Cal Basketball: Golden Bears Crush ASU 74-50 in Return to Pac-12 Play

Bears' 24-point margin is their biggest in a conference victory in nearly five years.

Cal emerged from the holiday break to play one of its best Pac-12 Conference games in years, never trailing on the way to a 74-50 victory over Arizona State at Haas Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.

The Bears (9-5, 2-1) won their fifth straight game while snapping a seven-game losing streak against the Sun Devils (5-8, 1-2). They have won nine of 12 games since starting the season with two defeats.

Coach Mark Fox, in the video at the top, called the performance "a complete game," although he labeled the Bears' free-throw shooting "atrocious" after they missed five of their first seven attempts.

Cal was originally scheduled to play Sunday at Stanford, but that game was postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Cardinal program. ASU's trip to Los Angeles was put on hold because of health issues at USC and UCLA, so the Sun Devils were sent to Berkeley instead.

The 24-point margin was the biggest by Cal in a conference victory since 76-46 win over Oregon State on Feb. 24, 2017. The Bears have won nine straight games on their home floor.

Yes, it's just a start. But it's an encouraging one for a team picked to finish last in the Pac-12 this season and won no more than three conference games in three of the past four seasons.

Eight different Bears made 3-point baskets and seniors Jordan Shepherd and Andre Kelly led a balanced scoring attack with 16 and 13 points, respectively.

Grant Anticevich had 10 points and 10 rebounds, Jalen Celestine added nine points and point guard Joel Brown contributed seven points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

"One thing coach always talks about is playing with confidence, playing with authority," said Shepherd in the video above. "We always believed. Since the beginning of this season, there was never any doubt in our mind.

"We think we're capable of being a top-four team in this league. . . . We know what we're capable of. We know what we've got in the locker room."

Shepherd, a graduate transfer, is new to Berkeley. But senior forward Kelly has endured the program's tough growing pains the past several seasons so he has greater perspective on how far the team has progressed.

"Tonight was a really good night for us, defensively," he says in the video below. "There's definitely more there. . . . We have two good teams coming in so I think this is a step for us in the right direction."

Cal returns to action Thursday at home against unbeaten and seventh-ranked USC, then plays No. 5 UCLA on Saturday. The Bears have lost their past six meetings vs. USC, their past eight against the Bruins.

Fox says he was "shocked" the Bears got such a good start against the Sun Devils.

Cal forged early leads of 9-2 and 25-12 on the way to a 41-23 halftime edge. The Bears never allowed ASU to get closer than 14 points in the second half.

It happened after what Fox described as a poor practice on Saturday.

The Bears played well defensively, limiting the Sun Devils to 33 percent shooting, including 3 for 17 on 3-point attempts. Sophomore guard DJ Horne was the only ASU player to score in double figures, posting 17 points.

Cal had it clicking offensively in the first half, shooting 50 percent from the field and from 3-point range, with seven different players hitting exactly one from beyond the arc. ASU was 0-for-7 on 3’s, meaning Cal generated a 21-point advantage from deep in the half.

Cal’s only first-half shortcoming was a 4-for-9 effort at the free throw line that began with five misses in its first seven attempts.

Cover photo of Grant Anticevich by Rob Edwards, KLC fotos

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo