Photo by Cody Glenn, USA Today
Cal Basketball: Paris Austin Creates Another Lifetime Memory on the Haas Pavilion Floor
It has not been an easy season for Cal senior point guard Paris Austin, but once more he helped author a moment he won't forget in his final game at Haas Pavilion.
Austin scored 15 points and made up for missing two critical free throws at the end of regulation by converting a pair in overtime as the Bears delivered their most balanced offensive performance of the season in an 86-79 win over Utah.
Austin played his final game for Bishop O'Dowd High School at Haas, helping Ivan Rabb and the Dragons win the 2015 CIF State Open Division Championship. Now he has won on the same floor in his final home home game.
"It meant a lot," he said after visiting with more a dozen family members following the game. "Obviously, being able to create a memory here from high school, one that I'll never forget and finishing my last college game here . . . I'll never forget it.
"I'm super-happy being able to play in front of my family and friends, and then coming out with the win and having a big night with my teammates."
Austin started every game at point guard for the Bears last season, but the team was 8-23 and changed coaches. First-year coach Mark Fox started freshman Joel Brown the first eight games this season before Austin won the job. He was back coming off the bench in January, but has started the past 11 games, averaging 11.9 points and helping to get the Bears' season pointed in the right direction.
"Paris has had a season that has changed the momentum of Cal basketball," Fox said. "And for the rest of his life, he should get credit for that. I'm extremely thankful I had the chance to coach him."
Cal won for the fifth time in those 11 games and finished the home schedule with a 12-5 record. Picked to finish last in the Pac-12, the Bears (13-16, 7-9) now reside alone in eighth place with two games left on the regular-season schedule.
The Bears needed big contributions from a range of players to avenge their 60-45 loss at Salt Lake City three weeks earlier. They got just that to complete a weekend sweep of the mountain schools, with five players scoring in double figures for the first time all season:
-- Matt Bradley scored 21 points, including 6 in overtime, before fouling out with 49 seconds left in the extra period. It was his 11th game of at least 20 points this season.
-- Grant Anticevich had 15 of his 17 points in the second half and grabbed 8 rebounds.
-- Andre Kelly had 15 points, 9 rebounds (5 at the offensive end) and a career-high 5 blocked shots before fouling out with 1:30 left in overtime.
-- Freshman Joel Brown had 11 points -- his high game in Pac-12 play -- along with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a huge steal and layup with 35 seconds left, pushing Cal's lead to 84-76. He then made two free throws with 13 seconds left to ice the win -- all after taking stitches in his finger for a cut he suffered in the second half.
And Austin came through, also adding 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
He missed one of two free throws with 18.7 seconds left in regulation, then misfired on the second of two with 9.4 seconds left, leaving the Bears up just 69-67. Utah sophomore Both Gach was fouled with 2 seconds left in regulation and converted both free throws to send the game to overtime.
"The two that I missed, I thought they were going in," Paris said.
Cal never trailed in overtime and with 47.1 seconds left and the Bears clinging to an 80-76 lead, Austin was sent to the free throw line for two shots.
"When I got the opportunity again, I made 'em both."
The Utes (15-14, 6-11) were led by 26 points by Timmy Allen and 23 by Alfonso Plummer. Utah played all but the first 4 1/2 minutes without freshman point guard Rylan Jones, who went down hard and did not return to the floor.
PRE-GAME: Cal jumped out to a 7-0 lead against No. 21 Colorado on Thursday night, and another strong start could be the key to completing the weekend sweep at Haas Pavilion.
The Bears (12-16, 6-9) play their 2019-20 home finale Saturday against Utah (15-13, 6-10) in a duel for eighth place in the Pac-12. Tipoff is 3 p.m.
While Cal is 11-5 overall at home, the Utes are winless in eight Pac-12 road games. They have lost those games by an average margin of 17.4 points, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, and at the root of those lopsided losses is a series of poor starts.
The latest example was Wednesday at Stanford, where the Utes coughed up nine turnovers in the opening 8 minutes, 10 seconds of the game and trailed by 18 points at halftime on the way to a 70-62 loss.
