Jordan Shepherd's Cal career has spanned all of seven games, but he may have made one of the most difficult circus shots of the year. Shepherd, with two seconds left on the shot clock and in the middle of a broken play, heaved a shot up off one foot, banking it in and giving the Bears a late 11 point lead. Cal would keep that lead through the end, taking down an undefeated Fresno State squad, 65-57.

"To be honest, I can't really explain it," Shepherd said, "time was running down, I had to get a shot up. That was the best look I could create and it went down."

Shepherd did this despite a sprained thumb, one which had him heavily taped up during the game and in a brace when not playing basketball. The super senior would come up big, with 17 points and 7 rebounds in an important early season win.

"Fresno coming in undefeated, I think they've got a good basketball team," head coach Mark Fox said, "they've got a great player they've built around. This is one of the games you really worry about, because I thought they had a really good team. I thought we started the game well, but I thought (after) the trip to Florida, we were emotionally worn down, we'd have two good minutes then a bad 45 seconds. Fortunately, we were able to find another good set of minutes, build a small lead, and ultimately win the game."

After two frustrating games in the state of Florida, Cal came back with a big effort.against Fresno State . The Bears got out to an early 7-0 lead and never trailed, with Joel Brown hitting an open 3 to help that start. Andre Kelly (14 points, 5 rebounds) would start off hot for the Bears, making his first five shots in scoring 10 of Cal's first 17 points.

Cal would fall into a malaise thanks to some of those bad minutes, with Orlando Robinson (25 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists) heating up early, but the Bears would get a runout layup from Jarred Hyder, a Kuany Kuany putback, and five Grant Anticevich points would have the Bears up 28-21 at halftime.

Cal would go to Kelly out of the break, but three fouls on the Cal big had him sitting for the early part of the second half. Lars Thiemann would struggle to cover the 7', 235 lb Robinson, who showed a solid inside-out game. Shepherd would keep the Bears up thanks to a handful of midrange pullups, but Robinson would tie the game at 37 with a 3 with 11:38 to go.

Jalen Celestine would be the next Bear to hit, nailing a much needed three, and after Fresno hit one of their own, Anticevich hit an open corner three off a near broken play. Cal would then have a flurry, thanks to a Celestine postup, a Shepherd midrange jumper, and Joel Brown's second 3 of the game. Anticevich would get a three point play the hard way prior to Shepherd's circus shot with 2:28 left, giving the Bears a decisive 11 point lead that they wouldn't give up.

A three by Kuany Kuany and a bevvy of freethrows from Kelly and Shepherd would close out the game for the Bears, who start Pac-12 play Thursday at home against Oregon State.

- Cal was still without DJ Thorpe, Marsalis Roberson and Monty Bowser. Bowser has an ankle issue and is weeks away while Thorpe may be the closest to returning. Roberson appeared to dress for the game, but Fox noted postgame that he still hasn't practiced.

- Much like the Southern Utah game, Cal played a team built around one post player, something they've managed to handle so far. The Bears never trailed in this one

- Shepherd noted that he hurt his thumb late against UNLV

- Cal improves to 13-3 in non-conference home games under Fox.

- Fresno was one of three undefeated teams left in the state of California, along with San Francisco and USC.

- Kuany Kuany had three blocks, including an impressive one at the rim against Robinson in the first half