Cal Basketball: Bears Fall to Pepperdine for Third Straight Loss

Matt Bradley had a career-high 27 points and Grant Anticevich nearly matched his career high with 21 points, but it was not enough as Cal lost to Pepperdine 74-62 Wednesday night in Malibu, Calif.

Bradley and Anticevich did not get enough offensive support from their teammates. The Bears were just 5-of-24 (20.8%) on three-point shots and that includes a combined 1-for-11 by Ryan Betley and Makale Foreman, the Bears' two best outside shooters.

"It was nice to see [Bradley] and Grant come and be as effective as they were, so that was a positive," Cal coach Mark Fox said. "Obviously Makale and Ryan didn't shoot it as well as they had been, and to win on the road were going to have have several guys contribute.

"We're going to need more than two guys to chip in."

Other than Bradley, who surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his Cal career in this game, and Anticevich, Cal scored just 14 points with no other players scoring more than four.

It was the third straight loss for the Bears, who slipped to 2-4 overall, including 0-3 on the road. Cal is now 1-13 in games on its opponent's home court since Mark Fox arrived as head coach last season, and the Bears are 2-33 in their last 35 road games.

Pepperdine (3-2) took control by making 10-of-19 three-point shots in the first half after coming into the game having made just 27.2 percent of their long-range attempts. And it was the Waves' big men who did the most damage from the perimeter. Pepperdine's' 6-foot-8 Kessler Edwards scored 26 points and made 4-of-6 three-pointers, while 6-foot-9 Jan Zidek came off the bench to hit 4-of-5 treys while scoring 14 points.

They helped the Waves take a 14-point lead at halftime.

"Compared to last year's game against Pepperdine [a 16-point Cal win at Haas Pavilion], our defense was much more effective a year ago, and we have not established our ability to get defensive stops yet," Fox said, "and obviously with the three-point line with the stretch-five was really a challenge for us tonight. But they had 10 threes in the first half, and again we're playing uphill. And we have to find a way to build a defense that will give us a chance to win away from home."

The Bears did hold down Pepperdine's star guard, Colbey Ross, who was limited to nine points -- 11 below his average -- on 3-of-9 shooting, but he did have 11 assists.

"I thought he beat us with the pass a little bit tonight, but we did a decent job containing his scoring," Fox said.

Listen to Fox's general comments in this audio recording:

Cal trailed 44-30 at the end of the first half, which featured some interesting statistics. Pepperdine made 10-of-19 three-point shots but did not attempt a free throw in the first half. Cal, meanwhile, was 11-of-14 from the foul line but just 1-of-9 from long range.

Cal outrebounded the Waves 20-12 over the first 20 minutes, but Cal committed eight turnovers while Pepperdine had just two -- both coming in the final two minutes of the half.

Anticevich and Bradley accounted for 25 of the Bears' 30 first-half points.

Cal's starting lineup against Pepperdine consisted of Matt Bradley, Ryan Betley, Joel Brown, Grant Anticevich and Andre Kelly. Makale Foreman came off the bench.

Cal freshman Monty Bowser, who had not played since getting injured in the Nov. 30 game against Nicholls State, entered Wednesday's game in the first half.

Cal's next game is a Sunday afternoon home game against San Francisco, which is 4-2 and owns a win over Virginia, which was ranked No. 4 at the time.

Cover photo of Cal coach Mark Fox by Cody Glenn, USA TODAY Sports

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

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