Cal Basketball: Jalen Celestine's 3-Point Shot Lifts Bears Over Washington, 82-80
Junior guard Jalen Celestine nailed a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left and Cal flipped the script from its first game against Washington, claiming an 82-80 victory in Seattle on Saturday night.
The Bears called timeout with 11.6 seconds left, trailing 80-79 after Jalen Cone stole the ball from Huskies point guard Sahvir Wheeler.
Jaylon Tyson took the inbounds pass and found Celestine, who swished the 3-pointer.
“We drew up a play with different options. The primary option isn’t there and the secondary option triggered,” coach Mark Madsen said.
“And Jaylon Tyson made the most unbelievable read with the pass and Jalen Celestine made just the most unbelievable shot to win the game.”
Yes, Madsen was a little excited.
Wheeler failed to convert a frantic drive to the basket as the horn sounded.
A month ago, the Huskies (14-12, 6-9) escaped Haas Pavilion when Moses Wood hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 77-75 victory.
Tyson had 28 points and six assists as the Bears (11-15, 7-8 Pac-12) got just their third road win of the season. Seven conference victories equals their highest total since the 2016-17 campaign.
With the victory, the Bears climbed into a three-way tie with Stanford and Arizona State for sixth place in the Pac-12 standings. They are one game back of Colorado at 8-7.
Cal also squared its all-time record vs. UW at 88-88 in what could be the last meeting between the teams, who are headed to new conference addresses next season.
The victory came two days after a rare blowout defeat, an 84-65 loss at Washington State. “We had a tough game against Washington State — we just weren’t ourselves,” Madsen said. “One of our players got a technical. I got a technical. It’s unacceptable. We all kind of regrouped.”
Cone had 14 points for the Bears, Fardaws Aimaq had 13 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots before fouling out with 4:40 to play, and Keonte Kennedy had 14 points, nine rebounds and two steals.
Celestine scored all eight of his points in the final 2:21 of the game, including a 3-pointer with 1:39 left that tied the game at 79-all. UW went ahead 23 seconds later when Wheeler made the second of two free throws.
Madsen had special praise for Celestine, who missed all five of his first-half shots, four of them from beyond the arc.
“His shot wasn’t going early in the game but he stayed locked in,” Madsen said. “And he stayed locked in defensively, a lot of times on the other team’s best player, Keion Brooks. Celestine just made it tough on Brooks.”
The Pac-12 scoring leader, Brooks finished with 26 points but needed 19 shots to get there.
Tyson, who has been a big second-half scorer this season, made eight of his first nine shots on the way to 21 points that powered the Bears to a 42-38 lead at the break.
The first half featured six lead changes and four ties. Cal made 10 of its first 11 shots inside the 3-point arc and outrebounded the Huskies 25-19 in the first half, although they were outscored 12-7 on second-chance points.
Aimaq had six points and nine rebounds at the half. UW’s Brooks scored 13.
Cover photo of Jaylon Tyson by Joe Nicholson, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
