A Cal Victory Worth Shouting About: Bears Topple Miami on the Road

Cal scored its most important victory in perhaps 10 years, surviving attrition to overcome Miami 86-85 and claim its initial Quad 1 win at Coral Gables on Saturday afternoon.

"I could not be prouder of our team," coach Mark Madsen said on his postgame radio show. "That was a true team win."

The heroes were everywhere for the Golden Bears:

— DK Dut, a 7-foot sophomore from South Sudan who had played just 26 minutes all season, scored the go-ahead basket on a putback with 56 seconds left, blocked two shots in his 7 minutes on the floor and altered the Hurricanes’ last-second attempt at a game-winner.

— Forward John Camden scored a season-high 26 points, making 4 of 5 shots from 3-point range, and secured the rebound after Shelton Henderson’s missed shot at the finish.

Justin Pippen drives toward the basket | Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

— Point guard Justin Pippen scored 10 of his 17 points in the second half and dished eight assists.

— Forward Chris Bell scored six of his 16 points in the final 8:11 and guard Dai Dai Ames saved seven of his 14 for the final 5:23.

For the Bears (16-6, 4-5 ACC), this was a huge victory, just their second in six games on the road. In te hunt for perhaps its first NCAA tournament bid since 2016, Cal began the day at No. 56 in the NET computer rankings. The Bears should see a bump on Sunday after knocking off the Hurricanes (17-5, 6-3), who had a NET rank of 32.

The Bears prevailed despite surrendering 48 points in the paint, which allowed Miami to shoot 57 percent. The game featured 44 personal fouls and 65 free throw attempts, 47 of those coming in the second half.

Cal countered by making 10 3-pointers, committing just seven turnovers and getting contributions from 10 players.

Miami, trailing 45-44 at halftime, carried by forward Malik Reneau’s 22 second points, surged into a 72-61 lead with 10 minutes left.

The Bears played their second straight game without 6-foot-10 starting big man Lee Dort, and Miami’s relentless attacking in the paint wore out his understudies.

Milos Ilic, a 6-10 grad transfer, scored two points in 24 minutes before fouling out. His backup, 6-11 sophomore Mantas Kocanas, contributed a 3-point basket but fouled out in 9 minutes.

Dut, with very little experience this season as basically the club’s No. 4 post player, drew four fouls in 7 minutes on the court but was around to make big plays at the finish. "For me, my (mentality) is whenever my opportunitu comes, I will be ready," Dut said.

Cal took its first lead since halftime when Ames drilled a 3-polnter off a pass from Pippen for an 82-81 edge with 3:41 left. The Canes were back in front at 85-84 when Reneau made a layup and free throw for the last of his 24 points with 1:56 left.

Miami didn’t score again.

Dut blocked a shot by Miami center Ernest Udeh with 1:12 left before giving Cal the lead when he grabbed a rebound off a shot by Ames that was blocked and converted the putback with 56 seconds to play.

"As a big if you see your guard going to the basket, the (opposing) 5 man is going to contest it," Dut said. "What the coaches pound on is crash when you're supposed to crash. I just said, `OK, I'm in the moment, let me go ahead and if they block it, I got the putback. That's exactly what happened."

Each team missed shots on their next possession before Miami got one last chance after a timeout with 5.8 seconds left. Henderson, who scored 16 points, drove at Ames, with Dut right behind him, missed a shot in traffic and Camden grabbed just his second rebound of the game to clinch the win.

Cal forward John Camden draws a foul | Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

Both teams shot well and minimized turnovers during the first 20 minutes but Cal took a 45-44 edge into the locker room, thanks in part to Camden’s efficient first half.

He scored 19 points in the half, connecting on 5 of 6 shots from the field, including both of his 3-point tries, and 7 for 7 from foul line. Pippen had seven points, six assists, three rebounds and a steal in the half.

Cal shot 53.6 percent (15 for 28) in the half and made six of its 12 attempts from 3-point range. The Bears twice led by as many as seven points, the first time at 31-24 after a 19-5 burst that featured eight points from Pippen and seven from Camden.

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