Cal Basketball: Payton Pritchard Powers No. 11 Ducks Past Bears
Home cooking will only get you so far.
Cal's success at Haas Pavilion ran into No. 11 Oregon and its star senior guard Payton Pritchard on Thursday night.
The Bears put up a good fight, but Pritchard was too good down the stretch in a 77-72 win by the nation's No. 11 team in front of 6,117 fans.
Pritchard, a lead candidate for Pac-12 Player of the Year, scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half and dished out eight assists as Oregon (18-4, 7-2) retained its hold on first place in the conference standings. He scored 13 points in the final 8:05.
"Payton Pritchard late in the game was a deciding factor," Cal coach Mark Fox said. "As hard as we played and we got in position to win, the battle-tested team really separated themselves in the last couple minutes."
Cal (9-11, 3-4) was 9-2 at home and was 3-0 in Pac-12 games at Haas. The Bears were trying to beat a team ranked as high as the Ducks for the first time since posting an 83-63 win over an Oregon team also ranked No. 11 on Feb. 11, 2016 at Haas.
The Bears led by as many as seven points and trailed just 63-60 with just under 5 minutes left.In the meantime, they didn't make a field goal for nearly 7 1/2 minutes late in the game, and Oregon pushed its lead to 72-60 with just under a minute left.
A late flurry, including a steal and dunk by Matt Bradley and a 3-pointer by the sophomore wing, got the Bears within 72-67 in the final minute. A fast break layup by Paris Austin made it 75-72 with 3 seconds left, but two free throws by Pritchard iced the outcome.
Fox admitted this one will drive him a little nuts while he reviews the game tapes.
"This team is learning how hard you have to play. You have to answer some of the plays the other team makes," Fox said. "You have to go through battles like this to completely understand that process.
"Am I pleased by how hard we've played and the progress we've made and the fact that we had a chance? Yes. Will I look at the tape and want to throw the computer through the window 15 times tonight? Probably not. Will probably be 30."
Fox also said the Bears didn't do certain things well because they played a really good team. "When we look back at the mistakes we made, a lot of them are created by a great opponent."
Bradley scored 20 of his game-high 25 points in the second half. Kareem South added 13 points and Grant Anticevich and Austin each scored 10.
In the video above, South and Anticevich talk about why the Bears fell short but also what they did well.
Chris Duarte scored 19 points for the Ducks and Will Richardson had 15.
The Bears dominated the boards early (16-8 at halftime) but wound but the rebounding totals wound up even at 27-27. Cal had 14 turnovers five days after giving the ball away just seven times in its win over Stanford.
Cal shot 49 percent from the field and made 9 of 18 three-pointers. The Ducks converted 52 percent and were 10 for 18 from deep.
ROSTER NOTES: Fox said afterward that sophomore forward Jacobi Gordon, who has not played since the Pac-12 opener at Stanford on Jan. 2, is trying to come back following a medical procedure. He provided no timetable on when that might happen.
Fox also said of junior guard Juhwan Harris-Dyson, "He won't be back." Fox added that Harris-Dyson currently is focusing on academics. He has not played the past six games and Fox did not indicate if or when that might change.
PRE-GAME: Cal has beaten Washington State, Washington and Stanford at Haas Pavilion already this season.
Doing the same against No. 11 Oregon Thursday night will require the Bears' best performance of the season, without any question.
Cal (9-10, 3-3 Pac-12) is 9-2 on its home floor (compared with 0-8 elsewhere), but Pac-12 Conference leader Oregon (17-4, 6-2) have a more impressive resume. The Ducks own non-conference victories over the likes of Seton Hall, Memphis and Michigan, and they lost in overtime by one point in a neutral-site game to No. 2 Gonzaga.
Staying with Oregon will require the Bears to control tempo and shorten the game as they did last Sunday in their 52-50 victory over Stanford. Cal cannot afford to enter into a fast-pace track meet because the Ducks have too much firepower.
Oregon is coming off a 96-75 rout of UCLA in which the Ducks hit 11 three-pointers and forced 22 turnovers.
Ball security will be another key factor. Cal had just seven turnovers in its win over Stanford, but the Bears are facing one of the nation's most red-hot defenders. Chris Duarte didn't win Pac-12 Player of the Week honors merely for scoring 54 points against USC and UCLA. The 6-foot-6 junior guard also had 17 rebounds, 14 steals (fourteen!!!) and four blocked shots in those two games.
We're expecting senior Paris Austin to be in the starting lineup again, and he needs to assemble another solid game on the heels of posting 15 points, four assists, two steals and just one turnover in 35 minutes vs. Stanford.
Check back for tonight's starting lineup, then our in-game thread as the Bears try to improve to 4-0 in conference home games.
