Published Dec 3, 2021
Shepherd, Kelly Power Cal to 73-61 Win Over Oregon State
Trace Travers  •  GoldenBearReport
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For the second consecutive game, Cal never trailed. Despite some turnover issues, Cal got 25 points from Jordan Shepherd and a 20 point, 13 rebound double-double from Andre Kelly, and 12 points from Grant Anticevich in a 73-61 victory over Oregon State.

Cal held Oregon State to 38.7% shooting in the second half, while outrebounding the Beavers 42-24. Cal's length, led by Kelly and Shepherd (with 8 rebounds), combatted Oregon State's Warithe Alatishe (21 points and 8 rebounds), as Cal bested a team that beat them three times in 2020-21.

"We're an improved team," Mark Fox said, "this is the best team I've had since we've come here, I think we've improved in a lot of ways. There's so much room for growth, and some of our demons are our individual demons that we have to address. We had some plays tonight that showed some immaturity and poor decision making that we show, and there's a lot oof room for growth. I'm excited that our team is playing better and it's great to have people back. It felt like a homecourt advantage when people are in it, and we're still going to need all the help we can get from our fans."

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Cal started off strong once again, running out to an early 8-2 lead behind a balanced early effort and some strong defense in the first few minutes. Cal's length was a big piece for the Bears, as Oregon State scored only 11 points for the first ten minutes of the second half. The defensive efforts of Kuany Kuany, Joel Brown, Jalen Celestine, and Sam Alajiki were big in the opening frame.

"We've been so small the first couple years," Fox noted, "so our matchups have been a nightmare, last year Kuany was a power forward backing up Grant, we didn't have any depth, and now he's the starting small forward. He's got length at that position. We still maybe aren't as big at the 5 with Dre, but we are bigger, and it has helped our matchups on defense."

A technical foul on Oregon State's Tre' Williams gave Anticevich free throws, and spurred the Bears on to a 15-4 run (with threes from Makale Foreman, Alajiki and Shepherd), but the Bears would go stagnant following an Anticevich jumper to go up 34-21 with 5:27 left. Cal would go 0-7 to finish the half, with three turnovers, as Oregon State cut Cal's lead to 1 at the break.

Then came Shepherd and Kelly. The two seniors combined for 33 of their 45 points in the second half, scoring Cal's first 16 points of the half. For the first ten minutes of the half, Shepherd had more points in the frame than the Beavers, as the sixth year senior put together arguably his best performance yet, despite a taped up thumb pregame.

"More work, staying confident," Shepherd said of what's helped him most, "I put in a lot of work over the summer, I put in a lot of work every day. It's the result of hard work, getting in, putting up shots."

Kelly had 16 of his 20 in the second half, as he's made some difficult post catches and turned them into points at a high level.

"This whole summer, I was working on a lot of things," Kelly noted, "post work, shooting, the efficiency of my footwork, my hands. Over time playing, it's my fourth year so I have more experience, I know what to expect as well. "

Thanks to a Shepherd blow-by layup, Cal's lead would baloon to 16 with 8:37 left, but Oregon State would not go away. Turnovers by Joel Brown led to five points by Oregon State's Ahmad Rand while Warith Alatishe and Dashawn Davis would hit layups to cut the lead down to seven. Shepherd and Kelly would keep Cal up with free throws and jumpers, going 7 of 8 from the line to close out the Beavers, giving the Bears their first Pac-12 opening win since the 2017-18 season.

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Notes and Takeaways

- Cal built a solid lead despite giving up 13 turnovers, leading to 20 Oregon State points. Joel Brown had five of those, but also was the Bears' top on-ball defender in chasing Jarod Lucas (1-5 shooting) and Gianni Hunt (2-8 shooting) on the perimeter. Brown also had 7 rebounds, as the Bears made a concerted effort to get their guard involved rebounding

- Oregon State continued their poor three point shooting, going 25% against a team they excelled against beyond the perimeter a year ago. Cal was 5-17 beyond the arc, though Shepherd hit three of his four attempts from deep.

- Jarred Hyder got the initial backup point guard minutes, but Makale Foreman took those over for the remainder of the game.

- Kuany continued his run of impressive shotblocking, with a two-handed stuff off the backboard in the second half that nearly led to a runout prior to an OSU foul.

Cal gets Utah Sunday afternoon in Salt Lake City for their second early Pac-12 game.