On Thursday, Cal men’s basketball fell to #1 Duke by a final score of 87-52. Duke improves to 5-0 on the season while Cal falls to 4-1. Freshman Vernon Carey, Jr. led the way for Duke with 31 points and 12 rebounds while freshman D.J. Thorpe was the top performer for Cal with 8 points, 1 steal, and 2 blocks on 4-4 shooting from the field.

Early on, Cal was playing Duke tough as they trailed 6-4 with 15:43 to go in the first half. Kareem South and Matt Bradley each had two points for Cal while Wendell Moore and Vernon Carey, Jr. each had three points for Duke. Cal was in a zone defense from the opening tip, trying to mask the fact that Duke had superior athleticism.

With 11:17 to go in the half, Cal and Duke were tied 8-8 as both teams were really struggling from the field. Duke was shooting 3-14 (21.4%) while Cal was shooting 3-11 (27.3%). It was kind of an ugly game, but that wasn’t all bad for Cal.

With 8:00 to go in the half, Duke started to pull away as they were on a 12-3 run, up 18-11. Carey was dominating Cal with 10 points and 3 rebounds on 4-6 shooting from the field, getting virtually whatever he wanted. As for Cal, they were still shooting poorly, just 25% (4-16) from the field.

With 3:44 to go in the half, Duke was up 29-16, continuing to find their groove. Duke was shooting a solid 5-15 (33.3%) from 3-point range, overwhelming Cal with their athleticism and skill. At halftime, Duke was up 40-21. Carey was almost outscoring Cal all by himself with 21 points and 7 rebounds on 7-11 shooting from the field, 1-1 shooting from 3-point range, and 6-7 shooting from the foul line. South was the top performer for Cal at the half with 7 points on 2-4 shooting from the field.

Coming out of the half, Lars Thiemann made a pretty jump hook over Vernon Carey, Jr., doing his part to keep Cal afloat. With 18:06 to go, Duke was up 45-29, hoping that Cal wouldn’t make any sort of second half push.

Over the next couple of minutes, Duke would gain more separation from Cal, going up 52-31 with 15:35 to go. Carey was up to 26 points and 9 rebounds, playing like a human video game. Cal had no answer for him inside. With 13:22 to go, Duke was up 57-35 as Alex O’Connell had a huge throw-down to the delight of the Madison Square Garden crowd.

With 6:42 to go, Duke was now up 70-41 as Carey was up to 31 points and 12 rebounds. He was balling out of his mind. From there, Duke would cruise to an 87-52 victory. During those final minutes, there were some bright spots from Cal. Kuany Kuany had a pretty finish inside, D.J. Thorpe came alive with some dunks, and Lars Thiemann got a nice block. Cal played hard in this game, but in the end lost because Duke was the more talented team.

As for what Cal needs to do going forward, they need to find a way to do better in the rebounding department. Duke out-rebounded Cal 50-28, getting everything they wanted inside. Their best rebounders D.J. Thorpe (12 minutes) and Lars Thiemann (11 minutes) didn’t get much of a run, making it hard for Cal to keep up on the glass. If Mark Fox isn’t going to play them much, he needs to find other ways to improve the rebounding. This was an issue on Monday against Prairie View and it was an issue again tonight.

Secondly, Cal needs to get to the foul line more. They shot 10-14 (71.4%) tonight. That’s a good percentage. Duke got there even more and shot a very solid 23-31 (74.2%). If Cal can be the team that gets to the line more, their odds of hanging with top teams go up.

Lastly, Cal has to move the ball better. 9 assists just isn’t going to cut it. They need to do a better job of creating open looks for each other. That’s the only way you’re going to beat teams that have more talent than you. You have to move the ball better and really get everyone involved.

Up next for Cal is the consolation game of the 2K Empire Classic against Texas. That game will tipoff on Friday at 2:00 PM PST/5:00 PM EST on ESPN 2.

Cal WBB update: On Thursday, Cal women’s basketball defeated San Diego State 74-48 on the road at Viejas Arena on the San Diego State campus, improving to 2-2 on the season. Cal was up 38-25 at the half and cruised to a victory from there. Jaelyn Brown (18 points & 9 rebounds) and Alaysia Styles (17 points & 6 rebounds) led the way for the Golden Bears. Their next game will be on Sunday at home against #20 Arkansas at 2:00 PM PST on Cal live stream.