On Saturday, Cal men’s basketball defeated Oregon State 69-67 in a close game that went down to the wire. Cal sophomore guard Matt Bradley led the way for the Golden Bears with 23 points and 6 rebounds while Oregon State senior forward Tres Tinkle was the top performer for the Beavers with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Cal improves to 10-11 overall and 4-4 in the Pac-12 while Oregon State falls to 13-9 overall and 3-7 in the Pac-12.
“Hard fought game,” Cal head coach Mark Fox said after the game. “Certainly a great win for our young people. I was really proud of a number of kids on our team that contributed to the win and that allowed us to beat an experienced, well-coached Oregon State team who is really hard to disrupt and so we feel fortunate to win.”
Cal got off to a strong start in this game, leading 11-8 with 15:41 to go in the half. Bradley had 5 points early for Cal, getting into a nice groove while Tinkle had 3 points and 2 assists for Oregon State. Cal was shooting 4-5 from the field while Oregon State was shooting 3-5.
Cal would then extend their lead to go up 20-15 with 10:03 to go in the half. Cal freshman guard Joel Brown came alive with 4 points off two very tricky finishes around the rim. Oregon State guard Zach Reichle was up to 5 points for the Beavers, doing a nice job to give his team some offense.
With 7:26 to go in the half, Cal was up 23-20. Oregon State was currently in a funk, shooting 6-17 (35.3%) from the field, having made just 2 of their last 10 field goal attempts. Cal was shooting slightly better: 8-17 (47.1%) from the field.
Cal would keep their lead to be ahead 30-28 with 2:50 to go in the half. Bradley was up to 9 points for Cal while Tinkle had 8 points for Oregon State, making a very tricky fadeaway jumper. Oregon State would close out the half on an 8-0 run to lead 32-30 at halftime. Tinkle had 12 points at the half, playing a major role in getting the Beavers out in front.
To open up the 2nd half, the game remained tight as Oregon State led 41-39 with 15:55 to go. Tinkle was up to 14 points for the Beavers while Bradley had 16 points for the Golden Bears. Oregon State was 9-12 at the foul line, doing a great job at getting to the line as they usually do. In total, they shot 24-30 at the line in the game, showing why they are the top foul shooting team in the Pac-12.
“They get there more than anybody in the league,” Fox said of Oregon State’s foul shooting. “So, we knew they would get there some. They got to the bonus with eleven and a half minutes to go in the second half. They’re experienced. They start two seniors, three juniors. They’re battled tested, they know where they want to go with the ball, they can space you with shooting. Obviously, Tres is such a good player about being able to draw fouls and play with contact. It’s a skill that they have. That really shows their experience I think is one of the key factors for their ability to be able to get there.”
Cal would shortly take the lead to go up 45-44 with 13:20 to go. Cal sophomore forward Andre Kelly had a couple nice buckets inside off some put backs. He was active inside and it was paying off for Cal. On a following possession, Oregon State forward Kylor Kelley got into it with Kelly a bit, resulting in a slew of foul shots on both sides. 4 for Oregon State and 2 for Cal. After the foul shooting extravaganza finished, Oregon State led 48-47 with 12:50 to go.
“Nothing much, he’s a good player,” Kelly said of the exchange. “We were just going at it. Both passionate about the game. Wanting the win. So that’s all…I knew he was a good shot blocker. I was just trying to be strong with the ball, get to my spots, get it up because I knew that he was a good shot blocker. So, we prepared for it a little bit this week.”
“That’s just guys playing hard,” Fox added. “Two great kids. Emotions of the game. Probably helped Andre Kelly. Because he was really good after that.”
With 11:30 to go, Cal was now up 51-48 as Kelly was up to 8 points on 4-4 shooting/dunking from the field. His ability to find a rhythm inside made a huge difference for Cal.
Over the next few minutes, the game remained tight as Ethan Thompson was up to 7 points after a made 3-pointer for Oregon State. Tinkle was up to 19 points and 5 rebounds for Oregon State while Bradley was up to 18 points for Cal. This game was a dog fight as Oregon State was now in front 53-51 with 10:31 to go.
With 8:03 to go, Cal was back in front up 55-53 as Kelly had another pretty hoop inside followed by a jumper that rattled home for Paris Austin. Both players had 10 points after their made shots.
“I was just trying to score any way I could,” Kelly said. “Trying to help the team win as much as I could in any way possible. I was just trying to crash the offensive glass and luckily they were bouncing my way and I was able to get a few nice put backs.”
Soon after, Oregon State forward Alfred Hollins started to come alive for the Beavers, up to 11 points on 7-7 shooting from the foul line. As a result of his aggression, Oregon State was back in front 62-61 with 5:04 to go. Over the next minute and a half, the game remained a one point lead for Oregon State as Kelley and Bradley traded baskets. Oregon State was now up 64-63 with 3:36 to go.
With 2:06 to go, Cal was back in front up 66-64 after another bucket inside from Kelly. Kelly, who finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds, was the difference in this game. Without his efforts inside, Cal wouldn’t have pulled this out.
“I think today was a pretty good game,” Kelly said of his performance. “I know I need to be more consistent and things. So far, that’s about it.”
“He’s really good inside,” Fox said of Kelly. “And he was due for a game and we were hopeful we could get him going and against Oregon he missed a couple ones in there and he just needed another good game. And I think once he got one to go in, I think his confidence came back and he was very aggressive and we don’t win the game without Andre for sure.”
With 20.4 to go, Cal led 68-67 after Hollins went 1-2 at the foul line, missing his 9th free throw attempt of the night after making his first 8. It was a bogus call on Cal junior forward Grant Anticevich, so Oregon State was lucky to even get those attempts. Bradley would then go to the line for Cal on a one-and-one, miss the free throw, and redeem himself by taking a charge that was called on Tinkle. With 7.2 to go, Cal had the ball, still up 68-67.
“I saw him put his shoulder down and he was going to try to get to the rim,” Bradley said of the charge call. “He’s a really good player, he’s their leading scorer, I knew if the game was in his hands he was going to take the shot. So I knew if I just stepped out of the restricted zone and took the charge it was going to happen. And hopefully it wasn’t a blocking foul and they called charge. It was a great call, yeah.”
In the end, Cal walked out with a 69-67 win after Bradley made the second free throw of a trip to the line after missing the first. Oregon State tried to make some magic happen on the final play, but it didn’t work out.
While this game was a wild one that could have gone either way, Cal deserves a ton of credit for finding a way to win this game and pull it out. This is not a game they would have pulled out last year. Credit goes to the entire team. The coaching staff and the players. It was a real team effort that should make everybody happy.
“We just wanted to win,” Bradley said. “That’s what we came out and did. We knew what it took. We had to be physical, stick to the game plan, play hard, and there’s a lot of variables. So, we did them and we got the W.”
“A couple years ago I spoke with Bill Parcells, who was an NFL champion coach,” Fox said. “One of the things that he shared with me is that as a coach, you have an obligation to give your kids a chance to win every night. So we have to find a way where there’s a path to victory every single night. That’s my responsibility to them.
“And I told them on day one. Listen, there’s a way that we can play that will allow you to win more games than you won a year ago. I said it may not be the way that you ideally want to play, and it may not be the prettiest way to play, but there’s a way that this group can play to scratch out some wins. And I’m fortunate that they’ve bought into that and we’ve been able to get some. But our goal will be to get some more.”
Up next for Cal is a road game at Colorado. That game will tipoff on Thursday at 5:00 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks.
