On Saturday, Cal men’s basketball defeated Utah on Senior Day by a final score of 86-79 in overtime. Cal sophomore guard Matt Bradley led the way for the Golden Bears with 21 points and 5 rebounds while Utah sophomore forward Timmy Allen was the top performer for the Runnin’ Utes with 26 points and 8 rebounds. Cal improves to 13-16 overall and 7-9 in the Pac-12 while Utah falls to 15-14 overall and 6-11 in the Pac-12.
“Really an outstanding win today versus a hard-nosed well-coached Utah team,” Cal head coach Mark Fox said after the game. “I thought the day was gonna be a good day. I knew we’d get off to a great start when our four seniors showed up wearing a coat and tie to the game in honor of their experience at Cal and I think that speaks volumes when kids do that unannounced. Those kids have really changed the momentum of our program and I’m thankful for them and I’m pleased they could get a win on Senior Day, but on Senior Day it took dang near everybody to get it done and so we’re thankful for the win.”
Given that it was Senior Day, all the Cal seniors got a chance to start the game: Jacob Orender, David Serge, Paris Austin, and Kareem South along with junior forward Grant Anticevich, who is the only player to start every game for Cal this year. It was a nice touch by head coach Mark Fox, acknowledging the contributions that they’ve made to the program this year.
Cal got off to a strong start in this game, leading 8-2 with 15:26 to go in the half. Utah freshman guard Rylan Jones went down early on a collision with Matt Bradley, who made the basket anyways. Jones headed to the locker room and would not return to the game. It was a tough break early for the Utes. Paris Austin, Grant Anticevich, Matt Bradley, and Andre Kelly all had 2 points for Cal, who was shooting 4-9 from the field. Utah was shooting 1-5.
With 10:35 to go in the half, Cal led 11-10. Bradley was up to 5 points for Cal while Allen was up to 4 points for Utah. Cal was shooting 5-14 (35.7%) from the field while Utah was shooting 5-13 (38.5%). It was a kind of a choppy game early. Cal was yet to attempt a free throw, needing to get to the line.
The game continued to remain a low scoring affair as Cal led 13-12 with 7:59 to go in the half. Bradley was up to 7 points on 3-5 shooting from the field, so he was in a nice groove. No one else was really feeling it for Cal, though. Utah had gone cold (0 field goals in the last 3:50) and Cal wasn’t really taking advantage.
With 5:35 to go in the half, Cal led 17-14 after freshman guard Joel Brown went 2-2 at the line. Those were Cal’s first free throws of the game. Freshman guard Jaxon Brenchley got a bucket inside for Utah, ending their drought. Over the next couple of minutes, Utah would tie the game up 19-19 with 3:22 to go in the half. Utah sophomore guard Both Gach got a nice hoop inside and was up to 4 points. Cal was doing a good job containing Allen, as he had 4 points on 2-6 shooting from the field. Matt Bradley still led Cal with his 7 points.
At halftime, Utah led 28-24. Junior guard Alfonso Plummer was on fire for the Utes with 12 points on 4-7 shooting from the field and 2-3 shooting from beyond the arc. Bradley (7 points) was still the top scorer for Cal. With just 6 points, one had to think Allen would get going for Utah in the second half.
With 17:30 to go, Cal led 31-30 as they were on a 7-2 run to start the 2nd half. Bradley was up to 9 points, getting a nice bucket inside. Things started to trend in Cal’s direction a bit after a 1st half that had some missed opportunities.
Utah would retake the lead to go up 38-36 with 15:10 to go. Allen was up to 10 points for Utah on 5-9 shooting from the field, finally in a nice rhythm. Gach was also finding a groove for Utah with 7 points, knocking down a 3-pointer after missing his previous 14 attempts. As for Cal, Anticevich had 8 points. As one of their best shooters, Cal was hoping he would start to catch fire.
With 11:41 to go, Cal would lead 43-40. Anticevich was up to 12 points, which is exactly what the doctor ordered. With 10:00 to go, Cal was up 47-43 as Bradley was now in double figures with 11 points. It was a tight game at Haas.
Cal would still have a four point lead, up 54-50 with 7:16 to go. Kelly was up to 13 points for Cal after a getting a hoop plus the harm, converting the free throw. He also was coming alive for Cal and heating up. As for Allen, he was up to 18 points, surpassing his season scoring average. After a quiet first half, he was fully awake, looking to lead the Utes to victory.
Cal’s four point lead continued as the score was 63-59 with 3:04 to go. Gach hit a cold-blooded 3-pointer for Utah, giving him 15 points on the night while Anticevich responded on the other end with a huge basket inside plus the foul for Cal. He would make the free throw, giving himself 17 points.
With 51.2 to go, Cal once again led by four points (67-63) as they were looking to get across the finish line and not have to deal with overtime. After a sketchy foul call on Matt Bradley, Timmy Allen went 1-2 at the line, making it a 67-64 game with 19.7 to go. Cal had the ball, still looking like they would win comfortably.
To Cal’s dismay, they didn’t handle their business at the foul line. Paris Austin went 1-2, which left the door open a bit for Utah. Alfonso Plummer took advantage, making a huge 3-pointer for Utah. He was up to 20 points and had Utah trailing 68-67 with 10.3 to go. Austin went 1-2 at the line again, and then Gach got fouled, sending him to the line with a chance to tie the game up. To Gach’s credit, he made both free throws and tied the game up 69-69. With just 2 seconds on the clock, Cal didn’t have time to draw up a final play, sending the game into overtime.
