On Thursday, Cal men’s basketball fell to Arizona State by a final score of 84-53. Redshirt freshman forward Romello White led the Sun Devils with 13 points and 11 rebounds while junior guard Don Coleman was the top performer for Cal with 16 points on 7-19 shooting from the field. Arizona State improves to 20-9 overall and 8-9 in the Pac-12 while Cal falls to 8-22 overall and 2-15 in the Pac-12.

During the first half, Cal did a good job of hanging around. With 7:30 to go in the first half, Cal trailed 23-19 and Don Coleman was in a nice groove with 8 points on 4-8 shooting from the field. Arizona State struggled to find an offensive rhythm early and Cal was able to keep it close as a result.

Towards the end of the first half, Arizona State started to pull away a bit, going up 39-29 at the half. Romello White had 8 points and 8 rebounds for the Sun Devils at the half while Don Coleman had 10 points for the Golden Bears on 5-11 shooting from the field. Cal actually did a good job defending Arizona State during the first half, holding them to 11-24 (45.8%) shooting from the field and 2-7 (28.6%) shooting from 3-point range.

The problem was they allowed Arizona State to get to the foul line, where they shot 15-19 (78.6%) and also didn’t do a good job of shooting on their end. At the half, Cal shot 12-30 (40%) from the field, 0-10 from 3-point range, and 5-10 (50%) from the foul line. As poorly as Arizona State shot the ball in the first half, Cal was actually worse.

During the second half, Cal continued to struggle while Arizona State woke up. Cal shot 9-31 (29.0%) from the field and 0-8 from 3-point range, though they did shoot 6-7 from the foul line. Arizona State in contrast shot 15-27 (55.6%) from the field, 2-8 from 3-point range, and 13-18 (72.2%) from the foul line. Arizona State’s ability to get to the foul line and get easy baskets inside is really what allowed them to pull away. Cal actually defended the 3-point line pretty well, but it doesn’t really matter if you allow your opponent to score inside and get free trips to the foul line.

For Arizona State, this was a game that they absolutely needed to win and to their credit, they got the job done in the end. They’re sitting squarely on the NCAA tournament bubble right now and by getting this win, they can breathe a little easier. As for Cal, they’re just looking to get some experience that they can build on for next season.

Up next for Cal is a game on Saturday against the #19 Arizona Wildcats. That game will tipoff at 3:30 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks.

Note: Cal women’s basketball won their opening round of the Pac-12 tournament on Thursday against Washington. Click here for the recap.