Cal Basketball: It's Only One Win, But . . .

Bears could not have asked for more than they got in the win over Pepperdine

OK, let's start by reminding everyone that Cal's 87-71 victory over Pepperdine Tuesday night in Berkeley was only one win. 

Don't start thinking that Cal is going rip through UNLV next Tuesday in its second game. Or that Cal will stay with Duke when Cal faces the Blue Devils in New York on Nov. 21. Or that the Bears are suddenly contenders for the Pac-12 title.

No, things don't change that radically as a result of one simple W.

Having said that, though, Cal's opening game of the 2019-20 season could not have gone any better.

"I'm really proud of our players for buying into our vision," Cal coach Mark Fox said afterward on the video. "We have worked them extremely hard. When you demand that much as a coach it needs to work out, so they'll do it again.

"They deserve credit for playing super-hard tonight." 

Let us count the ways that this win was special:

--Cal won its first game under new head coach Mark Fox and the Bears looked organized, unselfish and smart in the process.

--The Bears trailed by six with a minute left in the first half, but absolutely dominated the second half. Cal shot 71.8 percent from the field and hit 6-of-8 three-point shots after halftime as Cal outscored Pepperdine 52-34 in the second half.

--Despite sitting out much of the first half with two fouls, Matt Bradley scored a career-high 25 points and hit 5-of-7 shots from behind a three-point line that is 17 inches further out than it was last season.

--Pepperdine's Colbey Ross, a first-team all-West Coast Conference performer last season, scored 17 points in the first half but was limited to two points in the second half.

--Cal senior guard Paris Austin did not start Tuesday's game, but he was the catalyst in Cal's 17-0 run in the second half when the Bears took over the game. He finished with 14 points and three assists, but it was his ability to penetrate and make plays that created the Bears' second-half momentum.

"I thought Paris in the second half was terrific," Fox said.

--Pepperdine, which was picked to finish fourth in a conference that has two top-25 teams, was a two-point favorite coming into the game, but could not keep up with Cal in the second half. The Waves were limited to 37.1 percent shooting for the game.

--The Bears are above .500 since Nov. 16, 2017, when they were 2-1.