With 2:14 to go in overtime, Cal was up 76-71 after a layup from Austin. Utah looked to be in some trouble with time running out. Allen got fouled and went 1-2, making it a 76-72 game with 2:09 to go. Utah had a pulse, but they were definitely behind the eight ball.
Over the final couple of minutes, Cal found a way to pull out the win thanks to a clutch steal and layup from Joel Brown plus two more free throws. Brown’s four points down the stretch put the game away for good. He finished with 11 points and played a really gritty game, requiring stitches on his hand at the 12:34 mark when the game was tied 40-40.
“Joel Brown, when he comes over and he’s got blood everywhere and he shows it to me like what I am supposed to do about it, you know,” Fox said with a chuckle. “So I don’t know how many stitches he had, but to come back after that and to get on the floor for loose balls, to make plays, and to really impact the game, that shows a great competitive character that Joel has and I know we’re all thankful for that today.”
“Definitely a great spark,” Kelly said of Brown. “He came in he got the clutch steal in overtime, so that was really good and he was a really good defensive presence and has a lot of energy. He’s really athletic, really fast. So, he’s a good on-ball defender and he hit those two free throws that were big time in overtime.”
A 3-pointer from Alfonso Plummer made it a single digit 86-79 win for Cal instead of a double digit win. Plummer finished with 23 points and had a very impressive game of his own. Doing a great job of stepping up with Rylan Jones going down. Without his performance, this game wouldn’t have gone to overtime.
Still, the win went to Cal on Senior Day. It was an all-around team win as Matt Bradley (21 points), Grant Anticevich (17 points), Andre Kelly (15 points), Paris Austin (15 points), and Joel Brown (11 points) all finished in double figures. It was a hard fought win that required everyone to step up.
“I think it really comes down to the environment that you put’em in every day,” Fox said of what he does to manage his players in a tight game. “And you can’t coach the emotions and the concentration during the game. You have to be prepared for that beforehand. Obviously, Joel had to leave the game get some stitches and we had some foul trouble. And so we’re trying to figure out who to play. Boy we had a lot of guys contribute. But really, the mentality that you have to have is something that you have to establish well before tipoff.”
To complete a weekend sweep in their final game at Haas Pavilion feels good for this Cal team. Especially after the way everyone wrote them off at the beginning of the year. Rather than listening to the negativity, this Cal team stuck together and in the end put together a much better season than anyone thought they would. They’re definitely building a solid foundation for the future.
“You know, I really had I think in the preseason, or the offseason, I just got sick of everybody telling us how bad we were going to be,” Fox said. “I just didn’t think we would be. I just didn’t think we would be. I just wasn’t going to accept that, and I wasn’t going to let our team accept that. But, it was a constant message. As I’ve told them, the change in this team and this program had to start from the inside and the belief had to start from the inside. And the trust had to start from the inside and fortunately for me, I have great young people who bought into what we’re doing and to give Coach Jones credit, who, he texted me last night and he’s been very supportive of these kids and they came here to have a good experience and I think hopefully this year they feel like they’ve made progress. We’re not anywhere near where we want to be, we’re nowhere close where we want to be, but I think the perception and the feelings about our team and this program are drastically different than what I heard all summer.”
“It means a lot to us,” Kelly said of getting the weekend sweep. “We wanted to get the win for our seniors and then get some momentum going into next year and we played good at home all season, so we wanted to keep that going…We’re just trying to change the standard around here and just compete every day. Play really hard and just let that be the Cal way. So you know that’s how we come out every game. And I think over the past years, we’re trying to build that up and show that Cal’s a good team and a force to be reckoned with.”
Touching more on the seniors, Mark Fox really praised the work that they have done to help turn the culture of this Cal program around. Especially Paris Austin, who transferred from Boise State after his sophomore season. Returning home to the Bay Area presented challenges for Austin, especially in his senior year. Fox rode him tough at the beginning of the year and Austin rose to the challenge.
“Well, Paris Austin deserves to have success because he’s really bought in to what we’re doing,” Fox said. “Doesn’t mean that it was easy for him, he didn’t start when the year began, but he’s really grown and developed, and I didn’t recruit most of these seniors. I inherited them. But my obligation is to treat them like they’re my own and they’ve just been unbelievable. And Paris has had a, I think a season that has changed the momentum of Cal basketball. For the rest of his life, he should get credit for that and I’m extremely thankful I had a chance to coach him.”
One other factor that Mark Fox wanted to address was the impact that the home fans have had on their success. He knows that Cal has a history of being a tough place to play and after going 12-5 at home, he’s confident that Haas Pavilion will continue to be one of the toughest places to win in the Pac-12.
“The fans today had a huge impact on the game,” Fox said. “I mean they actively participated in the game. They really did and so I think our fans have been tremendous. I want’em all to bring a friend next year, ok? But we have to establish that we’re going to be really hard to beat at home. That we’re going to play well, that our fans not only are gonna come, but they’re gonna roll their sleeves up and fight for our team. And today they did that, they’ve done that a lot this year, and hopefully we can build on the numbers going into next season.”
Up next for Cal is a road trip to face the Oregon schools. Up first will be a game at Oregon on Thursday. That game will tipoff at 8:00 PM PST on ESPN 2. With the Pac-12 Tournament to follow, Cal is definitely building positive momentum to possibly make some noise in March.
“Definitely it helps getting some wins going into the tournament,” Kelly said. “Team’s playing with a little confidence, a lot more confidence I mean. So, it’s good to get some momentum going into that tournament and just see how we can do there.”
