15 points (58-43) with 11:31 to go. Bradley (12 points), Anticevich (10 points), and South (8 points) were waking up for Cal. Cal was still in a hole, but now they were within at least semi-striking distance.
An 8-0 Oregon run gave the Ducks a 66-43 lead with 9:33 to go as Pritchard was up to 18 points after a corner 3-pointer. After looking like they might come back and pull off a miracle, all hope for Cal appeared to be lost. Cal made their little run, but as is typical in games like this, Cal ran out of gas, giving way to an Oregon run moments later.
In the end, Oregon walked out with a 90-56 win. Pritchard would finish with 20 points and 9 assists for the Ducks while Mathis finished with 17 points. As for Cal, Bradley finished with a solid 15 points while freshman Kuany Kuany had a career-high 9 points. He was sort of a bright spot in the end.
There’s not much to say about this game for Cal. They got waxed on the road and had a tough time scoring. We’ve seen this movie before in Seattle and Los Angeles. It’s becoming a Cal men’s basketball travel tradition to forget how to play on offense and get beaten like a drum.
Pac-12 Tournament Picture: With this win, the Ducks now move into a tie for first place in the Pac-12 with UCLA. One of those two teams will win the Pac-12 regular season title. As for Cal, they’re still at 8th place, but if they lose to Oregon State on Saturday, they could sink to 9th or even lower. I’m not entirely sure of all the tiebreaker procedures, but it’s sufficient to say that they need to win on Saturday to clinch the 8th seed.
On that note, up next for Cal is a road game at Oregon State. That game will tipoff on Saturday at 1:30 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks. That will be Cal’s final game before next week’s Pac-12 Tournament.