Going winless on the road in the Pac-12 is a rare occurrence. Even Cal — which was 5-31 in the conference the past two seasons — posted one road victory each of those years.
No Pac-12 team has suffered through a winless road schedule since 2017, when Oregon State and Washington both did so.
Geography alone won't win it for Cal today. The Bears lost 60-45 at Utah three weeks ago, shooting 32 percent from the field and racking up more turnovers (17) than field goals (16).
Here is my complete game preview.
Check back for starting lineups and in-game updates:
Cal starting lineup: In keeping with Senior Day tradition, the Bears will start senior walk-ons Jacob Orender and David Serge, seniors Paris Austin and Kareem South and junior Grant Anticevich.
15:26 1st H: Slow starts have been the Utes' death knell on the road in the Pac-12, and Cal may be the latest beneficiary. Four different Cal players have scored and the Utes are shooting 1-for-5 with a turnover. Worse yet, starting point guard Rylan Jones just went down hard on the floor, remained there for nearly 2 minutes and was just helped to the locker room. Orender and Serge started but the two walk-ons were subbed out during the first stoppage of play -- 18 seconds into the game. Cal 8, Utah 2.
10:35 1st H: Bradley just hit his first 3-pointer of the afternoon, giving the lead back to the Bears. Utah had gone 8-0 take a 10-8 lead on a drive by Both Gach with 11:49 left. Cal is shooting 5-for-14, including 5-for-13 on 2-pointers. Utah is at 5-for-13 overall. Cal 11, Utah 10.
5:35 1st H: A nice feed by Joel Brown led to a dunk by Andre Kelly, then Brown made two FTs on the Bears' next possession. Neither team shooting well -- both are 33 percent. Cal 17, Utah 14.
3:18 1st H: Utah PG Rylan Jones back on the sidelines, but it doesn't look like he'll be playing again today. Cal 19, Utah 19.
HALFTIME: Utah 28, Cal 24. The Utes (the late actor Fred Gwynn's favorite team - `What's a Ute?') used a 12-1 burst to transform a 19-14 deficit into a 26-20 led. Guard Alfonso Plummer scored eight of his 12 first-half points during the run, including a pair of 3-point baskets. Cal missed five straight shots during the 5-minute stretch. Utah wound up shooting 41 percent in the half with 4 turnovers. Cal converted just 31 percent and had 6 giveaways. The Beas enjoy a slight 20-17 rebounding advantage. Bradley scored seven points early but hasn't been on the board since the midway point of the half and is shooting 3-for-9. Seniors South and Austin are a combined 1-for-10.
17:30 2nd H: Cal scored the first six points of the half, taking the lead after a putback by Paris Austin. Big Branden Carlson just scored on a post move to give the lead back to the Utes. Utah 31, Cal 30.
15:10 2nd H: The Utes got a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Both Gach -- he had missed his previous 21 attempts from deep -- on the heels of one from Plummer, who leads all scorers with 13 points. Utah 38, Cal 36.
11:41 2nd H: Anticevich has come alive offensively. He has 10 of his 12 points in the second half, including a jumper moments ago that pushed Cal's lead to 3 points. He also shares the rebounding lead at 5 with Andre Kelly, who has done his best work on the defensive end with 4 blocked shots. Cal 43, Utah 40.
7:17 2nd H: Suddenly, it's Andre Kelly who is doing the heavy lifting. He made a pair of free throws, and just now converted a putback and will shoot the and-1 free throw. Kelly has 12 points, 8 rebounds and a career-high 5 blocked shots. Cal 53, Utah 50.
3:04 2nd H: The Utes keep coming and Cal continues to rebuff their rallies. Austin made a pair of free throws, then a mid-range jumper and he just lobbed an assist to Anticevich, who converted the pump-fake layup and will shoot a free throw after the timeout. Nice balance for the Bears: Anticevich 16 points, Kelly and Bradley 13 each and Austin 9. Kelly went out with 5:20 left after picking up his fourth foul. When does he return? Cal 62, Utah 59.
