Cal Rally Falls Short in Two-Point Loss to Florida State

Cal rallied from a 15-point deficit to take a late-game lead, but the Bears could not hang on in a 63-61 loss to Florida State on Wednesday in Tallahassee, Florida.

The Bears (15-5, 3-5 ACC) came into the game on the NCAA tournament bubble, and losing to a team with a losing record is not going to help the Bears' bid. Cal's inability to score a point in the final 2:26 of the game ruined Cal's bid and ended the Bears' two-game win streak.

Cal's Justin Pippen had an open look at a three-point shot with two seconds left that would have won the game, but he failed to hit it. He finished 4-for-9 from long range.

Florida State (9-12, 2-6 ACC) led by 15 points 18 seconds into the second half, but Cal rallied and took a 59-58 lead with 3:45 to go. That lead lasted just seven seconds, but Cal still trailed by just a point at 62-61 with 2:26 left.

The Seminoles scored only one point the rest of the game. hitting just one of four free throws in the final minute. But Cal did not score at all in that last 2:26.

A John Camden three-point shot with 40 seconds left missed, and after Lajae Jones made one of two free throws for the Seminoles with 9.8 seconds left to make it 63-61, Cal had one last chance. Pippen, who scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half, got a good look at a three-point shot but missed it.

"The whole key was speed," Cal coach Mark Madsen said of the final play. "We ran an action, we got a clean look, and the ball didn't go in . . . We executed that. We needed to execute better in the first half. so that it does not come down to a one-possession game."

Cal starting center Lee Dort sat out Wednesday’s game because of a knee injury suffered in the previous game against Stanford. Milos Ilic got his first start of the season in Dort’s absence.

With Dort out, Florida State collected 12 offensive rebounds and outscored Cal 32-14 in the paint.

Cal finished the game shooting just 34.5% from the field, but Florida State was not much better at 36.5%. Cal made 10-of-28 three-point shots, while the Seminoles were 6-for-28. The Seminoles kept Cal in the game with poor foul shooting. They were just 11-for-21 from the line.

Cal had to work hard after a poor first half, which ended with Florida State holding a 36-23 lead. It was the fewest points Cal scored in a first half this season.

"Well, we had a stretch in the first half where Florida State built a big lead," Madsen said during the postgame radio show. "In the second half we held them to 27 points, we scored 38. We had two good looks from really good shooters to go up and potentially and win the game, and the shots rimmed out.

"In a perfect world it's not that close of a game; it's not a one- or two-possession game. We need to correct things from the first half. Our guys played incredibily hard, and they fought, and we got Miami coming up Saturday."

The Bears struggled offensively in the first half. Chris Bell had 10 points for Cal in the first half when he was 4-for-5 from the field. But the rest of the team was 5-for-23 from the field, and the Bears committed eight turnovers in the first 20 minutes to go with it. Florida State had just two turnovers before halftime.

"Turnovers were an issue in the first half," Madsen said, "because we had eight turnovers in the first half, and some of those were live turnovers. And that hurt us, because now they're coming down our throat and they're getting layups, drawing fouls.

"We did a much better job of taking care of the ball in the second half with three turnovers, but the eight in the first half absolutely killed our momentum in the first half. Give Florida State credit; they took us out of some stuff, and they created some of those turnovers."

Much of Florida State’s first-half offense was provided by Chauncey Wiggins, who had 13 points in the first half when he made all five of his field-goal attempts, including three from long range.

Cal held a 19-18 lead with 7:27 left in the first half, but the Bears went on a prolonged offensive drought, helping the Seminoles outscore them 16-2 over the next six minutes.

Florida State outscored Cal 18-4 in the paint in the first half.

Cal has 10 games left before the ACC tournament as it bids to make the NCAA tournament.

Fox Sports’ NCAA tournament projections on Tuesday had Cal in the 68-team field as a No. 11 seed. CBS Sports’ projections on Monday had Cal among the First Four Out, ESPN placed the Golden Bears in the Next Four Out category (just behind the First Four Out) on Tuesday, and NCAA.com put Cal among its First Eight Out in its Tuesday projections.

The Bears are clearly on the bubble, so Cal’s first NCAA tournament berth in 10 years seems possible.

NOTES

Wednesday was Cal coach Mark Madsen’s 50th birthday.

Florida was a 3.5-point favorite over Cal in Wednesday’s game.

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