On Saturday, Cal men’s basketball lost to the Washington Huskies by a final score of 87-52. Washington junior guard Nahziah Carter led the way for the Huskies with 16 points while Cal sophomore guard Matt Bradley was the lone Golden Bear in double figures with 14 points. Washington improves to 13-15 overall and 3-12 in the Pac-12 while Cal falls to 11-16 overall and 5-9 in the Pac-12.
Cal got out to an early 12-9 lead with 15:42 to go in the 1st half. Bradley led Cal with 8 points while Carter led Washington with 7 points. Both guys were in a nice groove early. Washington head coach Mike Hopkins got called for a technical foul within the first minute and a half for standing outside the coaching box. It was a ridiculous call that was a benefit for Cal.
With 13:12 to go in the half, Cal led 15-9 after Matt Bradley knocked down another 3-pointer off a pretty assist from Paris Austin. Bradley was up to 11 points, doing his thing. With 10:31 to go in the half, Cal led 17-11 after a pretty jam inside from freshman big man D.J. Thorpe. Carter was up to 9 points for Washington, continuing to have the hot hand. Washington had 7 turnovers, playing sloppy ball.
The game continued to remain tight as Cal led 20-19 with 7:56 to go in the half. Cal freshman Kuany Kuany got bailed out shooting a 3-pointer and to his credit made all three foul shots. Washington’s star freshman Isaiah Stewart finally got on the board with a bucket inside. Cal did a nice job slowing him down early.
Shortly thereafter, a wild sequence occurred in which Isaiah Stewart got a bucket inside, Hameir Wright nailed a 3-pointer, and Stewart made two free throws after a flagrant foul on Thorpe. As a result, Washington led 26-20 with 5:00 to go in the half.
Wright would get another 3-pointer to fall and all of a sudden Washington was up 29-20 with 4:13 to go in the half. Washington was on a 12-0 run as Cal hadn’t scored in the last 4:27. Cal needed to end the drought fast. With 2:09 to go until halftime, Washington led 38-24 as Cal had 0 field goals in the last 9:24. Free throws were keeping Cal marginally afloat as they were 14-14 from the line.
At halftime, Washington led 43-26. Nahziah Carter (11 points) and Jaden McDaniels (10 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists) led the Huskies. Matt Bradley (11 points) led Cal, having not scored in the final 10 minutes of the half. Cal had 0 made field goals in the last 11:33. To say they were struggling on offense is an understatement.
Washington’s 26-6 run ballooned into a 32-6 run as they would lead 49-26 with 18:15 to go. Marcus Tsohonis got a 3-pointer to fall and was up to 6 points. It was one-way traffic for the Huskies. Not long after, Cal head coach Mark Fox picked up a technical foul, angry that Matt Bradley didn’t get a call for a charge when Isaiah Stewart ran into him. Stewart made both foul shots, giving Washington a 54-26 lead with 16:30 to go. 0 points for Cal in the half. They still hadn’t figured out the Huskies zone.
Finally, around the 16:00 mark, Grant Anticevich ended the drought with a field goal. With 15:57 to go, Washington led 54-28. During the break, Andre Kelly got called for a technical foul and was done for the day. Stewart would go to the line yet again to make two more free throws. Now it was 56-28.
With 12:56 to go, Washington led 62-31 as McDaniels got called for a technical foul after elbowing Kuany in the face. McDaniels was previously fouled by Kuany, so he went to the line, making both of his foul shots. Bradley shot the technical foul shots and went 1-2. D.J. Thorpe soon went to the foul line for Cal, making both of his free throws making it a 62-33 contest with 11:44 to go. Cal was shooting an abysmal 5-30 (16.7%) from the field but a stellar 21-24 (87.5%) from the foul line. It was a rather odd combination.
With 3:40 to go, Washington was up 78-45 as the struggle continued for Cal. Matt Bradley (14 points) didn’t get the help he needed, though it’s not like he did much in the final 30 minutes of the game after that hot start. In the end, Washington walked out with an 87-52 win. It was an ugly game for Cal, who shot 11-46 (23.9%) from the field.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Cal build brick houses away from Berkeley. Remember the 40 point struggle at UCLA? Cal has struggled all year to score away from home and this was just the latest example of that. Cal has to figure this part out if they want any chance to make some noise in the Pac-12 tournament.
That all said, Cal shouldn’t freak out too much about this loss. They got the road split earlier in the week up in Pullman and overall are playing much better than people expected. Nobody saw five wins in league coming and odds are good they’ll pick up one more before the Pac-12 tournament begins. Who knows? Maybe they’ll sweep Colorado and Utah next week at home.
At this point, Cal needs to put this loss behind them and focus on next week. Up first will be Colorado on Thursday. That game will tipoff at 6:00 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks.
