If you watched Wednesday's game between Cal and SMU at Haas Pavilion, then you very likely felt a sense of deja vu. It felt very reminiscent of the Bears' previous game that ended with a 5-point loss to Stanford.

The Bears are now 3-5 in 5-point games this season but three of the losses have come in the last three contests. The latest took place Wednesday against the Mustangs with Cal clawing for a spot in the ACC Tournament.

SMU built a 17-point lead during the first half only to see it evaporate by a 13-4 Cal run that tied the game, 66-66, with 5:33. As happened in the game against the Cardinal, however, the Bears were not able to get over the hump as turnovers, missed shots and a couple defensive miscues allowed the Mustangs to break off a 9-0 run to eventually secure an 81-77 victory.

Cal has found itself in an early hole on several occasions this season, including in its first meeting with SMU that ended with a 76-65 loss in Dallas. Bears head coach Mark Madsen pointed to the 42 points allowed by his team in the first half as a big part of why his team wasn't able to break out of what is now a five-game losing streak.

"Extremely slow start," Madsen said. "We were slow on rotations defensively. We were playing with nonchalance on the offensive end — on both ends of the court — and we cannot have starts like that and expect to beat a good team like SMU.

"SMU came out with tremendous energy, they came out champing at the bit and they took it right to us. They took it right to us. I had to burn a timeout and get after our group and really challenge them. I take responsibility for the slow start. I gotta figure this out. We'll watch the film, we'll study it and we'll correct it. We have a huge game Saturday."

Despite the loss, Cal had some impressive performances in the second half to bring the team back and eliminate that double-digit deficit. For a second consecutive game, reserve guard Christian Tucker played a role in keeping the Bears within striking distance with several key plays.

"I just gotta go out there and play as hard as I can," Tucker said. "Do my best to keep my guy from scoring. So, that's just the mentality that I have."

Madsen said the senior provided the Bears with "great energy" for the second game in a row, and he felt it necessary to keep the veteran guard on the floor in key moments Wednesday night over starting point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr.

"We're gonna play the guys that are out there playing with energy, that are flying around, that are making plays," Madsen said. "Jovan did some good things out there tonight, but when a guy like Tuck is coming in and doing what he's doing, that demands opportunity and he made the most of it.

"He helped our team come back kind of in that second half to try and battle back."

Tucker finished with 7 points, 4 rebounds and an assist in 13 minutes of action off the bench.

The Bears were again led by star freshman Jeremiah Wilkinson, who logged his ninth game with at least 20 points this season Wednesday night. Five of those performances have come in the last seven games with only his 19-point showing against Stanford keeping him from having five consecutive 20-point games.

Wilkinson was responsible for three of Cal's five 3-pointers in the game to finish with 20 points on a 7-for-18 night to go with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.

Big man Mady Sissoko provided a scoring punch on the interior as he tied his most productive performance of the season with 16 points to go along with 8 rebounds and a steal.

Since returning from injury, Cal leading scorer Andrej Stojakovic has had some problems finding his offensive touch once again. The sophomore wing has only had one 20-point performance in the last eight games (22 points vs. Georgia Tech) when he had nine in the 16 games prior to that stretch.

While it is easy to focus on the offensive production with Stojakovic, Madsen's bigger concern is with what he isn't showing on the other side of the floor in recent games.

"I think any time a player is out for two and a half, three weeks you lose a little bit of rhythm," Madsen said. "And, I think Andrej is still in the process of regaining his rhythm on both sides of the ball. There were some defensive mistakes, and I took him out. I took him out, because I need more from Andrej defensively.

"When he's locked in defensively, our team is outstanding because with his length, with his athleticism he's helped us win games with his defense."

The loss continues to put Cal in a precarious position when it comes to its postseason fate. The Bears currently sit in the final spot (15th) for a bid in the ACC Tournament but face Boston College, the 16th-place team, Saturday at Haas Pavilion to close out their home slate.

Cal is just one game ahead of both BC and NC State in the standings. The bottom three teams in the conference get left out of the ACC Tournament.

Madsen wants to see his group clean up a number of things over the next few games to secure a spot in the postseason tournament.

"Where we've struggled offensively is knocking down free throws and knocking down open 3s," Madsen said. "We'll continue to address that in practice. ... But, ultimately, we have to have a better start and that starts with me as a head coach."

The Bears close out the home schedule with a matchup against the Eagles on Saturday at 7 p.m.