Cal Stays Close, but Loses to No. 15 USC

Cal held an 11-point lead midway through the first half and was within two points with 2:21 left in the second half, but could not pull off the upset, as No. 15 USC beat the Bears 79-72 on Saturday at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.

This was Cal's third straight game against a team ranked in the top 15.

The important facts from the game:

---Cal's record: 9-12, 2-8 Pac-12

---USC's record: 18-4, 8-3 Pac-12

---Cal has lost seven straight games and is 0-8 in games played away from home.

---Cal's leading scorers for the game: Makale Foreman 13 points; Andre Kelly 12, Jordan Shepherd 12, Jalen Celestine 12

---Cal's top rebounder Saturday: Grant Anticevich 7 rebounds.

---USC's leading scorers for Saturday's game: Isaiah Mobley 24 points, Boogie Ellis 21 points.

---USC's top rebounder: Mobley 6 rebounds

---Key stat: USC was 21-for-28 from the foul line; Cal was 8-for-11.

---Key sequence: With 2:04 left and USC leading by two points, Boogie Ellis made a layup and a free throw that went with it for a three-point play that put the Trojans ahead by five.

---Key note: Andre Kelly left the game midway through the second half with an injury to his lower left leg, probably his ankle. He did not return, and Mark Fox did not have an update on his status for Tuesday's game against Stanford.

---Key Mark Fox quote: "Anytime you go on the road against a nationally ranked team and shoot 50% from the field, 50% from the three, and you make more baskets than they did, you don't get outrebounded . . . We did a lot of good things, but we just didn't close it and again we just got murdered at the free-throw line, and that's the difference in the game."

Cal made one more field goal than the Trojans, going 28-for-56 (50%) from the field and 8-for-16 on three-pointers, while USC was 27-for-56 (48.3%) from the floor and just 4-for-17 from long range. Each team had 28 rebounds. Cal had 10 turnovers to USC's four, but the Trojans outscored Cal by 13 points from the foul line. Cal's Joel Brown fouled out in just 14 minutes of court time.

The Game:

Cal started fast, hitting eight of their first 10 shots, and the Bears took an 11-point lead at 24-13 with 9:54 left in the first half.

USC controlled things for the rest of the half, however, and took a 41-35 lead at halftime. Boogie Ellis had 13 points in the first half for the Trojans and Isaiah Mobley added 12.

Cal committed just four first-half turnovers and shot 53.8% from the field over the first 20 minutes, but still trailed by six at intermission. USC was 11-for-14 from the foul line before halftime and Cal was 3-for-4.

Cal stayed close in the second half and got within 69-67 on a Grant Anticevich bucket with 2:21 remaining, and after Ellis' three-point play, a basket by Foreman at the 1:18 mark cut the USC lead to 72-69. Mobley scored with 1:06 left to increase the Trojans' lead to five points, and Anticevich missed from close range on the Bears' subsequent possession.

Anticevich was left out of the Cal starting lineup for the second straight game. He went scoreless in 19 minutes of court time in Thursday's loss to UCLA. He missed his first five shots on Saturday before knocking down an 18-footer in the final minute of the first half.

Antcevich finished the game with eight points on 3-for-13 shooting, and eight points were the most points he has scored in the past six games.

Joel Brown was not in the starting lineup either for the Golden Bears.

Freshman Sam Alajiki made his second straight start for Cal on Saturday after leading the Bears in scoring with 11 points against UCLA. Kuany Kuany was back in the starting lineup as well.

Cover photo of Kuany Kuany by D. Ross Cameron, USA TODAY Sports

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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