Cal starting lineup: G Paris Austin, G Matt Bradley, G Kareem South, F Grant Anticevich, C Lars Thiemann.
Oregon starting lineup: G Will Richardson, G Payton Pritchard, G Chris Duarte, F Shakur Juiston, F Chandler Lawson.
15:26 1st H: I don't want to overstate this, but the Bears are playing, well, nearly perfect basketball so far. They are defending, rebounding, have no turnovers and have scored on five of their six possessions. Center Lars Thiemann has six points (although he missed two FTs) and 2 rebounds. Cal has a 6-2 edge on the boards and has held the Ducks to 2-for-6 shooting so far. A long way to go, but about as good a start for Cal as anyone could have imagined. Cal 11, Oregon 6.
11:27 1st H: A couple Cal turnovers and we're all tied up. That's all it took. The Bears also have cooled a bit shooting the ball -- started 6 for 9, but missed their past two. The Bears scored 15 points on their first 8 possessions, but are O-fer on their past 4. Oregon mixing defenses and its press also caused the Bears some distress. Cal 15, Oregon 15.
10:17 1st H: Cal has now gone six straight possessions without scoring - 0-for-2 FGs and 4 turnovers. The Bears' defense is holding up so far, but this is not a good trend. Ducks are 4-for-6 from 3-point, Oregon 18, Cal 15.
7:58 1st H: A 3-pointer by Matt Bradley -- his first points of the night -- halted the Bears' streak of seven straight scoreless possessions. He then scored on a baseline driving dunk. But the Ducks are finding their rhythm on offense and now are shooting 60 percent. Oregon 22, Cal 20.
3:50 1st H: It's actually kind of amazing the Bears have stayed as close as they have. Consider: Cal scored 15 points on its first 8 possessions of the game, then followed that a 9-minute stretch during which it posted just 5 points in 15 possessions. The biggest issue: the Bears already have 8 turnovers - 1 more than they committed the entire game Sunday vs. Stanford. Oregon 25, Cal 22.
HALFTIME: Cal 32, Oregon 32. Well, who saw that coming? Not me. How did the Bears do it? First of all, they controlled tempo against a team that would like to play much faster. Oregon forced nine turnovers -- many of them with its pressure defense -- but Cal milked its offensive possessions, shortened the game and generally took good shots. The Bears also rebounded very well, beating the Ducks 16-8 on the boards and allowing just 2 offensive rebounds (and zero second-chance points). Cal shot 48 percent, Oregon 50 percent. Grant Anticevich played well, scoring 10 points including a pair of open 3-pointers late in the half. He also had 5 rebounds. Thiemann had 8 first-half points and Cal is even despite a 9-minute stretch midway through the half when it scored just 5 points in 15 possessions. Chris Duarte, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week after scoring 54 points vs. the LA schools last week, leads the Ducks with 13 points. Will Richardson has 10 for the Ducks. Point guard Payton Pritchard has 3 assists but just 2 points. Watch out for him in the second half - he is a terrific finisher.
14:29 2nd H: Yep, Pritchard came alive for the Ducks as the second half began. He hit a 3-pointer, then scored on a baseline drive and converted the ensuing free throw, pushing Oregon into a 38-32 lead. But the Ducks have gotten sloppy - 5 straight possessions with nothing to show for it - and the Bears have fought back. Freshman Joel Brown, playing because Paris Austin picked up his third foul, has dished the ball twice to Kareem South for 3-pointers and the Bears are in the midst of an 8-0 run. Cal 42, Oregon 40.
11:05 2nd H: The Bears are finding enough offense to maintain the lead. Bradley hit a long 3-pointer, Austin converted a drive & free throw and South buried a jumped after a nice pump-fake. Cal is shooting 55% in the half and continues to rule the boards (24-13). This is beginning to get serious. Cal 50, Oregon 45.
9:52 2nd H: The often-offensively challenged Bears have scored on five straight possessions. Most encouraging, they just made Oregon pay for its full-court pressure as South lobbed an alley-oop in transition to D.J. Thorpe, who dunked it. Cal is shooting 62 percent in the half and now has three players in double figures: Bradley 14 points, South 13 points ,Anticevich 10 points. Cal 54, Oregon 50.
5:58 2nd H: Oregon is hitting from the 3-point line, often in transition, and has taken the lead. The Ducks are on a 70 burst, triggered by a layup and free throw by Pritchard, who now has 13 points. Oregon 63, Cal 58.
3:47 2nd H: Pritchard is taking over. He has 15 points and 7 assists and is making all the plays for Oregon. The Ducks extended their lead to 7 on a layup by Pritchard and his feed to Shakur Juiston. Oregon 67, Cal 60.
