Cal Hangs on to Beat No. 14 North Carolina

Cal let most of a 20-point, second-half lead slip away but hung on for an 84-78 victory over 14th-ranked North Carolina Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 8,077 at Haas Pavilion.

North Carolina is the highest ranked team Cal has beaten since the Bears knocked off 11th-ranked Oregon 83-63 on Februray 11, 2016, nearly 10 year ago.

North Carolina got as close as three points with 18.8 seconds left, as a large contingent of Tar Heel fans in attendance spurred on North Carolina. But Justin Pippen made two free throws with 10.2 seconds left to seal the win.

"They had us on our heels; they made us feel uncomfortable," Cal coach Mark Madsen said, adding that he team felt "shell-shocked" when the Tar Heels were making their run. "We were able to survive when our guys stepped up and made plays.".

Cal's three-point shooting was ultimately the difference.

Dai Dai Ames had 19 points for Cal, Justin Pippen had 19, and John Camden scored 20 points. North Carolina freshman Caleb Wilson had 17 points, but he did not have a field goal in the final 15 minutes, collecting only three free throws in that late stretch.

Cal was 14-for-26 on three-pointers. Camden was 4-for-8 from distance, Ames was 3-for-5, and Pippen was 3-for-4.

Cal (14-5, 2-4 ACC.) had lost three in a row and was coming off a 15-point loss to No. 6 Duke, before coming up with Saturday's win.

"For us it was about bouncing back from the few losses we had,' said Camden. "This was a big game for us, not only in terms of our tournament hopes, but just in terms of our confidence as a team, it's a big win for s."

The Bears got their second victory over a ranked team this season, after beating then-No. 18 UCLA back in November.

North Carolina (14-4, 2-3 ACC) had lost to Stanford 95-90 on Wednesday.

Cal led by 20 points at 63-43 with 17:24 left in the second half, and the Bears still led by 19 with 8:25 remaining.

North Carolina got the margin down to 12 points with 7:18 to go, and Cal's lead was cut to six points when Derek Dixon hit a contested three-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer with 4:12 left. Cal turnovers again st Tar Heels pressure helped North Carolina get back in the game. The Bears committed turnovers on four possessions during the Tar Heels run.

"They kind of surprised us with that press," Ames said.

North Carolina reduced the margin to four points at the 3:21 mark, and had it down to four again with 1:47 to go. A three-pointer by Henri Vesaar got the Cal lead down to three, but Pippen's two free throws iced it.

Cal had an outstanding first half, which ended with the Bears holding a 17-point lead at 54-37.

The Bears led by 19 when Dai Dai Ames hit a bucket with 15 seconds remaining at the half, but the Tar Heels’ Derek Dixon made a layup at the buzzer to make it a 17-point game.

Cal made 10-of-16 three-point shots in the first half, and that included 3-for-5 from long range by John Camden, who had 16 points at halftime.

Cal shot 55.9% from the field overall in the first 20 minutes. North Carolina shot 50% from the floor but the Tar Heels were 4-for-11 from long range and just 5-for-10 from the foul line.

NOTES

Saturday was Cal’s first game since it announced that Rytis Petraitis will miss the rest of the season following surgery.