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Oregon Blows Out Cal at Haas Pavilion

The Ducks hand the Golden Bears their most lopsided loss of the season, and it was on Cal's home court
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Cal had been having success recently at Haas Pavilion, winning three of their previous four home games.  Oregon put a screeching halt to that by dominating the Bears 87-58 on Wednesday night in Berkeley.

Cal (3-16, 2-6 Pac-12) had been competitive in most games this season despite its disappointing record. However, the Bears were not competitive on Wednesday as the 29-point margin represented Cal's most lopsided loss of the season. In fact, it was the biggest margin of defeat since Feb. 18, 2021 when Cal lost to Washington State by 31 points. But that loss was on the road.

"This was as bad a game as we've had all season," Cal center Lars Thiemann said in the video atop the story.

Cal had a poor shooting night, in large part because of Oregon's sticky defense.  The Bears were shooting 25.8% from the field four minutes into the second half, and by that time the Ducks had built a 22-point lead as the crowd of 2,341 went silent.

"We didn't find a rhythm on offense," Thiemann said. "We couldn't really be effective against the press."

Oregon increased the lead to 26 points (60-34) with 10 minutes remaining in the game, and the rest was garbage time.

Cal's recent success at home had been attributed to the addition of DeJuan Clayton to the starting lineup, and the Bears headed into Wednesday's game with a 2-2 record with Clayton on the floor to begin games. But against Oregon, Clayton did not score his first points until 15:32 remained in the second half, and by then Cal was behind by 22 points.  

Coach Mark Fox said Clayton missed practice the previous two days because of illness and developed a migraine heacache during Wednesday's game.

"He obviously wasn't himself," Fox said.

Clayton finished with three points on 1-for-6 shooting.    ND Okafor led Cal with 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting.

Oregon (11-8, 5-3 Pac-12) was coming off a 19-point home win over then-No. 9 Arizona, and the Ducks appear to be rounding into the form that was expected of them in preseason.

The Ducks shot 59.6% from the field, including 66.7% in the second half, and they committed just five turnovers for the game. The only concern for the Ducks was a knee injury suffered by Rivaldo Soares in the closing minutes.

"They have a good team, I don't want to take anything away from them, but I was very disappointed in our defensive play tonight. Really disappointed," Fox said. "We have to commit to that end and we just haven't, not near to the level we expect, and tonight we paid dearly for that."

Fox suggested that perhaps the team was unable to bounce back from the diappointing loss at Washington on Saturday, when the Bears let an 11-point second-half lead slip away. Missed free throws in the final minutes led to an overtime loss to the Huskies in a game the Bears seemed to have in hand.

The Ducks are now 2-0 with South Carolina transfer Jermaine Couisnard in the starting lineup. He had just nine points Wednesday, but five Oregon players scored in double figures, led by N'Faly Danter, who had 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting, and Soares, who had 13 points.

Cal again played without its leading scorer, Devin Askew, who missed his seventh game of the season with foot issues. And Fox does not expect Askew back anytime soon.

Cal junior Jalen Celestine, who had offseason knee surgery, has not played in a game this season, but he was in uniform on Wednesday with a brace on his leg and went through pregame warmups. He started 16 games last season and is the Bears' top returning scorer from last season, when he averaged 7.5 points.

However, he was ruled inactive before the game and did not play. And Fox does not expect him to ready to go soon, either.  Fox is not even sure Celestine will play this season.

Cal shot just 28% from the field in the first half, and that included 1-for-8 on three-point attempts. That and Oregon's 52% shooting in the first half resulted in the Ducks holding a 34-21 lead at halftime.

The Ducks used a 10-0 run early the first half to take the lead, then, after Cal had closed within 19-17, Oregon reeled off 11 straight points to extend its lead to 13 points with 3:09 remaining in the opening half.

Oregon is the worst three-point shooting team in the Pac-12, and the Ducks were just 1-for-10 from distance in the first half. But they made up for that by making 12 of their 15 two-point shots as they were able to get inside Cal's defense consistently.

Keeshawn Barthelemy came off the bench to score a team-leading eight points in the first half. Cal reserve Sam Alajiki lead the Bears with seven points before halftime, and he had Cal's only three-point bucket in the first half.

A first-half dunk by Oregon freshman Kel'el Ware

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Cover photo of Joel Brown by Cal Athletics

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