In its final contest before its first ACC game, Cal looked primed and poised to upset Missouri of the SEC on Tuesday night. Late in the first half, Cal held an 18-point lead and was on the verge of breaking the game open completely.

That lead quickly evaporated at the start of the second half, and the game soon turned into a gunslinging shootout with the Tigers completing their comeback, 98-93.

Though the Bears (6-2) put up a season-high 93 points and were humming on offense all night long, the defense was sieve, with Missouri stressing their guards on the perimeter. Cal allowed the Tigers to shoot 66% from the field and get to the line for 38 free-throw attempts.

Missouri guard Anthony Robinson II outscored Cal forward Andrej Stojakovic, who had a season-high 26 points, with a game-high 29 as he punished the Bears from all over the floor. Robinson also finished with 13 free throws on 15 attempts putting Cal in foul trouble throughout the game.

But despite the loss, Cal came into the matchup with Missouri as 10-point underdogs and had a real moment of upset potential towards the end of the first half.

Jovan Blacksher Jr.’s return from injury spells good things for Cal moving forward as the fifth-year guard provided a huge spark off the bench to help build the early 18-point lead. Blacksher, who missed the previous three games, collected 13 points, eight assists and five steals in his return.

Alongside Blacksher, Jeremiah Wilkinson continued his red-hot scoring run with 19 points on 50% shooting off the bench. The guard duo looked in sync most of the night, especially during Cal’s 17-2 run to close the first half, and provided the Bears with most of their offensive output throughout the game.

Cal was hitting 3s and getting steals during that stretch and looked the best it has looked this season. But Missouri made its adjustments and got a lot more physical with the Bears, pressing Cal’s guards in the backcourt and attacking their perimeter defenders with its size. Cal’s defense could not string together multiple stops despite the offensive masterpiece.

It did not help that Wilkinson fouled out late in the second half crippling Cal’s chances to hold off the Tigers’ comeback.

Rytis Petraitis, who finished with 17 points, five assists and three steals, hit two free throws and a 3-pointer to cut the Missouri lead to 2 points with 2 minutes left to play. But that was as close as Cal would get as the Tigers scored the next possession and forced a Blacksher turnover to keep the Bears at bay.

At 6-2 in their first eight games, the Bears will now open up ACC play versus Stanford this Saturday before beginning the final stretch of nonconference games next Tuesday at Haas Pavilion.