Cal Basketball: Grant Anticevich Scores 25, Bears Erupt Late to Bury Pacific

Cal’s three veteran leaders took over down the stretch and the Bears avoided being upset by Pacific for the first time in more than 60 years, pulling away for a 73-53 victory on Wednesday afternoon at Haas Pavilion.

The Bears closed the game with a 21-2 run and no one rose up bigger than senior Grant Anticevich, who performed at his best in front of his parents, who made the trip from Australia to see him play.

Anticevich made a career-best seven 3-pointers on the way to scoring 25 points, also his best in 120 games for Cal.

“Shucks, 7 out of 11 — that’s really good shooting,” point guard Joel Brown said of Anticevich’s 3-point accuracy. “He shot with confidence. Grant’s capable of doing this and I’m looking forward to (him) doing it again sometime soon.”

“When Grant’s shooting it like he shoots it, we’re not going to tell him to stop,” coach Mark Fox said.

Anticevich talks about his big game in the video above.

The Bears (8-5) have won four in a row for the first time since the start of the 2019-20 season. Their next game is Sunday, Jan. 2, when they resume Pac-12 play at Stanford.

Andre Kelly and Jordan Shepherd struggled most of the game before coming to life when it mattered. Anticevich also made sizable contributions as the Bears broke open a game they led just 52-51 with less than 8 minutes left.

The Bears ran off 18 straight points — 16 of them by the three seniors — and led 70-52 with less than 3 minutes left.

Kelly, who made just two of his first 10 shots, scored seven points in the final 7:11. Fox talks in the video below about how the Bears’ senior power forward may have been over-amped by the chance to play against his hometown school from Stockton.

Shepherd opened the game 1 for 6 but put up nine late points. And Anticevich helped fuel the decisive run with seven points, including a 3-pointer.

Kelly and Shepherd finished with 11 points apiece -- well under their season averages -- and sophomore Jalen Celestine, despite foul trouble, scored 12 points, one shy of his career best.

Brown delivered a nice all-around game with seven points, seven rebounds and eight assists.

The junior from Canada talks in the video below about how the game slowed down for him, allowing him to thrive.

The Bears shot 60 percent from the field in the second half and held the Tigers (5-9) without a field goal over the final 7:42.

Pacific trailed just 52-51 after a jumper by Jeremiah Bailey with 7:40 to play but the Tigers missed their final eight shots while Cal found a groove.

The Bears improved to 27-2 all-time vs. Pacific and have not lost to the Stockton squad since the 1954-55 season.

Cal scored the game’s first eight points, including 3-pointers by Jalen Celestine and Anticevich, but was outscored 30-17 the rest of the half.

“Credit Pacific — they played good defense. On our part, we just didn’t play with enough authority,” Brown said.

The Tigers took a 30-25 lead into the break by scoring the final six points of the half. Cal managed just two points over the final 6-plus minutes of the period — on a tip-in by Kelly — shooting 1-for-8 from the field while coughing up four turnovers.

The duo of Kelly and Shepherd combined to make just three of 14 shots in the first half. The rest of the Bears weren’t much better — Cal shot 35 percent and had seven turnovers over the first 20 minutes.

Anticevich made three 3-pointers and scored nine points in the half and Celestine had five points and six rebounds.

Cover photo of Grant Anticevich celebrating one of his seven 3-point baskets by Michelle Minahen, Cal Athletics

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